Agriculture & Food

The Agriculture Committee of the National Assembly of Kenya confirmed that in order to protect the local fisheries and fishermen of East African countries, the country plans to ban the import of fish from China.

In 2019, Kenya’s annual fish production was 146,687 metric tons, of which, freshwater production was 102,331 metric tons, aquaculture production was 18,542 metric tons, and marine resource production was 23,700 metric tons. A report shows that between May and August, there were more than 230 ships in Kenyan waters, of which a large proportion were owned by foreign countries (including Italy and China). Some reports indicate that fishmongers from all over Kenya are supplementing their daily stocks with fish imported from China to meet local demand. Compared with locally acquired fish species, imported fish are actually cheaper.

Despite the ban on imports from China, there is a large shortage of fish in the local market in Kenya, so there is still a large demand for imported fish. In 2020, China will account for the largest share of world imported fish, reaching 70%.