Access to low priced small fish for livelihood support A case study on omena (silver cyprinid) trade for local and domestic consumption in Kenya

Author: Lola van der Voort, 10539557 Supervisor: Prof. J.M. Bavinck Second reader: Dr. J. Scholtens

University of Amsterdam Department of Human Geography Master’s Thesis August 30th 2019 Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Small forage fish as food and means of livelihood 5

2. Literature review 8 2.1 Systemic approach to food supply: Social-ecological systems and small- fish supply chains 8 2.1.1 Social-ecologic systems 8 2.1.2 Domestic seafood supply chains 10 2.2 Actor approach: Accessibility and adaptability 11 2.2.1 Local accessibility in a liberalized economy 11 2.2.2 Adaptive capacity 13 2.3 Hypothesis: Involution 13 2.4 Theoretic figure 15 2.5 Gap in knowledge & Research questions 16

3. Methodology 18 3.1 Research design, methods, instruments and supervision 18 3.2 Data sources and sampling 18 3.3 Data gathering procedure 19 3.4 Study area and research sites 21 3.5 Data analysis 25 3.8 Ethics 25 3.9 Limitations 26

4. Context: The social-ecological system of Lake Victoria, Kenya 28 4.1 Species invasion, eutrophication and climate change 28 4.2 Demographics and employment 30 4.2 Lake Victoria Fisheries 32 4.4 Fisheries governance in Kenya 32

5. Results 34 5.1 Systemic approach: The omena supply chain for local and domestic consumption 34 5.1.1 Environment and stocks 34 5.1.2 Harvesting patterns 35 5.1.3 Processing 37 5.1.4 Wholesale, retail and distribution 38

2 5.1.5 Consumption 42 5.1.6 The fishmeal industry 42 5.2 Actor approach 43 5.2.1 The social-economic and cultural position of the omena trader 43 5.2.2 Accessibility 46 5.2.3 Adaptability 50 5.4 Involution 52

7. Conclusion 54

8. References 59

Annex 1: List of fieldwork locations 68

Annex 2: Annex 2: List of in-depth interview respondents 69

Annex 3: List of survey respondents 70

Annex 4: Semi-structured survey 73

3 Acronyms

BMU Beach Management Unit DHC Direct Human Consumption FAO Food and Agricultural Organization FMFO Fishmeal and fish oil GIS Geographical Information System LVEMP Lake Victoria Environmental Management Program LVFO Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization KMFRI Kenyan Marine Fisheries Research Institute SES Social-ecological system

The image on the front-page is a painting made by Aron Vellekoop Leon. It is called “Stuck” and in the context of this research it illustrates the competition between omena traders and the lack of flexibility of the lower scale traders in comparison to larger scale newcomers. “Stuck” was used with permission of the artist and can be retrieved from: https://aronvl.com.

4 1. Introduction: Small forage fish as food and means of livelihood

In its recent fisheries and aquaculture report, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) pronounced that small pelagic fresh water fish have the potential to boost Africa’s food security and people’s livelihoods. Small pelagic fish or ‘forage fish’ are small schooling species that feed on plankton and are eaten themselves by larger predators. By converting energy from lower trophic levels into food for larger fish, marine mammals and seabirds, they occupy a vital place in marine food webs (Isaacs, 2016; Cashion et al, 2017). Schools of forage fish form concentrated energy resources and migrate along shores and across oceans followed by other marine species. Besides oceans they also inhabit freshwater habitats. However, like plankton, the quantities of forage fish are variable and highly depend on climate conditions (Tacon & Metian, 2009). Therefore, scientists are concerned about the effects of climate change and marine degradation on these species. Furthermore, overfishing threats the survival of larger marine species as the availability of forage fish declines. Fish and other aquatic foods also play an important role in human nutrition. According to Bene et al. (2015) and Kawarazuka & Bene (2011) small forage fish species contain many essential micronutrients, minerals, and are high in protein. They are high in vitamin A, iron and zinc. At present more than two billion people worldwide, in particular in developing countries, are estimated to be deficient in these essential vitamins and minerals. Various authors therefore argue that forage fish could play an important role in battling malnutrition (Tacon & Metian, 2009; Kawarazuka & Bene, 2011; Cashion et al., 2017). Traditionally, small pelagic fish have been a key source of food for low-income consumers across the world, especially in coastal regions (Alder, et al. 2008). Besides their nutritional value, small fish offer other advantages for these consumers. Because of their size and schooling behaviour they are generally easily accessible and affordable. They can be purchased in small quantities and they can be more evenly divided among household members. Furthermore they can be processed and stored for a long period of time to meet seasonal shortages (Maljuf et al., 2017, Kawarazuka & Bene, 2011). In addition, the trade of fish plays an indirect but essential role in achieving food security through livelihood support (Bene et al., 2015; FAO, 2018: 52). Fish and small scale fisheries have important social and economic benefits in developing countries where the sector generates employment and income for many people (Maljuf et al., 2017). Kawarazuka & Bene (2011) estimate that 95% of people in developing countries directly or indirectly depend on small scale fishing, aqua-culture or trade for their livelihood. This is especially the case in lower income countries where many small-scale operators are engaged in fishing, processing or trade related activities (Bene et al., 2010). Altogether it is estimated that between 660 and 820 million

5 people worldwide depend on fish-related activities in sustaining their livelihoods (Bene et al. 2015; Allison et al, 2013). This embodies more than 10 % of the world population. Although the revenues for most people are not that high, it is often their main source of income, which allows them to access food (Heck et al. 2007; Bene et al. 2011; FAO, 2018: 52). Furthermore, trade connects producers with (distant) markets and consumers and is therefore an essential link in the global food security debate (FAO, 2018: 52). While there is a widely held perception that captured fish is moving directly to the tables of consumers, 27 % of global marine fisheries landings between 1950 and 2010 (around 20 million tons annually) were in reality destined for other uses (Cashion et al., 2017). An estimated 18 million tons of fish are annually used for reduction into fishmeal (Cashion et al., 2017). This is a commercial product generally used as fodder for farmed fish or poultry/livestock. While it is partly made from the bones and offal leftovers from processed fish used for human consumption, the biggest percentage is manufactured from wild-caught, small forage fish (Jacobs, 2017; Tacon & Metian, 2009). Because the moisture and oil of fish needs to be extracted in order to create fishmeal, the production of fish oil goes hand in hand with the fishmeal production. Moreover, the increasing global population and expanding middle classes, particularly in Asia, are consuming more and more fish. In our global economy fish is increasingly sourced in the waters of developing countries where labour is cheaper (Crona et al, 2016; Maljuf et al., 2017; Tacon & Metian, 2009; Cashion et al, 2017). As a result, small nutritious fish – either whole or processed as FMFO – have been increasingly transferred from developing countries to western markets. Developed countries imported 80% of total traded fish in 2006 and were also the highest consumers of seafood at an average of 23 kg per person a year (Tacon & Metian, 2009). In contrast, the lowest consumers on a per capita basis were the countries in Sub- Saharan Africa at 6.94 kg a year. Here the probability of death for children under the age of 5 (mostly linked to malnutrition) is at the global highest too, varying on average between 100 to 300 per 1000 children (Tacon & Metian, 2009). From a food-security perspective the growing production of FMFO and small fish export from developing countries therefore raises questions. This research focuses specifically on the small pelagic silver cyprinid. It is a zoo- planktivorous, small sardine-like schooling fish (Latin name: Rastrineobola argentea) that is found all over Lake Victoria. In Swahili it is called Dagaa and in Luo language omena. Because the latter is the term widely used around the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria – the area where the fieldwork of this research took place – it will mostly be referred in this thesis as omena (image 2). The fish is cheap, nutritious and usually sold sun-dried, either for human consumption or for reduction into fishmeal. Its nutritional value is high as the whole fish is being eaten and therefore provides more micro elements and vitamins than fish flesh only. (Legros & Luomba,

6 2011). Omena is therefore considered to be an important source of protein for many local low- and medium-income fish consumers around Lake Victoria (Medard, 2015). Moreover, it plays an important role in people’s livelihoods through trade. In Kenya alone, about 850,000 people, especially from lower classes, directly depend on the fishery of omena. And because of its lower market value, it is currently the most dominant fisheries resource sold to end consumers in local fish markets (Kronen et al., 2015). As omena offers livelihood support to many people in Kenya, this thesis focuses on the position of traders in the domestic supply chain. It examines small-scale fish trade, both in terms of how it links to resource use and consumption, and as a livelihood, by means of a case study of markets in Kenya. It starts by presenting a theoretical framework on the basis of former research and relevant literature in chapter 2. In chapter 3 the research methods, ethics and implication of the study will be outlined. Chapter 4 will provide the background story and a contextual perspective on the research space and chapter 5 offers an overview of the fieldwork results. Chapter 6 summarizes and concludes on the findings and reviews the theories used in this thesis. All maps, figures, tables and pictures in this thesis are the author’s own.

Image 1: Dried omena

7 2. Literature Review

The theoretical basis of this thesis consists of two interwoven approaches: 1) a systemic approach and 2) an actor approach. It is assumed that there are interrelations and dynamics between societal systems and individual actors (Giddens, 1983, Burns, 2006; Folke, 2006; Rounsevell et al., 2012). According to Giddens (1983) they cannot be analysed separately as systems are created, maintained and changed by individual actors, while they are at the same time constrained by it. This study departs from that assumption and examines this nexus in the context of fish trade in Kisumu, Kenya. This chapter starts by offering a systemic approach (2.1) and an actor approach (2.2) on the subject, and explains various relating concepts within these approaches which are relevant to this study. Subsequently, a hypothesis on the interaction between system and agents in the context of this thesis is set out (2.3). In part 2.4 all concepts are combined and explained in a theoretical graphic figure whereupon this is translated into the research questions of this thesis in part 2.5.

2.1 Systemic approach to food supply: Social-ecological systems and small fish supply chains

This paragraph provides an introduction to the systemic view on the supply of food. I regard the system behind small fish supply chains as a social-ecological system, which we will be explained in paragraph 2.2.1. In paragraph 2.2.2 the supply chains themselves are further examined from a social-ecological perspective. It defines the general concept of supply chains, sets out the specifics of wild seafood chains and the post-harvest phase, and explains how this is related to the main actor group in this study, the fish traders (the topic of paragraph, 2.3).

2.1.1 Social-ecological systems A system is generally defined as a group of interacting or interrelated entities that form a unified whole (von Bertalanffy, 1972). A social system is a system constituted of a network of relationships that exists between individuals, social groups and institutions (Parsons et al., 2017). An ecosystem is a biological community of living organisms in concurrence with the abiotic components of their physical environment, interacting as a whole (Costanza, 2012) Worldwide there is a growing awareness on the embeddedness of the natural environment in the social, cultural and economic fabric of society, with which according to numerous scholars it forms a set of ‘social-ecological systems’ (Ostrom, 2009; Burns et al, 2002; Berkes et al., 2003; Young et al., 2006; Cote & Nightingale, 2012; Costanza, 2014; Glaser et al., 2008). Humans are an

8 integral component of essentially all ecosystems (Redman et al., 2004) and human society plays a fundamental role in designing them, as people worldwide have replaced many natural regulatory processes with those that they have engineered (Costanza, 2014). While unravelling complex societal problems, interactions between social and ecological structures therefore have to be considered and dealt with in an integrative and interdisciplinary way (Ostrom, 2009). Social-ecological system theory provides an approach from which to analyse social-ecological interaction. Social-ecological systems (SESs) are complex and adaptive systems composed of two primary subsystems: (1) human society and economy on the one hand, and (2) a biological, ecological system on the other (Young et al., 2006; Ostrom, 2009; Costanza, 2014). Social- ecological system theory focuses on the interaction between these continuously changing subsystems. Although there are multiple ways to look at or define those systems, they are generally considered as being: (1) complex, because they consist of many parts interacting non- linearly; (2) adaptive, because the system’s components are responsive and co-evolve as they develop over time; (3) multidimensional, meaning they exists on multiple different levels and scales; and (4) delimited by spatial boundaries surrounding a particular ecosystem and their context problems (Glaser et al., 2008; Ostrom, 2009; Costanza, 2014).The ecological domain of the system consists of the various biological, geological and physical processes of an ecosystem, and the social domain covers the social, cultural, economic and technological institutions within (Ostrom, 2009; Cote & Nightingale, 2012; Costanza, 2014). According to Redman et al. (2004) a particular example of interaction between social and natural systems is natural resource extraction, trade and use. The resource studied in this research is small fish for human consumption, and the domain within social-ecological systems in which this study is therefore specifically interested are ‘food systems’. These systems include all processes, actors and infrastructure involved in feeding a population (Kneafsey et al., 2013; HLPE, 2017). A food system is influenced by environmental, economic, political and social contexts. Furthermore, economies have developed beyond national borders into an increasingly integrated global economy (Young et al., 2006). As food systems expand across international boundaries, it disconnects those for whom food is destined from the stages of its creation, making the social- ecological system more complex. Many studies have showed the damaging environmental consequences of the global economy as resource extraction is increasingly intensified and industrialised and resources are distributed further distances. Moreover, as food chains expand, they increasingly separate those for whom the food is destined from the stages of its creation (Hendrickson & Heffernan, 2002; Kneafsey et al., 2013). Kneafsey et al. (2013, p. 28) claim that: “This disconnection has meant that consumers know less about where their food comes from, and that producers, in particular

9 small-scale ones, have seen the value added to food captured by large businesses”, creating inequality. They are supporting the notion that local food systems are delivering social, environmental and economic benefits. As opposed to global systems, local and domestic ones are believed to improve carbon footprints, strengthen local economies and contribute to the food security at household level, especially in developing countries (ENRD, 2012 in Kneafsey et al., 2013:, p.19). Here local refers to a situation where the area where an economic activity is controlled and takes place is the same locality as where it originates from. In a local food systems the production, processing, trade and consumption of food occurs in a defined reduced geographical area (Kneafsey et al, 2013, p. 28). According the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) report from 2017 on nutrition and food systems, one way to understand a food systems is to simultaneously study the food supply chain, food environment and the consumer behaviour of a resource. This study will follow that understanding and focusses on the local supply chains of small fish for Direct Human Consumption (DHC) within the social-ecological system of Lake Victoria, and the relationship and interaction of the relevant actors with this system.

2.1.2 Domestic seafood supply chains A supply chain represents a system of people, organizations, activity and resources involved in moving a product from producer to consumer (Burrows et al., 2015; Trienekens, 2011). It encompasses all links between a resource or material and an end product. Besides harvesting, production and consumption, this also entails the processing, fabrication, transportation, storage, trade and consumption of a product. Supply chains are highly variable, depending on the product characteristics and scale of production (Thorpe et al, 2005). Furthermore, they are in most cases part of a broader supply chain network (Harland, 1996). This means multiple chains from a specific product or resource are bundled, but go through different production processes ending up at different types of end users. According to Burrows et al. (2015) key characteristics of wild seafood supply chains – which are the type of chains this study explores – are their unpredictability, low margins, minimal product tracking, high global demand, and the fact that they centre on is a highly perishable product. Furthermore chain structures can be variable. They can be vertically integrated, meaning they functions under single company ownership, or dispersed. In the latter case, every function is performed by an independent entity (Burrows et al, 2015). In general, as the chain increases in length, the margins get lower, forcing players to do whatever necessary to cut costs. Furthermore, its market access can be open or bottle necked. The second refers to a system where middlemen create a bottleneck for fishers, restricting direct access to the market and creating power asymmetry and relations of dependencies (Burrows et al, 2015).

10 In academics, supply chains are analysed in many different ways by different disciplines. This study is specifically looking at the network structure, power dynamics and geography of the resource and people involved in the post-harvest chain of fish. Thorpe et al (2005: p.111) find that: “much supply chain literature takes for granted that, by conceptualising the process as a chain, the interdependence of the constituent links is implicitly recognized”. They emphasise that no participant in the chain is an ‘island’ and that their livelihoods are determined as much or even more by the actions of others in the chain than by themselves. In supply chain literature, some scholars have therefore been advocating for an integrated approach, looking at both horizontal and vertical aspects of chain network structures. The horizontal dimension reflects the relationships between actors in the same chain link; and the vertical dimension reflects the relationships between actors of different chain links (Trienekens, 2011). Another error many supply chain studies contain according to Thorpe et al (2005: p.114), is the underlying assumption that such markets are perfectly competitive. Research has showed that there is big disparity between actors, and especially large retail traders can potentially exercise market power through their fish buying behaviour. When studying supply chains, it is therefore of relevance to investigate who has the power to determine the chain direction and shape and who experiences the burden of chain changes. Nevertheless, little research into market structures and arrangements within the post-harvest fish supply chain has been undertaken to date (Thorpe et al., 2005). This study is interested in the post-harvest chain and especially the trader’s position in it. While a supply chain analysis is used to outline the broader network of trade that actors/traders operate in, the next chapter will evaluate supply chains from an actor point of view.

2.2 Actor approach: Accessibility and adaptability

In order to expose possible consequences of changing systems for vulnerable groups in society, this research additionally approaches literature and data from an actor point of view. In the research the concepts of market accessibility and small fish supply chains will therefore be simultaneously studied from the perspective of local fish traders for DHC. While value chains (which has been defined in 2.2) will be used to outline the broader network, the concepts of access (2.2.1) and adaptive capacity (2.2.2) look at the position of a trader in this network from an individual trader/company point of view.

2.2.1 Local accessibility in a liberalized economy The historical path as well as the contemporary influence of western markets and politics in former African colonies are widely covered in academic literature and research. Nowadays,

11 fisheries have become significantly capitalised and trade has been liberalised (Crona et al, 2016). A division has thereby arisen in which developing countries became mainly exporting countries of fish while developed countries are directly and indirectly consuming them. This is mainly due to rising demand for seafood in ‘developed’ and ‘transitional’ economies, evolving consumption patterns and the globalization of fish processing through reduced international transport costs. Also the ability of developed countries to meet consumption declined because of depletion and/or restrictive management of fish stocks in those countries (Medard et al, 2016; Crona et al, 2016). Therefore, Tacon and Metian (2009) claim that: “free market economics and access are currently the main drivers that select whether small pelagic forage fish are fished for feed, domestic consumption or export” (p. 297). This means that the major obstacles for growth of fish for DHC are primarily economic, and relate to the accessibility of global and regional markets for industrial fishing companies and fisher folk. In return, this affects the accessibility of traders selling fish for DHC to the fish supply chain. For this research the concept of ‘supply chain access’ to traders of fish for Direct Human Consumption, will be studied. Additionally, accessibility will be studied in terms of network structures. This means that not only the relationships between traders and fishermen, but also those between ‘trader – processor’, ‘trader – trader’ and ‘trader – policy maker/executor’ will be investigated. Ribot (1998, p. 310) defines access as “the freedom or ability to make use of”. According to him the term is closely related to ‘property’, which is a “right in the sense of an enforceable claim to some use or benefit”(p. 310). A ‘right’ implies an acknowledged claim society supports. But ‘ability’ is broader than that, resting on the fact of demonstration without any socially articulated approval (Ribot, 1998). Access combines both the de jure articulated systems and extra-legal mechanisms governing resource use. Ribot (1998) finds those extra-legal mechanisms to be: (1) ‘social identity’, which is a person’s status based on gender, age or nobility); 2) ‘social relations’, implying family, lineage friendship and historical ties among individuals or groups; 3) ‘coercion and trickery’, which includes corruption, misinformation, threats of violence, theft and other ways of deceive, 4) ‘material wealth’, which entails material and financial capital; and 5) ‘physical circumstances’, involving someone physical stature and location. Ribot (1998, p. 312) explains that if a person for example has: “capital or a particular status he or she can enter and use a given resource, maybe even against the rules produced by society”. Or when someone has family members and friends in a particular trade, he or she might be able to access the locations extraction, production or trade more easy. Two related concepts that support the mechanisms of access are: ‘control’ and ‘maintenance’. Control means “the power and the ability to mediate others’ access”, and maintenance means “expanding those powers to keep access open for oneself or others” (Ribot,

12 1998, p.311). Therefore, the concept of accessibility enables us to disaggregate bundles of power and the mechanisms supporting them (Abate-Kassa & Peterson, 2011). In order to understand accessibility and place it in the wider context of trade, the concept will be studied along the ‘supply chain’ of small fish for local consumption.

2.2.2 Adaptive capacity Following supply chain accessibility, a third concept which will be analysed in this study is the ‘adaptive capacity’ of traders. According to Fraser et al. (2005) adaptive capacities are “the social and technical strategies and skills of individuals and groups that are directed towards responding to environmental and socio-economic changes” (p. 467). It is the ability of actors to cope with system- change and dynamics (Milestad et al., 2010). In the context of food systems, adaptive capacity is usually exhibited or deployed to maintain livelihoods, food production, or food access (Fraser et al., 2005). From the perspective of this study, the concept of adaptive capacity will be used to investigate business arrangements that are made to maintain or enhance traders’ access to the local small fish supply chain. Business arrangements are understood as the complete set of social as well as technical arrangements, made to maintain a sustainable business (Milestad et al., 2010). As this research focuses on traders’ perspectives, it will study the business arrangements along the dimensions of ‘supply’ and ‘demand’. Studying the concepts of ‘accessibility’, ‘small fish supply chains’ and market ‘adaptation’ together, allows for an understanding of who benefits from natural resources, how they benefit and how those patterns of benefit distribution might be changed (Ribot, 1998).

2.3 Hypothesis: Involution

There are numerous ways in which the particularities of social-ecological systems can influence the economy within. However, multiple case studies on population growth in agricultural economies in Asia have shown this can lead to a process of ‘involution’. While this concept has not yet been applied to the context of fisheries, there may be similarities between societies dependent on small scale agriculture and those dependent on fisheries. This research therefore uses the concept of involution, and examines if it is occurring in Lake Victoria’s fishing community, and if so, in what way. Before elaborating on the specifics of Lake Victoria’s fisheries in chapter 4, the concept will first be defined. The term involution is used differently throughout various disciplines but the classic reference for the term in social sciences comes from a study of economic development from Clifford Geertz’ study and book: Agricultural Involution: The processes of ecological change in

13 Indonesia. According to Geertz (1963) involution is a self-defeating process in which market changes as well as technological changes take place without actual alteration in living standards and social structure. He used the term as a description of the process in which Indonesian peripheral societies adapted to Dutch colonization and population growth by refining their existing social structures to further support small-scale intense labour. An increasing demand of rice and sugar cane led to an intensification of cultivation. But where in most Western European societies such increases would be accompanied with significant technological or political change, in Indonesia it created larger social complexity. According to Geertz (1963), communities did not change in fundamental ways but redistributed land management and labour into smaller scales and tasks. As such, more people were employed and labour intensity increased. This increased the output per area, while a growth in output per capita did not occur. According to Clifford Geertz, Javanese peasants faced with increased poverty, distributed what they had in an egalitarian fashion as a collective defence mechanism against risks that are associated with trade in a capitalist economy (Tamukamoyo, 2009). Following Clifford Geertz, the term has been applied to a number of different cases. The historian Philip Huang slightly expanded the theory in his studies on Chinese development. In his book The Peasant Family and Rural Development in the Yangzi Delta, 1350-1988 (1990) he defines three types of agrarian economic change. The first type he calls ‘development’. This is a situation where output increases faster than labour input, which means that the output per worker grows. In the second type, output expands at the same rate as labour so that the output per worker stays the same. This situation he calls ‘intensification’. Finally ‘involution’ is a situation where output expands but at a slower rate than labour. In that case the output per worker declines. Here the concept of involution is about how per-worker or per-capita outcomes could stagnate or decrease despite expansions in absolute output. In a similar case study on Indonesia, Nathan & Kelkar (1999) found that an increase in population depending on agriculture had two effects. First, in areas where increasing land for cultivation was impossible, the effect was an increase in the number of people working on the available land, without a marginal productivity of the increased labour. This resulted in the sharing of work and income which meant a sharing of poverty. On the other hand, in areas where some extension of agricultural land was possible, people that were thrown out of work went looking for other options in agriculture. This led to increased exploitation of natural resources to sell for fast cash eventually degrading natural ecosystems (Nathan & Kelkar, 1999). Finally, a study on small-scale businesses in Rural Java by Stein Kristiansen (2003), professor in Economics at the Agder University College of Norway, found that involution can also occur in non-agricultural settings. He describes how in rural Java increasing numbers of unemployed people gather into businesses with low entry barriers and in which success has

14 been observed. Millions of small-scale cottage businesses in which labour force consist of individuals or family units, operate along traditional and informally organised ways of production and marketing. Their products often suit local markets well and they are therefore concerned with maintaining harmonious relations with neighbours, local customers and traditions. Moreover, traders in these type of businesses are mostly lower educated and have limited access to information on technology and market developments. Therefore, those businesses are characterised by having low margins and a limited capacity to innovate. In the liberalised and increasingly open economy of Indonesia, a large part of those businesses therefore have according to Kristiansen (2003) difficulties to survive. Among those small-scale businesses in rural Java, a combined reaction to increasing population pressures and unemployment started the process of involution. Kristensen (2003): “In the Javanese context, social acceptance and neighborhood status are values that are considered extremely important and traditions often get higher priority than change” (p. 23). Traditional ideas of social responsibility and shared poverty that are part of the Javanese culture, therefore caused an influx of labour with a decrease in the output per person. In summary, according to Kristiansen’s analysis on involution based on involution literature and a personal study in rural Java, it can be characterised by: 1) “A high labour power absorption ability”; 2) “Close social relations and mutual responsibility in local society”; 3) “Low entry barriers in the form of capital and skills”; 4) “Limited access to capital and credit for investments”; 5) “Limited access to non-local markets”; and 6) “Lack of information on markets and technological development” (Kristiansen, 2003, p. 24). Moreover, as Nathan & Kelkar (1999) described, involution can occur where economic growth is impossible due to ecological boundaries of production within an ecosystem. This study applies the concept of involution in relation to fish trade in local supply chains in Kenya, taking an actor’s point of view

2.4 Theoretical Figure

In figure 1 the connections between all the discussed concepts are visualized in one image. All phenomena take place in a certain social-ecological system. In this system societal factors as well as environmental factors determine the form, appearance and occurrence of a supply chain. A supply chain is typically part of a bundle of different supply chains (a supply chain network), but the type this research is interested in is the chain for domestic consumption. Vice versa, the supply chain, and the economic activities that take place within, affects the social-ecological system. This research particularly zooms into the trade links in the supply chain, both wholesale and retail. It is interested in the dynamics between systems and agents and approaches trade

15 from an actor point of view. It is expected that both trader’s accessibility on the one hand and adaptability on the other define this interaction. Based on previous studies, this study expects that the dynamics between the specific social-ecological system and the actors participating in the domestic small fish supply chain cause a process of involution. This hypothesis will be tested in this study. Finally this study assumes that a social-ecological system with accessible resources and adaptive actors play an important role in the provision of domestic food security and livelihood sustenance.

Figure 1: Theoretical figure: Relations between concepts and where to find them in this thesis

2.5 Gap in knowledge and research questions

There is a lack of recognition of the importance of omena and other small pelagic fish species for nutrition, health and livelihoods which has led to inadequate investments in the resource (Kronen et al., 2015). Recently, various studies have pointed out the opportunity for this fish to feed local and regional populations in East and Central Africa. But there is still little known about the supply chain of omena, especially when it comes to trade for local and domestic consumption. As mentioned earlier, little research has been undertaken into market structures

16 and arrangements within the post-harvest supply chain of fish in general (Thorpe et al, 2005). In social research, the trader’s perspective on supply chains is therefore understudied, especially in trade for domestic use in the Global South. This research therefore engages in fish trade for local and domestic consumption from a trader’s perspective. The following questions form the basis of this study:

How do local traders selling fish in market places ensure the continuous supply of low-price small fish for direct human consumption? 1. How do natural fluctuations (climate/ecosystem) and harvesting patterns affect the availability of low-price fish in Lake Victoria, Kenya? 2. How is the supply chain of omena for direct human consumption within the social- ecological system of the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria organized from a trader’s perspective? 3. How do local fish traders adapt and enhance their accessibility to the market of low- price omena?

17 3. Methodology

This study relies on material gathered during a 2,5 week field study in April/May 2019 in Kisumu and at different locations around the Kenyan shore of Lake Victoria. In total, 10 open interviews and 75 semi-structured surveys were performed by Loes van der Plaat and Lola van der Voort. The two researchers have independently made use of this collective database for the writing of their individual Master thesis. In addition, observations and GPS tracking in combination with Loes van der Plaat, and literature study by Lola van der Voort herself are used to create an integral portrait of the case. In this chapter the research methods of this study will be explained and justified.

3.1 Research design, methods, instruments and supervision

This research is a case study of omena trade in Kisumu county in Kenya. The unit of analysis are Omena traders on markets in Kisumu county and at other trade locations on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria. During the research, quantitative as well as qualitative methods were combined in a mixed method research design with a qualitative driven approach. This means the research is essentially qualitative, emphasizing the findings gained through in-depth interviews, open survey-questions and observation. In addition, structured survey-questions served to check and clarify the data obtained from the in-depth interviews and to explore unexpected outcomes. This means that more data of greater depth can be used than can typically be gathered by solely quantitative or qualitative research designs (Bryman: 619, 2012). During the fieldwork the ‘Kenyan Marine and Fisheries Research Institute’ (KMFRI) offered supervision and local support. KMFRI is a national research institute in marine and freshwater fisheries, aquaculture, environmental and ecological studies, and marine research including chemical and physical oceanography. Within the institute, deputy director of freshwater systems, Dr. Christopher Aura Mulanda and scientist at the department of socio- economics, Horace Owiti Onyango, were our main contacts.

3.2 Data sources and sampling

In this research 10 key-actors in Lake Victoria’s fisheries policymaking, implementation and research were interviewed using semi-structured, in-depth interview questions. In addition, the 75 semi-structured surveys were conducted with different types of traders working on 5 different markets in Kisumu county and on 5 different landing sites around the lake.

18 Furthermore, staff members of two Beach Management Units (BMU’s) were interviewed in an open and informal way and observations were made in all markets and landing sites visited. Finally, different spatial databases from ArcGIS online, GPS tracking, policy rapports and scientific literature were used in addition to the interviews. For this research a combination of snowball sampling and purposive sampling was used to select respondents and locations. Due to the limited time in which the fieldwork could take place, KMFRI proposed locations and a set of officials that would be interesting to interview. The characteristics of these officials, including their function, affiliation and the method and date of their interview can be found in Annex 2. In addition we surveyed 75 traders from different markets and landing sites in Kisumu and around Lake Victoria, with an emphasis on people trading on markets in Kisumu county. Respondents were all purposively sampled, meaning that respondents were selectively approached based on the judgement of the researcher and research assistant. We aimed to diversify the sample on the basis of stall size and the position of the stall at the trade location. Although it was attempted to minimize personal influences from the researcher, the respondents might also have been selected on the probability that they would be willing to cooperate based on their body language. A list of survey respondents can be found in Annex 3.

3.3 Data gathering procedure

All open-interviews were conducted by Loes van der Plaat and Lola van der Voort together. In advance they created interview plans for each respondent consisting of 5 to 10 open questions. During the interview, the planned questions were asked in a specific order but throughout the questions the researchers expanded on certain topics the respondent appeared to be familiar with. The interviews took between 45 minutes and 1,5 hours, and all were recorded and transcribed afterwards. For the survey questions, both researchers were accompanied by a research employee from KMFRI. They offered support as translator, interpreter, guide and facilitator during the fieldwork. In order to reach the fieldwork locations, drivers employed by KMFRI drove them to and from the sites, which were not always easily accessible. Those drivers also offered support in facilitating other practicalities (like purchasing and handing out cold drinks to respondents and showing permits to police officers) and shared with us their local knowledge. All received wages, which were partly payed by KMFRI and partly by the researchers themselves. Finally, Horace Owiti offered support in designing and formulating the survey questions.

19 Map 1: Location of Kisumu county and city in the Lake Victoria region and the positioning of map 2, 3 and 5 in this region

Sources: Esri; HERE; Garmin; OpenStreetMap contributions (n.d.),

20 3.4 Study area and research sites

The fieldwork took place on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria. This coastal region partly consists of open waters and partly of the Nyanza Gulf stretching to the east side towards Kisumu city and county (Map 1). It lies within the equatorial region, and solar radiation and water temperatures are relatively constant throughout the year. There are two main rainy seasons in the area, the long rains occurring from March to May and short rains from November to December (Mucholwa Simiyu et al., 2018). Victoria lake has been topic of many studies on numerous topics from different disciplines since many years, which will be further elaborated in chapter 4. Annex 1 shows a list of the fieldwork locations which were visited in this research area. This were five inland markets selling omena in Kisumu county and six landing sites from which Omena is traded from. KMFRI selected these particular markets because they are the most known for selling omena in Kisumu and they selected landing sites on different locations around the lake in order to identify possible spatial variations. At all locations, except on Wichlum beach, surveys were conducted with both wholesale and retail traders. At all beaches observations were done and notes were taken. Map 3 shows the location of the visited markets in Kisumu county and map 2 shows the location of the visited landing sites around the Kenyan side of the lake. Both maps and their locations in the Lake Victoria region are displayed in map 1. The following subparagraphs give short descriptions of each research location.

Image 2: Traders selling dried omena at Kiboswa market, Kisumu county, Kenya (May, 2019)

21 Jubilee market Jubilee market is one of the largest markets in Kisumu county. It is a market selling all sorts of goods, from food to furniture, textiles, cosmetics and hardware. It is partly roofed and partly in open air and densely occupied with stalls. According to multiple traders there is a problem with space at the market as the space for customers and suppliers to walk and for people to trade is limited. Specific goods are generally clustered together and there are two dried fish sections on the market with dozens of smaller and bigger stalls selling omena. Sizes of stalls generally vary between ½ a meter and 3 meters in length. On Jubilee market 15 traders were interviewed

Kiboswa market Kiboswa market (image 2) is a stretched out market situated outside of Kisumu city with a big zone for fish, especially omena. Stalls are the same sizes as at Jubilee market. There is a small roofed area but a large part of the market is in open air. At this market 9 traders were interviewed.

Chiga market Chiga market (image 5) is a smaller and very compact market selling a lot of omena. Stalls are generally smaller then those at the other markets. There is also a small roofed area but a large part of the market is in open air. This market appeared to be the most polluted and least organized of all markets as there was much damage to the paths. It was also very muddy and there were many beggars and much litter on the ground. At this market 9 traders were interviewed.

Ahero market Ahero market was the most clean and organized market we visited. It is situated outside Kisumu city and all stalls are well maintained, exactly the same size and have a roof. There is a lot of shade and there are no vehicles prohibited on the market. It sells all types of food and again dozens of omena stalls are present. Customers at the market appear more wealthy than customers from Kiboswa and Chiga market. Here 10 people were interviewed.

Kibuye market This is one of the largest open-air markets in all of East Africa. It offers goods from groceries to clothing and services from carpeting to medical treatment. The market is situated in the Kisumu city centre and attracts many customers from all over Kisumu county. The organisation of the market and the stalls appear similar to Jubilee market. There is a lot of omena sold here. We interviewed 9 people at Kibuye market.

22 Asat landing site This is an illegal (unregistered) and small site located in the Nyanza Gulf. Because the bay is shallow, fishermen fish through boat seine fishing which is an illegal fishing method which will be further explained in chapter 5. On the site mainly omena, caradina and juvenile Nile perch is caught and sold. Drying mainly takes place on nets, however we saw omena being dried on the sand. The site appears relatively unclean and unorganized as garbage is spread on the drying area. On Asat beach 8 people were interviewed.

Litare landing site Litare landing site is a bigger site located outside of the Nyanza bay on a long stretched rock formation. According to the BMU chairman there are around 208 fishing boats targetting omena daily and approximately four fishermen per boat fishing. He thinks there are more traders than fishermen on the site on a daily basis. Landed omena is sold to traders all over the country but mainly goes to markets in Homa bay county. According to the Chairman there is a lack of space for drying on the site. The sites appear the most clean and organised of the sites that were visited for the research and the BMU members were open to be interviewed. Here 3 traders were interviewed.

Sindo landing site This is a relatively big landing site near the Tanzanian border with a larger village directly bordering it. The site appears more polluted and impoverished then Litare, Wichlum and Marenga Omena beach. There was nobody from the BMU present to be interviewed about the site. At Sindo beach 4 people were interviewed.

Marenga Omena beach This site is located very close to the border with Uganda and is the biggest site visited. It is divided in multiple beaches landing one type of fish. The landing site is simultaneously a large market selling all kind of goods. According to the BMU secretary it is an intersection of trade between Uganda and Kenya and many boats are owned by Ugandan fishermen. From Uganda they mostly trade fish and charcoal. He estimates that about 700 fishermen are fishing omena and 580 are trading it on a daily basis. Fish sold here is only consumed within Kenya and travels all over the country. Some traders imported fish from Uganda because it is cheaper there. On Marenga beach 4 traders were interviewed.

23 Uhanya landing site Uhanya beach (image 4) is the smallest site visited with a clean landing surface and BMU staff that was very willing to assist us in finding respondents. A small village and market was bordering the site. All the omena was already sold for the day so there were not many people around. There were people landing Nile Perch. On this beach we interviewed 4 traders.

Wichlum landing site Wichlum beach (image 3) appeared well organized and clean. It does not seem to be a big trading hub like Marenga beach but has a community centre on the terrain where many people were gathered drinking tea. The BMU staff was very helpful and guided us through the area, providing us information on the landing, drying and trading that happens on the beach. We were here during landing at 7 in the morning so we did observe all activities. We did not conduct any surveys here.

Map 2: Locations of visited landing sites around Map 3: Locations of visited markets in Kisumu county, Lake Victoria, Kenya Kenya

Sources: Kenya Road Boards (2011)

24 3.5 Data analysis In the data analysis phase SPSS was used to organize and analyse the quantitative survey responses. This enabled comparing the survey answers and define the general characteristics of our sample. The open interview questions form the surveys and the qualitative interviews were analysed partly using Atlas.ti and partly manually during transcribing. In both methods quotes were marked using different labels per topic. Spatial data was analysed using ArcMap. GPS data from different fieldwork locations was translated into maps using databases from ArcGIS online and ArcMap.

3.6 Ethics There is a growing controversy around illegal fishing, fish trade and corruption in and around Lake Victoria. Furthermore, there is much competition in de fishing industry and fisheries communities are known to face poverty and associated social issues. Especially women are marginalized and vulnerable to be exploited. Hence there could be inequalities and power asymmetry among different actors in the fishing network. The people who were interviewed might be affected by these phenomena, since they rely heavily on the resources from the lake. Uncovering their activities, opinions, vulnerabilities and business strategies might make it more easy for people to take advantage of them or their business. And as we were also cooperating with state institutions, their possible engagement with illegal activities might make them vulnerable for prosecution as well. This means that research can have a negative impact on them and their issues, position, stories and answers should be treated with awareness and sensitivity. This was done in multiple ways. Firstly, we were completely transparent about the research, its topic and purpose. Before every interview we gave an introduction about the researchers, with whom they cooperate, what the research is about, what kind of questions they can expect and why this subject is being studied. An important part of this introduction is the fact that the researchers are students and that the data will mainly be used for them to accomplish their Master-studies. Respondents were also told that the findings will be shared with KMFRI, the Fisheries Service and the county government of Kisumu, and that they might act upon it, but that this was not within our control. Accordingly, people were informed on what they could and could not expect of the outcome of the research and how this might or might not serve them. Subsequently, people were explicitly asked for their permission to be interviewed to ensure informed consent. When cooperation was refused this decision was treated with respect. When people agreed to cooperate we automatically ensured their anonymity. Their identity was kept secret by not documenting names or making photo’s, except when they would explicitly asked to be named or photographed. Respondents were also told that they could at all times

25 decide to stop the interview or refuse to answer certain questions. On the advice of KMFRI, all survey respondents were offered a cold soda during the interview to show our appreciation for their collaboration, and afterwards the researchers local telephone number was handed out when requested. If the respondent would like to have or give more information afterwards, they would be able to reach us. To make sure nobody else could access our data documentation and the personal information of respondents, surveys and notes from interviews and observations were always stored in backpacks that were carried by ourselves. It was kept close to us together with other important personal belongings so we could always keep an eye on it. Besides containing structured questions, the survey was designed in a way to make space for the own interpretation of the respondent without unnecessarily leading them. This was mainly in the form of open questions, open answer possibilities and space for notes when the respondent wanted to expand on a certain topic. At the same time topics were clearly introduced to guide the respondent to the type of information that was needed. Nevertheless, there was one topic that was chosen to not address in the survey. Jaboya, or the exchange of sex for trade, was left out. In the view of the researchers, this topic needed more trust, sensitivity and time to address, which was not possible due to limitations in time. The topic would have interfered with the integrity of the respondents in this research. Questions relating to Jaboya, were asked to people involved in policymaking, implementation and research instead.

3.7 Limitations

The major limitations of this research were time related, due to the short fieldwork period in Kenya. This is mostly due to misfortunes that occurred in arranging the practicalities for this research. The fieldwork would originally take place in Mwanza, Tanzania. Yet as a result of political and bureaucratic procedures and outdated information that was provided about those procedures, the research could not take place within the time period that was available for writing the thesis. After a month of unsuccessfully arranging the required documents, permits and visa, it was decided to continue the research in Kenya where entry requirements for researchers are less strict and the University of Amsterdam has more connections. However, less time was available for the fieldwork due to strict schedule in the masters and the financial consequences a longer delay would have for the students doing research. As a result 2,5 weeks of actual fieldwork could take place instead of the planned 6 weeks. In this 2,5 weeks 8 in depth interviews and 75 surveys were conducted. This is not sufficient to give a completely representative picture of the case and the research population. With more time available, we would have liked to do at least the double. Moreover, we would have liked to include ‘illegal traders’ in the research. These are traders, trading outside official

26 marketplaces and possibly without traders permits. Also we would have liked to interview agents (people requiring large quantities for bigger traders and/or industries). But both groups probably needed more time to approach and gain trust. The guidance KMFRI offered, had both advantages and disadvantages for the outcome of our research. It had advantages because KMFRI possess a lot of knowledge on the subject and could point us in the right direction so we could work as efficiently as possible in the short time period. But, it has disadvantages because KMFRI is not an independent organisation and we might have spoken to only one type of respondent that was part of their network, mainly other state institutions. This might have made the sample slightly homogeneous and results slightly one-dimensional because these respondents might have similar views. If there was more time, we would have liked to talk more to BMU’s, local NGO’s and market masters. Another factor that might have limited our research findings has to do with the Western appearance, experience and outsider role. On the one hand we might have been biased because of our western background and world view. Because we are not familiar with Kenyan life and reality, we might not give the right interpretations to answers given by the respondents. Therefore we decided to collaborate closely with our local assistants and asked for their interpretation. These assistants might again have had their own interpretations of our questions and the answers of respondents. To make sure we were on the same page, we had a lot of contact during the interviews and briefed them extensively beforehand. Moreover, we mainly made and used personal notes of the interviews. Furthermore, our western appearance and outsider position might have had an effect on the way we were perceived by respondents. Some traders appeared to be sceptical towards us. They might have questioned our intentions as there is a lot of Western interest in the resources from Lake Victoria. Also many people are involved in illegal fishing practices or are part of the informal economy. They might have held back information, answered incorrectly or were excluded from our research as they did not want to join. We also mostly interviewed traders who were trading on official markets and are possibly missing an important and vulnerable group: the group trading on informal locations. Their access to the supply chain is not included in this research.

27 4. Context: The social-ecological system of Lake Victoria, Kenya

This chapter provides background information about the research space and creates an ecological, social, economic and political context on the basis of scientific literature from different disciplines in relation to omena trade. It starts with an overview of the ecological changes that Lake Victoria endured and describes its current ecological state (4.1). Subsequently it describes demographic and employment trends in Kenya (4.2.) and omena fishing patterns (4.3). Finally, omena fisheries and fish trade governance will be shortly explained. This chapter therefore is a short description of the social-ecological system of the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria.

4.1 Species invasion, eutrophication and climate change

Lake Victoria, spanning over 68,800 square kilometres is the largest tropical lake in the world. It is the spring of the Nile river and its waters are shared by Kenya (6%), Uganda (43%) and Tanzania (51%), with a drainage basin that extends to Rwanda and Burundi (Mucholwa Simiyu et al., 2018). It is a source of food, employment and water for many people and it supports a valuable artisinal and commercial fishery. In recent decades the lake has undergone a series of profound ecological changes. According to a wide variety of studies, these interlinked changes are largely anthropogenic and the direct and indirect result of human interference in natural habitats (Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1990; Verschuren et al, 2002; Kobingi et al., 2009; Hecky et al, 2010; Kolding et al, 2008). The following paragraph presents an overview of literature on the current environmental state of Lake Victoria in relation to fisheries and how it came into being. In the 1950s, several fish species were introduced in Lake Victoria as an ecological experiment in order to boost the production of larger fish, for food consumption and export (Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1990). Among these fish were different Tilapia species (including Oreochromis leucostictus, Tilapia zillii and Tilapia rendalli) and the Nile Perch (Lates niloticus), a large, voracious predator feeding on fish, crustaceans and insects. Around twenty years later the population of Nile Perch increased significantly, also referred to as the ‘Nile Perch Boom’. Although the outcome of this ‘experiment’ is still disputed - the fish production indeed took an immense shift providing communities with revenue, employment and food – these fish have irreversibly transformed the lakes environment. At least 500 native fish species were either extinct or virtually eliminated from the lake after the 1980 Nile perch population explosion (Verschuren et al, 2002; Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1990; Kolding et al, 2008). These comprised mainly endemic cichlid fishes, which are commonly found in fresh water at relatively shallow depth. Up to now, a lot of attention has been given to the Nile Perch invasion in relation to the

28 severe extinction of the lakes native species. The case received much public interest after the award winning documentary Darwin’s Nightmare came out in 2004. The documentary recorded the Nile perch boom and the ecological deterioration on the Tanzanian side of lake Victoria. More information about the documentary can be found at: www.darwinsnightmare.com. The introduction of the fish became one of the most sited examples of the negative effects alien species can have on ecosystems. But studies show other factors might be playing an even larger role when it comes to the wave of extinction in the lake (Verschuren et al, 2002, Seehausen et al., 1997; Kobingi et al., 2009; Hecky et al, 2010). One major problem in the lake is Eutrophication. This is the increase in the concentration of nutrients – most commonly nitrogen and phosphorus - to an aquatic ecosystem. This is a natural occurring phenomenon but is often dramatically increased by human activities (Jonge et al., 2002; Kolding et al, 2008). According to Jonge et al. (2002) there are three major sources of anthropogenic nutrient input. The first is erosion and fertilizer leaching from agricultural areas and the second factor is industrial waste water and sewage from cities. Thirdly atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, from for example the combustion of fossil fuels or animal breeding is known to contribute to the problem. Nutrients can thus enter ecosystems by surface water as well as ground water and air. Palaeolimnological studies on the Kenyan side of the lake show that nutrient loading begun increasing as early as the 1930s well before the Nile Perch was introduced in the lake (Hecky et al, 2010). This is expected to correlate with ongoing population growth in the lake area and the lake has currently become the most eutrophic of the world’s large lakes. Eutrophication can have various ecological and social impacts. When the concentration of inorganic nutrients is too high, phytoplankton species grow and multiply fast. Phytoplankton are microscopic photosynthesising organisms are that require sunlight and those nutrients to multiply (Hecky, 2010). Although those planktons are the food source of numerous of other organisms and thus play a vital role in aquatic food webs, an overload of them can cause hypoxia, a common result of eutrophication (Kolding et al, 2008). Increases of phytoplankton are accompanied by the growth of bacteria that decompose them when they die. In this process the bacteria use a lot of oxygen which can lead to a deficiency. A direct effect of hypoxia are fish kills, and changes in fish population can disrupt whole ecosystems (Hecky, 2010; Kobingi et al., 2009; Verschuren et al., 2002; Kolding et al, 2008). Another effect of eutrophication relates to the breeding of cichlid fish, that used to be abundant in Lake Victoria. Seehausen et al. (1997) describe how the cichlid fish species in Lake Victoria have a very specific sexual selection system and choose mates on the basis of colouration. Eutrophication and the growth of phytoplankton is known to block sunlight and increase turbidity. It is suspected that this light pollution constrained colour vision causing

29 many endemic cichlid fishes in the lake to become reproductively isolated (Seehausen et al, 1997). This might have contributed to the catastrophic decline of these native fish species and thus to the degradation of the whole ecosystem. According to Hecky et al, 2010 climate change is generally less included in the debate around Lake Victoria’s ecosystem degradation and change. There are no large-scale continuous observational records done in the area which makes it difficult to demonstrate a causal relation. Nevertheless, according to Awange et al (2006) Lake Victoria’s water levels have been receding rapidly, and since the lake receives 80 % of its refill through rainfall, climatic contributions cannot be ignored. A meta study from Odada et al, (2009) shows that recent climatic trends for the lake basin have shown 10-40% decreases in rainfall since 1960. A more recent study by Tong et al (2016) showed that the lake levels seemed to be gradually increasing again after 2010 and talk about ‘water level fluctuations’. They expect that besides population growth, fluctuations in rainfall are an important factor. Furthermore climate variability in itself is expected to contribute to eutrophication, decreasing oxygen levels and water transparency (Rijssel et al, 2016). Compared with the 1920s, the surface temperature of Lake Victoria is about 1°C warmer (Njiru et al, 2018). More research on the speed of this warming and the effects of it is required.

4.2 Demographics and employment

Within the Lake Victoria basin, population growth has steadily outpaced continental averages by between 2.5% and 11.3% per decade (Odada et al, 2009). As a result of the wealth of natural resources and the economic benefits the basin offers, the registered population growth within 100 km around the lake is significantly higher than that in the rest of Africa (Odada et al, 2009). Map 4 shows that the population density in the Victoria lake region in 2004 was significantly higher than areas around it. Within Kenya, the human population has doubled over the past 20 years. The country currently counts more than 52,5 million people and is expected to exceed 65 million in 2050 (Kibaru-Mbae, 2018). This is mainly attributed to high birth-rates and improvements in life expectancy. Between 2006 and 2018 the average level increased from 48.9 to 64 years of age. Still the Kenyan population is very young. The median age is currently 19,7 years old (Kibaru-Mbae, 2018) and 80% of its population is below 35 years old (Awiti & Scott, 2016). Altough the Kenyan economy enjoys a leading position in the East and Central African region, an estimated 16,9% of its population lived below the world poverty line in 2015 (Shifa & Leibbrandt, 2017). According to Shifa and Leibbrandt (2017) and Mohajan (2013) this is mainly caused by social inequality, government corruption, an undiversified economy and health

30 problems. A nationwide study from Shifa and Scott (2016) showed that the overall unemployment of people under 35 is around 55%. Especially among rural women the unemployment is high (68%) and the employment rates were lowest among those without a post-secondary education (15%). Although a part of this group might be working in the informal sector as it is estimated that almost 80% of Kenya's total workforce is part of that (Okungu & McIntyre, 2019), these groups enjoy no social protection from the state or other entitlements to certain employment benefits (Okungu & McIntyre, 2019; Vuluku et al., 2013). The International Labour Organization defines the informal sector as “all types of non-formal employment involving workers who are not protected by or bound to national labour laws” (Okungu & McIntyre, 2019, p. 146).

Map 4: Population density in the Lake Victoria region in 2006

Source: Nelson, Andy (2004); African Population Database, UNEP

31 4.3 Lake Victoria fisheries

As mentioned before, growing industrialization, increasing agricultural pollution and sewage from cities and settlements is now considered to be the main driver of Lake Victoria’s degradation. But besides these damaging depositions, this growing population has also been increasingly extracting the lakes resources (Balirwa et al, 2003; Kolding et al, 2008). Where at the beginning of the 20th century the lake was sparsely fished with a variety of simple traditional methods, at the end of the century the lake supported an intensive fishery. This intensification is considered to relate to the introduction of new fishing technologies (e.g. increasingly destructive fishing gear and outboard motors), diversification of markets (especially the export of Nile Perch), and an increased number of fishers (Balirwa et al., 2003). Simultaneously, the explosion of Nile Perch changed the formerly diverse and relatively small fisheries into one in which three species – two of them introduced – make up almost the whole catch (Balirwa et al., 2003; Kolding et al, 2008). This ‘faunal shift’ happened in the mid-1980s and Nile Perch, Nile tilapia and omena have been exploited since. By the early 1990s, the total yield had increased by a factor six compared to ten years earlier and the fisheries production rose from around 100.000 tons per year in the 1980s to about 1 million in 2008 (Kolding et al, 2008; Mkumbo & Marshall, 2015). The Nile Perch fishery formed the basis of a large export industry and around 75% of the reported total landings of Nile Perch in Kenya were exported (Kolding et al, 2008). However, the Nile Perch stock has recently been showing signs of overfishing (Mkumbo & Marshall, 2015; Yongo et al., 2018). Where in the 1980s the catch made up 66% of total fish catches, in 2008 this was only 28%. Besides it having serious consequences for those whose livelihood started to depend on Nile Perch trade (Mkumbo & Marshall, 2015; Yongo et al., 2018), it had allowed prey species like omena, to increase. The small fish gained popularity around 1990 when other indigenous species became extinct due to the Nile Perch invasion (Isaacs, 2016). Since then local demand increased, and after the establishment of the East African Community (EAC) and the Common External Tariffs (CET) early 2005, so did regional demand (Medard 2015). Now this fish, which is known as Dagaa in Swahili and Omena in Luo, is the dominant species fished on and traded from Lake Victoria (Isaacs, 2016; Odongkara et al., 2018). It makes up 55% of the total catches (Odongkara et al., 2018).

4.4 Fisheries governance in Kenya

Since 2010 the national system of governance in Kenya changed to a devolved system of governance and 47 counties now hold certain individual political, administrative and fiscal

32 powers (D’Arcy & Cornell, 2016). The county governments are funded by the national government and collects taxes from its citizens. Counties are – like the national government- divided in different departments and ministries. Policymaking on fisheries and fish trade is partly done by the County Fisheries Department and partly by the National Department of Fisheries (Pinkerton, 2018). Policy implementation and law enforcement regarding the resource happens in cooperation with the national- and county department of fisheries, the county Fisheries Service, the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) and Beach Management Units (BMUs). KMFRI does research on behalf of these institutions. According to two of our in depth-interview respondents: Christine Okoth, Assistant Director of Fisheries and Robert Wanyama, Principal Fisheries Officer at the Fisheries Service in Kisumu, the County Department of Fisheries and the Fisheries Service more or less have the same tasks, which includes: licensing, policymaking, reviewing regulations, training of staff and contacts with the Beach Management Units at the landing sites. The Fisheries Service came into existence a while after the devolution, and according to them employees from the county office were moved to the Fisheries Service. According to in-depth interview respondent Ken Luga, County Director of Fisheries of Kisumu, the difference is that the County Department and him in particular, maintains contact with the National Department of Fisheries. Beach Management Units are the representatives of the people working in fisheries. Every landing site has a BMU through which policies made higher up are executed and problems, wishes and suggestions from fishermen and traders are communicated in the name of ‘co-management’ (Pinkerton, 2018; Medard, 2015). Officers of BMUs are elected by the fishery community and are consequently more directly involved in policymaking. Finally the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) is a regional institution under the East African Community which through different projects aims to harmonise, develop and adopt conservation and management measures for the sustainability of Lake Victoria and its resources, and to optimise the socio-economic benefits it offers (Pinkerton, 2018). From the in-depth interviews with officials from the Fisheries Service, County Department of Fisheries and KMFRI it appears that since the devolution, governance is not at its full capacity yet. According to in depth-interview respondents Ken Luga, Christine Okoth and Horace Owiti, some newly constructed institutions are not yet operational as there is a lack of employees and funding. While this study is aware of these policy complications, it was decided to not engage further in this topic here, since this study focuses on traders. More insights into Kenya’s fisheries governance can be found in the master thesis: Challenges in the dagaa supply chain for direct human consumption (2019), by Loes van der Plaat.

33 5. Results

This chapter gives an overview of the observation and interview results of both the in-depth interviews and the survey interviews. Interviewed policymakers, policy implementers and researchers will be referred to by their (last) names. An overview of these respondents and their affiliation can be found in Annex 2. The traders who were interviewed by using the survey, are kept anonymous (with exception of a few respondents that wished to be named). In the text survey respondents are referred to by their survey number. A list of the survey respondents, the date of their interview, their number or name, their gender (m/f) and the location at which they were interviewed are displayed in Annex 3. The survey can be viewed in Annex 4. This chapter is divided to give a systemic view (5.1) and an actor view (5.2) on the fieldwork results. It starts with a description of the omena supply chains for local and domestic consumption (5.1). This paragraph is divided in the chain nodes: Environment and stocks (5.1.1), Harvesting (5.1.2), Processing (5.1.3), Wholesale, retail and distribution (5.1.4), Consumption (5.1.5) and the Fishmeal industry (5.1.6). In paragraph 5.2 the social-economic position of the omena trader is explained from an actor point of view (5.2.1). Furthermore trader’s accessibility (5.2.2) and their adaptability (5.2.3.) are described. Finally, in paragraph 5.3 the possibility of involution will be discussed.

5.1 Systemic approach: The omena supply chain for local and domestic consumption

5.1.1 Environment and stocks As described in paragraph 4.2, studies show that omena stocks have increased over time. Lake Victoria fisheries Organisation in cooperation with the Fisheries Service and KMFRI gathered data on stocks in Kenya and confirmed that this is the case since 2000. However, according to Monica Owili, research officer in charge of catch assessment for KMFRI, the last two stock assessments of KMFRI said that “the availability of omena is slowing down in terms of biomass”. This is measured using data on omena catches so according to her this only shows that “fishermen don’t catch as much as they used to”. She mentions herself that measuring catches is not the correct way to measure stocks so it does not actually prove stocks are decreasing. But according to her it might be possible and further assessment is going on. She thinks it is plausible that the recent decline in catches is mostly due to the water hyacinth invasion which in certain periods makes it impossible to enter parts of the lake.

34 The water hyacinth is an invasive water plant species which is originally native to the South American continent and is expected to be introduced to Lake Victoria through human activity. According to Horace Owiti, scientist at department of socio-economics for KMFRI, the hyacinth flower is reputed for its beauty and has been distributed all over the world to decorate gardens. It is assumed that the plant entered the lake through the river Kagera from Rwanda in the 1980s. Due to abundant nutrients, favourable climate conditions, abundance of space and a lack of natural predators the plant could proliferate. Owiti: “It grows extremely fast if it is in a good environment and can double in size within a week”. According to Rodrick Kundu, Fisheries expert for Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP), it is also a very adaptive plant species and seeds can survive up to thirty years. Similar to algae invasions, the hyacinth proliferation is connected to pollution, eutrophication and hypoxia as explained in paragraph 4.1. Rodrick Kundu confirms that the main polluters in Lake Victoria and particularly in shallow waters and in Nyanza Gulf are agriculture, sedimentation, sewage from cities and gold mining. Besides affecting catches, the water hyacinth in combination with pollution might, according to M. Owili, H. Owiti and R. Kundu also be affecting omena stocks because the species is not tolerant to low oxygen levels. There are indications that omena stocks are increasingly developing much further away from the coast, which according to Monica Owili could indicate omena is pulling back from the polluted shores. This is disadvantageous to Kenyan fishermen because those deeper waters are mainly part of Tanzania and Uganda. Moreover, it might also explain the slight decrease in catches which has recently been observed.

5.1.2 Harvesting The harvesting of omena in Kenya happens through seine fishing. This is a fishing method employing a fishing net called a ‘seine’, which hangs vertically in the water with its top edge floating and its bottom held down by weights. According to Owiti and Owili The most common way to seine fish omena is to use pressure lamps and encircling small seine nets. The bright lamps attract omena to the surface and by encircling the lamps slowly by the net, they can be easily scooped up. This is method is called ‘small seine’ fishing and is the only legal way to fish omena as it selectively targets the fish and does not disturb the lakes surface. However according to Owiti, Owili and Luga fishermen are increasingly using boat seine fishing. In boat seine fishing, nets are commonly larger and no lamps are used to attract fish. This method is considered to be less sustainable as it creates a lot of by-catch of other species. Therefore the method is official illegal in Kenya. Nevertheless, according to Owiti it is currently the only method used in the Nyanza gulf as the water is too contaminated and lamps are not attracting omena.

35 Similar to omena stocks, catches have been increasing in Kenya since the beginning of the new millennium as well, and about 57% of the total catches in Kenya currently comprises omena (Monica Owili, Christopher Mulanda). In the interviews, Owili, Owiti, Mulanda and Kundu all believed this growth is related to two main factors: (1) the decline in catches of Nile Perch and Tilapia and (2) the use of more efficient fishing gear like motorised boats, lamps and bigger nets. They assume that people are increasingly targeting omena as a substitute to Nile Perch and Tilapia, and improved fishing gear makes it possible to increase catches. Studies and monitoring by KMFRI in cooperation with the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization and the Fisheries Service, showed that the fishing capacity – the number of fishermen, boats and fishing gear going into the lake on a daily basis – has been increasing (Christopher Aura). However, Monica Owili mentions that there are indications that catches in Kenya have been slightly falling very recently. Owili: “The number of people going into the lake has increased which means the fish is now becoming scarcer. And the use of harmful illegal fishing gear has evolved. Fishermen are increasingly using illegal nets, even mosquito nets to fish.” As mentioned before, people have increasingly been boat seine fishing. Monica Owili claims that the past few years KMFRI observed that illegal fishing has an impact on the availability of fish in general and that there has been a change in the quantity that has been landed. During the time this research took place (in April) there was almost no fishing in Kisumu county due to a water hyacinth invasion in the Nyanza gulf. Its arrival is normally seasonal because water hyacinths flow with the wind. According to Monica Owili the water plants usually disappear in December but this year they stayed unusually long. Within the Kisumu bay there was virtually no omena and according to Monica Owili (research officer in charge of catch assessment for KMFRI) multiple beaches in the Nyanza Gulf had to close down.

36 Image 3: Traders/processors buying fish from fishermen, Wichlum beach, Kenya (May, 2019)

5.1.3 Processing From observation at the landing sites and the interviews appeared that processing largely happens in the form of drying. This takes place on the landing sites and is almost 100% done by women in the fishing communities on the beach. After landing in the early morning, fish is spread out, mostly on fishing nets on the ground and sun-dried. Processors spread and turn the fish with hand brooms made from branches. When it is dried at the end of the day, traders and transporters come to buy and collect the fish and distribute it all over the country. According to Christine Okoth, assistant Director of Fisheries for the Fisheries Service in Kisumu, drying requires a lot of precision. When the fish is not dried enough, it can decay. In that case, omena becomes brown instead of silver, smelly and the taste becomes sour and bitter. But when omena is dried too long, the nutritional value decreases because vitamins and minerals disappear. Both ways, it decreases the value which leaves fishermen, boat owners and processors with low revenues. According to Christopher Aura fishermen/processors are also forced to throw bad fish away, omena is therefore known to be a fishery with a lot of fish spills. With the growth of omena catches, come increasing challenges in the processing of omena fish. According to Joyce Okwara, Horace Owiti and Christine Okoth drying requires a lot of space which is often limited. This means more omena is dried on the same space, making proper drying more difficult. Furthermore, processors are forced to dry outside the nets directly on the sand, polluting the fish with sand. According to them another factor which challenges the

37 quality of omena are weather conditions. In the rainy seasons from April to late May and from the end of October to December there are many spills because it is difficult to dry. Rodrick Kundu thinks that with the increasing impact of climate change, weather patterns could get more unpredictable, aggravating the problem.

Image 4: Processors/trader drying omena at Uhanya beach (May 2019)

5.1.4 Wholesale, retail and distribution The study identified different kinds of omena traders active at different stages in the supply chain. Although, according to Joyce Okwara the trade of fresh omena is increasing in Kisumu and in villages around the lake, for this study it was decided to solely focus on the trade of dried omena. This is the most traded and consumed product nationwide. According to Horace Owiti, traders of dried omena can generally be divided in wholesale and retail. Wholesale traders sell fish to other traders and retail traders sell fish to consumers. In reality, most traders seemed to be trading to both: other traders and consumers. For this study the classification was therefore based on to which group omena was mostly traded to. Furthermore, from the in-depth interviews as well as the surveys appeared that trade occurs on multiple kinds of locations, starting at the landing site, sometimes passing distribution points and ending up at (or passing though) different markets or informal selling points throughout the country. Most of the survey respondents were aware of the location that

38 their procured fish is landed. Their answers on the question where most of their fish is being landed, were mapped and are portrayed in map 5. Remarkably, the large majority of the respondent’s fish, was landed outside the Nyanza gulf and are thus landed relatively far away from Kisumu. Only two landing sites were mentioned within the gulf. This might confirm that large parts of the Nyanza gulf are unfit for fishing for parts of the year. It appeared from our data that a wide array of actors are part of the route the fish travels, selling and reselling it along the way (figure 2). Traders can be individual fishermen, individual processors, boat-owners, truck drivers or agents employed by large scale traders to buy fish, the large scale traders themselves and individuals having small scale businesses working part-time or full-time in the trade. Finally, there are people offering services supporting the trade and distribution. These include people carrying buckets and sacks of fish and people owning land or vehicles. They all work together creating a diversified and complex supply chain network of omena which is generally difficult to track. The fieldwork for this research took place on formal markets in Kisumu and on landing sites. Therefore a more simplified classification was made of: 1) retail traders, 2) wholesale traders and 3) processors trading omena either for themselves or for someone else. We spoke mainly to retail traders (57,3 %) followed by wholesale traders (33.3 %) and processor/traders (9,3 %). Most people were self-employed without employees (70.7 %) followed by being self- employed with employees (18,7 %) and people that did not own the business and were employed to trade for someone else (10.7 %) (table 1). From the surveys appeared that payments are mostly made through Mpesa, a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and micro financing service from Safaricom and Vodacom, Kenya’s main mobile network operators. Money is transferred through this service from device to device which allows making deals from longer distances without face to face contact. In most cases traders on landing sites pay to transport the goods to the respective trader on a market after which this trader transfers the money to the supplying trader after sales. Nearly all respondents used Mpesa in their business. According to our survey respondents omena prices vary, depending on the quality, season, location and number of people involved in the chain of that particular fish.

Table 1: Overview of types of traders and businesses that were involved in this research Type of trader % Type of business % Retail trader 57.3 Self-employed without employees 70.7 Wholesale trader 33.3 Self-employed with employees 18.7 Processor/trader 9.4 Employed by someone else 10.6 Total 100 Total 100

39 Image 5: Chiga fish market in Kisumu county, Kenya (May, 2019)

Figure 2: Omena supply chain for local/domestic consumption, constructed on the basis of 75 surveys with omena traders in Kenya

40 Map 5: Omena flows: locations where the omena our survey respondents buy, is landed

Source: Esri, HERE, Gamin (ny)

41 5.1.5 Consumption Originally, omena is regarded as ‘poor men's food’ according to Christopher Aura, Horace Owiti and Christine Okoth. It has many advantages for lower class people. It is cheap, nutritious, easily divisible and it can be purchased in small quantities and be stored for a long time without needing fridges or electricity. According to Christopher Aura omena is less consumed by higher class people because it is associated with lower classes. Through time it has been stigmatized and according to Owiti and Aura higher class groups do not view it as proper food. They see it as an option for people that cannot afford real fish. However, with changing fish stocks in Lake Victoria there are less other options available for fish consumption. Nile Perch was already mostly exported but especially Tilapia is less available and its price increased. According to Aura, Owiti and Okoth middle class households therefore have increasingly incorporated omena into their diets. Especially people living around Lake Victoria, which are mainly Luo, are brought up eating fish so they are looking for alternatives (Christopher Aura). That is why the fish is getting more accepted and the demand for omena has increased. According to Aura and Owiti this is also due to increasing costs of living and population growth. According to Christopher Aura the demand of omena is currently higher than the supply. This is confirmed by the survey respondents because the majority of the respondents agreed with the statement that ‘the demand for dagaa has increased in recent years’ (72%). Of the remaining respondents 16% was neutral and 12% disagreed.

5.1.6 The Fishmeal industry Moreover, Kenya has a growing aquaculture industry needing cheap raw materials to provide protein to its fish. Therefore an established fishmeal industry has emerged in Kenya (Horace Owiti). These industries have been using omena to make fishmeal because for long this was the cheapest available option. Though recently, it became more interested in Caridina nilotica, a small freshwater shrimp species which is native to the Nile river and Lake Victoria according to Owiti. Caridina is mostly accidentally catched by omena fishers and not used for human consumption. Therefore it is cheaper than omena which according to Owiti makes it attractive for the fishmeal industry. Moreover, Joyce Okwara and Rodrick Kundu and Christopher Aura explain that these industries have been importing omena from Tanzania and Uganda where the fish is cheaper than in Kenya. According to them the lower price is mostly related to the fact that human consumption of omena is much lower in those two countries. They have a bigger share of the lake, higher catches of other fish and a smaller population. Also landed omena tends to be bigger in size in those countries according to Horace Owiti. It is expected that, because of the high demand and polluted water in Kenya, fishermen catch more juveniles. According to Owiti

42 omena also might have adapted to the high catch rates and poor water quality by decreasing its size. But this is not confirmed. Although academics worry that fishmeal industries interfere with local food security in many parts of the world, most respondents in this study think this is currently not the case in Kenya. According to Christopher Aura, omena stays in the Kenyan food web, because as fishmeal it is mainly used to feed fish and animals consumed domestically. Moreover, the aquaculture- and fishmeal industry are currently small and they don’t target omena landed in Kenya. However, Horace Owiti thinks fishmeal industries are very powerful because they have capital and agents working for them. A political, economic or ecological shift could change the current situation and the preferences of the fishmeal industry. If domestic omena becomes attractive to them, it would be difficult for traders for local consumption to compete. And at the moment Tanzania - a big exporting country – is increasingly securitizing its property and decreasing international trade.

5.2 Actor approach

5.2.1 Social-economic and cultural position of omena trader From this research appeared that most omena traders in Kenya generally are from a similar social-economic and cultural background. According to M. Owili, H. Owiti and C. Aura, almost all people in omena trade are women. This was reflected in the survey data as 94,7% of the people interviewed were female traders. According to H. Owiti there is a clear gendered segregation in trade in Kenya and except for butcheries, the trade in food is female dominated. M. Owili thinks omena trade is female dominated because the capital needed to start a business is small. Most women in Kenya have a lower financial position and cannot make big investments. According to C. Okoth the division exists because fishing has culturally been a men’s job as it is physically tough. After a night of fishing, fishermen need to rest, so the labour after landing was automatically done by women. She thinks that through time omena processing and trade might have emasculated and became specificity female activities. Moreover, M. Owili, H. Owiti and C. Aura claim that most people working in omena fishing and trade are generally more marginalized, belonging to lower class groups in society. Owiti: “Most people that work in Dagaa are perceived as people who could not make it well in education, they could not progress further. (…) They are associated with a social class that is very less fortunate and trying to make ends meet from a resource that they can easily access because capital requirements are low.” Although, recently there seems to be a social shift in trade, as I will elaborate later in this sub-paragraph, the typical profile of an omena trader used to be a widowed or divorced single women from a lower class background. H. Owiti and J Okwara claim

43 that while this is no longer the typical case, omena traders are still often lower educated women and illiterate people that did not have access to land to farm or other property to domesticate. From the in-depth interviews appeared three interrelated side stories that are important for an understanding of the marginalized position of omena traders in Kenyan society. The first is the HIV epidemic spanning over the 1980s, 90s and 00s in Kenya and specifically in the lake area. The second is the trading for sex which is called ‘Jaboya’ and is common in all sectors of Kenyan economy but is specifically associated to fisheries. Lastly are the communal rights and the position of woman in Kenyan society. According to H. Owiti the Kenyan side of the Lake Victoria region currently has a HIV prevalence rate of around 21 % which is one of the highest in the African continent. Owiti and Aura claim this is related to the Lake Victoria fishing business, and HIV is highly prevalent among the fishing communities. People in fisheries are known to have changing sexual encounters. According to Owiti and Aura this is partly due to the strong gendered division of labour in the fishing business and the vulnerable group of female processors and traders involved in trade. Owiti states that many people falling into the trade of omena are single women, looking for ways to survive, and therefore they are very easy to exploit sexually. Owiti: “Omena trade is associated with promiscuity because women in the trade were not specifically associated with a particular family”. Therefore, having sexual encounters with fishermen was for a long time the only way for this group to get access to the fishery business. Christine confirms this statement and explains that: “If I [a single female trader] get the supply from the fishermen, I need to agree to sex. If I don’t agree, it can take 3 days or 5 days, but you won’t get fish from anyone. This is how it works”. Even though Joyce Okwara claims that the trade of sex for resources to sell is prevalent in every sector of Kenyan economy, according to Owiti and Okoth fisheries are especially known for it. Fishermen were infecting female traders and those traders were infecting other men. Those men subsequently infected their wives, who became widowed because their infected husband died. These women were forced to enter omena trade to sustain their families, engaging in Jaboya themselves and infecting again more people. Horace Owiti: “Whole villages have been cleared like that”. According to him HIV affects sexes differently and men die faster than women. That is why there were and still are many single women in the lake area. Although there are efforts to change this, single women especially have a marginalised and complicated position in society. When a woman is widowed, culturally the brother of her husband ‘inherits’ the woman. However, according to Horace Owiti in reality this almost never happens because polygamy is not truly accepted at the same time. He calls this a ‘cultural mismatch’. Moreover, when a relatively younger woman is widowed or separated, it is very difficult for her to stay in the home of her husband because most of the time brothers inherit the

44 land as well and push the woman out. Until recently women were legally not allowed to inherit land from their parents either and once they get married they are considered to have moved to a different family. Owiti: “It is a disgrace for a woman to come back. And it is worse when they get back with children, because they are seen as competitors with the sons of that home for inhering land and other things.” Since the new constitution in 2011 this has been corrected and women are now legally allowed to inherit land. Yet, from the interview with Horace Owiti appears that in reality this rarely happens because the former heritage system is deeply embedded culturally. Although many traders are still single women from lower income groups, Owiti and Aura claim that there has been a new group coming into trade recently. Owiti thinks that people are increasingly realizing that they can make money out of omena and nowadays there are more educated people coming into the trade. According to Christopher Aura, society is changing very fast and people are starting to care more about making an income and improving their livelihoods than the status of their work. At the same time the Kenyan population and costs of living are increasing and there are limited employment opportunities. Therefore you can find more people from stable families engaging in omena trade. These are often people with more capital to invest. Aura: “There is a whole value chain inclusion, it is changing because the available quantity of omena is high”. Apart from social-economic aspects, there also seems to be a large ethnic component to trade. According to C. Aura and H. Owiti, most people working in omena, are from the Luo tribe. Not only in the lake area which is known to be mainly inhabited by Luo people, but traders all over the country. According to H. Aura this is a result of the networks in omena trade and the trust it involves, on which this chapter will elaborate in 5.3.2. The vast majority of traders interviewed for this study was from the Luo tribe (92%). The remaining 8 %, was Luhya, another ethnic group in Kenya mainly living in Busia county where a part of the fieldwork took place. The survey data predominantly confirmed the above. The traders that were interviewed for this study were mostly lower educated, as 10.7 % had followed no education, 60 % went to primary school only, 26% also did secondary school, 2,7% made it to college and 0% had a university degree. Furthermore, 58,7% was married, 34,7 % widowed, 5,3 % single and 1,3 % separated. Most traders were between the age of 30 and 45, and even though the majority of the interviewed traders were women, 52 % of them was head of the household, meaning they are the main provider. From the remaining group 45.3 % was spouse and 2,7 lived with parents (table 2). The average household size of the respondents was 7 people (table 3). This means our typical respondents were middle-aged women who were either married but contributing to the income by trading omena, or single and the main provider for a family.

45 Table 2: Overview of education level, marital status and household position of survey respondents Education level % Marital status % Household position % No education 10.7 Married 58.7 Head 52 Primary 60 Widowed 34.7 Spouse 45.3 Secondary 26 Single 5.3 Living with parents 2.7 College 2.7 Separated 1.3 - - University 0 - - - - Total 100 Total 100 100

Table 3: Average age and household size of survey respondents Average age Average household size 30 – 45 7

5.2.2 Accessibility From the survey as well as the in depth interviews appears that omena trade is relatively easy to access which is one of the main reasons it is attracting more traders at the moment (Horace Owiti). As mentioned before, capital requirements are low, meaning vulnerable groups in society can enter the trade as well. Furthermore, the trade seems to be attractive to invest in. From the supply side, the availability is high, and the demand of the resource is high as well. This even seems to be increasing as the Kenyan population grows and other fish species get scarcer. It appears from the survey answers that the majority of the respondents do not experience great difficulties in sustaining their livelihood from omena trade. The majority of the respondents stated that their income from omena trade allowed them to meet at least their basic needs to live (80%). The remaining part was neutral (6,7%), disagreed (10.7%) and strongly disagreed (2.7%). However, the survey data showed that traders are experiencing challenges as well. On the supply side 20% disagreed with the statement that they generally receive sufficient omena for sale against 29.3% that was neutral and 50,7% that did not encounter supply problems. Yet, 82.7% of traders mentioned they struggle with supply fluctuations and associated price fluctuations (88%). This suggests that most traders do occasionally have problems in accessing omena. Moreover, traders indicate they periodically have difficulties with accessing good quality. A small majority of the survey respondents 56% experiences problems with the quality of their product. Respondent 12 stated this is especially evident during rainy seasons when omena is not dried properly. Furthermore, multiple respondents (3, 6, 12, 19, 29, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 44, 47, 50, 52, 53, 61, 64, 65, 69, 73) indicated they were periodically facing problems on the demand side during times of economic stagnation. During the time this research took place there was a small recession going on. According to Horace Owiti this is always happening during the first couple of months of a new year because people have to pay school fees and finish their savings.

46 Therefore purchasing power drops and money circulation stagnates. Respondent 6 (f) trading at Kibuye market explained in good times she sells one sack of omena a day, but currently this is ½ sack a week due to a decrease in customers. Respondent 31 (f) trading at Ahero market, explains that she can compensate bad times like this with increasing sales in the dry season. According to her omena sales go up during draught because maze and vegetables become more expensive.

Legally It also appears to be relatively easy to access the trade of omena in legal terms, as Christine Okoth and Robert Wanyama mention that anybody can get a traders licence costing 300 ksh (+/- € 2,60) a year. This price is the same for everybody, from small scale individual traders to large scale businesses employing staff. When transporting fish from one area to another people need a movement permit costing 50 ksh (+/- € 0,45) a year. This too applies to every business similarly, except when fish is transported by truck. Then it gets more expensive. Both permits are accessible via the county Fisheries service. Furthermore, all traders need a health certificate costing 800 ksh (+/- € 8) a year handed out from the public health department from the county of residence. This is mandatory for all food traders, in order to make sure they are fit to handle food and won’t spread diseases. When requested by law enforcement, traders need to be able to show at least the traders permit and the health certificate and if relevant, the movement permit. During the breeding season of omena, fishing is officially not allowed in Lake Victoria. Approximately three months a year beaches are supposed to close down in Kenya as well as Uganda and Tanzania. It is believed the species can breed better and stocks can recover. The law is thus regional and was created by the East African Community on the advice of studies done by the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP). According to Okoth, Aura, Owiti and Kundu the regulation is now officially still there but in reality not enforced. According to Christine Okoth: “It died a natural death”, because it is a regulation that is supposed to be enforced by all countries but in reality only Kenya was doing that. Eventually, the Kenyan government realized they were the only country carrying the burden of the law while the common goal was not realised, so law enforcement stopped patrolling and fishermen started to fish all year long again. According to Christine Okoth, during the ban many fishermen and traders complained that they were struggling to sustain their livelihood. Although, she thinks there are other options for them to work around the ban, she mentioned that many traders indicated it was problematic for them to not have access to the commodity for about 3 months a year. The survey results partly confirmed this as respondent 5, 33, 44 and 45 mentioned their worries about the law and its possible return in the future. However, respondent 33 (f) trading at Ahero

47 market requested for the return of the closed season because she worries the stock is currently being exploited and she might not have a business in the future.

Physical condition, -location and trickery Another subject that was studied in order to determine people’s accessibility, is their physical condition. As it is not allowed in Kenya to be in food trade while having certain diseases, some people are automatically excluded from it. However, from the interviews it did not become clear to us which exact diseases this includes and how this is being enforced. On the other hand, there are laws in Kenya supporting disabled people. Respondent 45 for example, has a disability herself and therefore does not have to pay market fees and taxes. Respondent 36 and 38 think this kind of financial assistance should be available for elderly as well as they have more difficulty in sustaining their business. Horace Owiti confirmed that elderly people in trade are often in more precarious situations and that especially elderly female fish traders are more likely to be impoverished. Regarding the physical aspect of accessibility, location seems to matter as well. As mentioned earlier, around Kisumu bay and in the Nyanza Gulf there is not much fishing possible for multiple months a year and possibly less omena in general. According to Horace Owiti fish around Kisumu must therefore be coming from further away which is increasing transport costs and prices, and making the fish less accessible for traders with less investment opportunities. Another challenge that comes simultaneously is that the infrastructure of some of the distant beaches is not well enough to reach the market, especially during the rainy season when roads can be flooded and muddy (Christine Okoth). Furthermore, respondent 6, 8 and 26 selling at Kisumu markets mentioned they were bothered by traders selling at illegal locations outside official markets. Although those traders have the risk of being caught and paying fines, they can chose favourable locations, like infrastructural hubs, where many customers pass and there is no competition from other traders. On official markets often dozens of omena traders are situated together selling exactly the same product. Multiple survey respondents (12, 15, 24, 61, 66) mentioned they were bothered by the competition at the markets by having to share customers with many others at the same location. Respondent 6 (f) trading at Kibuye market thinks it is also unfair that illegal traders don’t pay taxes and market fees. She thinks the county is not sufficiently acting against illegal trade.

Social identity, Social relations and trickery. According to Horace Owiti, Christopher Aura and Christine Okoth, the trade in omena is highly based on social relations and a network of mainly Luo communities. Often the fish trader or processor is family from the fishermen or boat owner and especially trade happening on

48 landing sites is part of a family business (Horace Owiti). Networks, communal ties and social relations – through either family ties, friendship, village or ethnicity – are important in omena trade because, according to Owiti, it involves a lot of trust. Many people operate using others capital, pay after their goods are sold or are in informal trade. Horace Owiti: “So you choose somebody who is a member of your own community who is easy to trace when somebody is tricking you.” That is why, even people trading in other parts of the country are often somehow related to people trading near the lake, and are thus often Luo. Various survey respondents confirmed this as respondent 3, 17, 20, 28, 32, 33 39, 51, 52, 63 and 73 explicitly mentioned transporters and fellow traders need to be someone familiar because there can be mistrust on the supply side. Respondent 28 (f) a trader with a large stall at Ahero market: “It’s a highly competitive trade, many people cheat by not giving you money or supply.” Nearly all respondents mentioned it is very common to pay the supplier for the fish after you sold it to new customers. Respondent 63 (f), a processors/trader on Uhanya beach: “for a trader or processor to get fish from fishermen directly, one has to be related to the fishermen”

Material wealth and financial capital Although capital requirements in omena trade are low, people with more capital seem to be able to more easily access the supply chain, the market and support services than people with less capital. Especially buying fish from stages early in the supply chain, for instance from fishermen at landing sides, is more lucrative; however, only when procuring large quantities so transport costs can be cut. Horace Owiti: “When buying from fishermen or employing them, you make more money because there is less interference from other parties needing revenue.” Respondent 29 owns a boat and has fishermen exclusively working for her and says she doesn’t notice much competition because she always has fish supply. Moreover, Owiti mentions that traders buying large quantities are usually more attractive to sell to and thus in a better position. Respondent 56 and 58, who are wholesale traders, mention they prefer to sell to large-scale businesses because they buy everything at once. Respondent 64 says she prefers selling to agents from companies in Nairobi because they pay higher prices and buy larger quantities as well. She also goes actively networking there. In contrast, small-scale traders with less capital do not have that advantage and can even be blocked by the large-scale ones. Respondent 10, 23 and 28 for example struggle with people employing agents to buy omena because they buy bigger quantities and are able to pay higher prices. Respondent 28 (f) trading at Chiga market: “They [agents] sometimes block me because they have more money.” Respondent 67 (m) trading at Liitare beach notices that agents from large businesses and processing companies cause price fluctuations making it more

49 difficult at times to obtain fish. There thus appears to be a group of traders that finds it more difficult to sustain their business and their livelihood from omena. In this study this seemed to be the case for about 20% of the total group. Respondent 7, 17, 18, 19, 27 and 39 mention they lack capital and are forced to buy small quantities from other traders at the market. The prices there are much higher but they need to make some money and do not see other options. Around 40 % of the traders mentioned they felt stuck in their business and needed capital to increase stock and sales in order to improve their livelihood. Respondent 17 (f) trading at Jubilee market finds that small scale traders like her, should be given financial assistance or be excluded from permits to improve their business.

5.3.3 Adaptability

Social strategies From most interviews it appeared that in order to improve their business and thereby adapting to possible unfavourable economic changes, traders mainly use their social network. According to Christopher Aura and Horace Owiti traders primarily use networking and information sharing to increase their access to the supply chain. According to Horace Owiti, the profit margin of omena is generally not that high so credit worthiness is – as mentioned before -mainly ensured through family ties and trust. Respondent 26 (f) from Chiga market mentions during the survey that she made connections at various landing sites to ensure a stable supply of omena. She gets her fish from specific fishermen in her network she can trust and protects herself from supply fluctuations. Another way to secure themselves from market fluctuations and economic setbacks is to form informal traders groups with fellow traders. This is very common in all parts of society and 64% of the survey respondents was part of a traders group themselves. These groups work in different ways, have different sizes and diversities in members. Some groups exist of only a couple of traders and some can include 50 people. Members can be trading the same good or trading different goods. They can be from the same market or village or from different markets. They can be only women, mixed gendered, meet daily or once every month. They can meet to exchange knowledge, find financial support or both. Most traders we spoke to cooperated with other traders through table banking (62.6%). This is a group funding strategy where members of a particular group save and borrow directly from their group savings in either long term or short term loans. Loans and savings are carefully administered and members act as guarantors to each other’s loan which motivates members to keep each other accountable. Table banking sometimes goes hand in hand with ‘merry go round’. This is another funding strategy where at every meeting all group members contribute

50 the same amount of money in a pool, which is given to a different group member every time. As such a small part of everyone’s profits is spread over its group members evenly and once in a while you have some extra money to invest in your business or use in your personal life. 10.6% of the survey respondents does merry go round with their traders group. According to Christine Okoth it is very common in Kenyan society, especially among women. There are also NGOs actively encouraging these kind of practices as it is believed to empower women especially. However, there is a minimal amount of money required to join these kind of initiatives and some people seem to miss out. Respondent 6 (f) from Kibuye market for example would like to join a traders group but can’t afford to invest an amount of money as she is widowed and can barely make ends meet. Her problem is that she has no capital to grow. Her income is too low to loan from banks and she can’t join a trader group because you need to pay membership money and give a daily contribution which she has not. According to Christine Okoth most women who trade get their capital from their spouses but when a woman is single she needs other ways to ensure supply. In that case women have to find other solutions to access the supply chain. Although Owiti, Owili and Okwara think Jaboya decreased over time as people became aware of HIV, Okoth did research on it two years ago and found that it was still very common in omena trade. Okoth: “When you are married, you just get the fish from your husband, but single or widowed women, yes.” According to her it are mostly women that get fish straight from the fishermen or boat owners which are women living on or near landing sites.

Technical strategies In technical terms there are ways traders attempt to increase their access as well. On the supply side, traders look where to purchase the cheapest fish. Traders that can afford it therefore buy larger quantities at once from fishermen where the prices are the lowest. Furthermore respondent 50 (f) and 52 (f) from Marenga omena beach buy fish from Ugandan fishermen and traders because omena prices are significantly lower there. Respondent 36 (f) from Ahero market prefers to buy from fishermen, which she does when she is financially stable. Otherwise, she buys small quantities from other traders. Furthermore according to Horace Owiti traders, especially from middle classes, adapt to invest in the supply chain. They employ fishermen, buy their own gear and ideally also boats. In this way traders ensure a permanent supply and the lowest price and can control the way fish is processed so they have the best quality omena. From the demand side traders occasionally reduce prices, especially in lower seasons when sales go down. Moreover traders reduce prices to sell larger quantities at once. For respondent 4, 11, 16, 17, 23, 43, 45, 50, 58, 62 and 63 the fishmeal industry functions as an alternative end market in the rainy season when omena quality is sometimes poor. The industry sometimes sells its unsold fish for lower prices. Moreover Owiti claims that traders also adapt to

51 lower demand, price variations or low profits by selling omena in distant markets where the prices are relatively higher. Respondent 28 does that and explains that when her business goes well, she sells in Mombassa to a contact. Another way according to Owiti in which traders protect themselves against price fluctuations is to collude. This means they collectively agree on a fixed price which especially happens when weather conditions have been unfavourable for drying and omena’s value drops. Other traders are forced to sell the Omena for the same price because they want to get rid of their products. This can happen in all stages of trade. These agreements can be made by fishermen and by traders and can thus work in both directions. Beach Management Units do also set fixed prices for fishermen, in order to protect them from price fluctuations. Another option to cut costs is to enter illegal trade. In this way traders can bypass taxes, permit costs and/or market costs and select favourable locations. Although there is a risk of paying fines, it is expected that there are many people in illegal Omena trade (Okwara and Owiti). Almost all of our survey respondents use Mpesa to make payments. This is increasing people’s supply chain accessibility because it lowers the importance of physical presence when making deals. Traders also used M-Shwari and M-Kopa which are both services offered by M- pesa. M-shwari is a free money saving service where people can save money on a mobile phone account with interest. M-kopa is a microfinance service where small amounts of money can be loaned. (20% of respondents) It is relatively secure because when payments are late, a customer’s account freezes until he or she catches up. Moreover respondents 21, 5, 6, 12, 13, 16, 26, 34, 42, 61, 62 loaned at Kenya Women’s Bank, a microfinance bank for women. Almost nobody had a loan at an alternative financial institution as people are afraid to get into debt. Respondents 5, 9, 30 fear loaning from financial institution because they evict defaulters, she loans from Kenya Women’s Bank because she knows that when she can’t pay back within 6 months, she is in a (informal) group that will cover for her.

5.3.4 Involution Besides the fact that new groups are trading omena nowadays, it appears from the survey results that more people in general have entered the market. Multiple traders indicated they were experiencing hinder by the large number of traders they have to compete with, both in accessing the product as well as the market. One of our survey respondents who noticed an influx of omena traders is survey respondent number 23 (m) from Chiga market: “There are too many traders, everybody goes for omena nowadays, it became a very popular trading good.” Survey respondent 9 (f) from Jubilee market, is worried about this as well. She stated that recently more people seem to be selling omena and that this is a problem for her because it means she gets fewer customers. Also it means she has more difficulty in accessing enough

52 omena, because sometimes she wants to place an order with a befriended boat-owner over the phone and the catch is already finished. Also respondent 5 (f) from Kibuye market noticed that her sales decreased. She thinks it is because more people have entered the omena trade. She used to sell more five years ago when there were less traders selling omena at Kibuye market. The decreases in sales worries respondent 42 (f) from Kiboswa market:“There are so many people trading Omena now”. She explains that this becomes extra apparent at times when there is no money circulation. In that case the amount of traders and amount of consumers are uneven. Multiple respondents along the way told us they felt that prices of living were increasing as well. Respondent 33 (f) at Ahero market mentions: “The price of inputs to the fishing has gone up last couple of years. And also the price of other things”. She finds it harder to sustain a living from omena as she is a single widowed mother of three children. Respondent 19 (f) from Jubilee market mentions: “A difficulty is that the demand has decreased because the current high costs of living. Such that putting food on the table is not easy now for poor people.” According to her as well, living costs have been increasing. She thinks this led to a decline in demand for omena. However, other traders have been giving opposing stories and interpretations. One of them is respondent 38 (f) from Ahero market, who described how her business has been flourishing recently as she was able to invest in a boat and fishermen. Her husband helped her financially to accomplish this. She confirms that prices of living have been increasing but thinks that is why she has many customers. People are eating more omena because it is cheap. Policymakers and research staff from KMFRI who were interviewed on the size of the traders population are not really aware of the developments in omena trade. Horace Owiti: “We don't even know how many fish traders there are, what scale or how many fish products are traded. We only know that there are so, so many.” Owiti confirms omena traders are there in countless numbers. According to him the omena market is highly informal and fluctuates a lot, therefore trade is difficult to track. KMFRI and other institutions that were consulted on the topic thus do not have data on the amount of omena traders, their output and its development over time. Official data thus cannot confirm that a potential process of involution is happening in omena trade.

53 6. Conclusion

This chapter is grouped in different sections. First it will provide answers to the sub questions of this research (1,2 and 3). Subsequently the main research question will be answered. Afterwards the hypothesis on involution will be assessed and finally the theoretical framework that was used for this research will be shortly reviewed and final remarks will be made.

1. The influence of natural fluctuations and harvesting patters on the availability of omena Natural fluctuations and harvesting patterns seem to affect the availability of low price fish extensively. Overfishing and environmental degradation mainly through pollution, have decreased Nile Perch and Tilapia stocks and increased their prices. This did stimulate omena stocks to grow over time, increasing its availability. Although it is currently still abundant and catches are high, it became a target fishery which might put increasing pressure on the stocks. Moreover, pollution accompanied by eutrophication and hypoxia seems to be disturbing omena’s habitat, as Lake Victoria’s coastal population is growing. The fish also seems to be pulling away from the polluted Nyanza bay which is covering a large part of the Kenyan part of the lake. Although there is no extensive scientific research done on the effects of climate change on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria, climate fluctuations might be enforcing processes of eutrophication and hypoxia as it could affect water circulation and oxygen formation. While no solid conclusions can be drawn due to lack of scientific research, there are recent signs of stagnating catches which might suggest the fish has increasing difficulties to develop in Kenyan waters.

2. Organization of omena supply chain from a trader’s perspective The supply chain of omena consists of a highly diverse and complex network of actors. Chains can be short or very long, crossing multiple different locations throughout the country. There are thousands of landing sites and uncountable numbers of traders distributing the product. There are also many different types of traders, and this variation seems to have developed quite recently as new groups have been entering the supply chain. This chain used to be dominated by small-scale female traders from lower-class backgrounds. The newcomers are people from middle-class backgrounds who are able to invest in trade and thereby control parts of the supply chain. They have the ability to employ fishermen, processors, distributors and/or agents. Still a large part of the trade around the lake, is in the hands of small-scale lower-class female traders. Moreover, Kenya’s population is increasing, which might indicate there is an influx of omena traders in general.

54 The supply chain of omena seems quite unpredictable. Although there is an abundance of the resource, its supply and quality fluctuates depending on weather conditions and water quality, especially in relation to seasonal water hyacinth invasions. As a consequence, at the time of this research omena was barely procured from landing sites by our respondents in the Nyanza gulf. Furthermore, margins are generally quite low as omena still has an image of being ‘poor men’s food’ and its market value is low. The lower margins are also a result of the number of links in the supply chain, in which all actors have to make a profit. Furthermore, the omena supply chain is very dispersed and functions are to a large extend performed by independent entities. Nevertheless, traders are also often part of a family business, especially at landing sites. The access to the omena market is fairly open, meaning fishermen and traders can reach the market directly. Therefore there is much competition and there are disparities between traders. Especially larger traders with more capital can block others by procuring large quantities or ensuring supply through chain investments. They can thus exercise market power through their fish buying behaviour and seem to have the ability to direct and shape the supply chain. Nevertheless, the demand of omena is currently high and the pool of consumers is expanding and diversifying as fish prices of other species rise, which also offers opportunities for small-scale traders. Omena is, according to our respondents, only used domestically, mainly through human consumption but also in the form of fishmeal for animal and farmed fish feeds. So there is practically no export to foreign countries. Because omena’s use as fishmeal remains part of the domestic food web, the respondents do not believe the use of omena as fishmeal to be a threat to food security. However, the demand for omena in Kenya is higher than the supply. Therefore it imports omena from neighbouring countries. This is not affecting the availability of low-price fish as these countries consume less omena and sell at low prices.

3. Accessibility to the market of local fish traders From an actor point of view traders seem to experience seasonal fluctuations in their access to the market as well as the supply chain. Although at times the fish is abundant, there are periods in which little good quality omena is available at the market. Moreover, in times of economic stagnation – a periodical phenomenon in Kenya – there are less customers. Overall, in this case access seems to be mainly shaped by social relations and material wealth. Other concepts seem to play a role as well but are less evident. For example spatial proximity is not as relevant as most orders and transactions happen through mobile phones. Moreover, law enforcement does not seem to be happening very frequently, so legally traders do not experience many constraints. However, as mentioned before not everybody is experiencing this the same way. There is a growth of middle-class people in trade, who have

55 more capital to invest and consequently have the ability to block other’s access. Moreover there is a group of small-scale widowed or divorced female traders that are very low in capital and might lack certain social connections as they are officially not part of a particular family. This group is known to be marginalized and is known for working in omena trade and are the first to experience access related problems.

Main question: How do local traders selling fish in market places ensure the continuous supply of low-price small fish for direct human consumption? Adaptation strategies to fluctuations of access differ among omena traders as well. More capitalised traders can make investments in the supply chain in order to safeguard and maintain their access to supply. To be able to make investments some take loans from regular banks and some from official micro-finance institutions. Finance services that mobile phone companies offer, seem to be a success for less capitalised people. They are extensively used. But most of all traders seem to protect themselves against financial setbacks and related problems through social ties. In general, it is very common to form trader groups in order to secure loans and funding. Omena trade involves a lot of trust and especially women group together to protect themselves and have at least partly shared responsibility over their capital. Furthermore, the best way to access the cheapest possible fish or the most profitable market further away is by having direct ties there.

Hypothesis: Involution This study identified at least four out of six of the theoretic characteristics of involution that were mentioned in chapter 2.4: (1) there is a high labour power absorption ability as anybody can start an omena business; (2) there are close social relations and mutual responsibilities in local society; (3) there are low entry barriers in the form of capital and skills; and (4) with exception of a few, many traders have limited access to capital and credit for investments. Moreover, it is possible that labour intensity in omena trade has increased through time because of unemployment and population growth. However, Lake Victoria’s ecosystem is not growing and lately neither have omena catches. Over-exploitation might even lead to a decrease in stocks, as can be learned from other fish species inhabiting the lake. And, although some traders confirmed they were struggling with the high number of traders and competition in the sector, the hypothesis that involution takes place cannot be confirmed. There is insufficient evidence to substiantiate that conclusion, as there are no statistics on the number of traders and the output they make per capita. Moreover, there are signs that a particular group of traders is not facing poverty at all, as they are able to successfully upgrade their omena business. There might be processes of displacement at work rather than processes of involution. In brief, this study found

56 that many preconditions of involution are currently there, but extensive monitoring is required to form a conclusion.

Final remarks In this research the accessibility theory from Ribot proofed to be sufficient to study the trader’s position in a specific food supply chain. By using it this way, the concept became the connection between the actor point of view and system analysis. Subsequently, by studying adaptability, I could expose the ways in which actors actively increase their access and thus adapt to and shape the supply chain. Although this research lacked the scope and capacity to thoroughly study the concept of involution, it offered an interesting lens to look at the dynamics that are taking place in and between human society and ecosystems. However, older involution theories tend to interpret involution as an undesirable process blocking social development and economic growth. Those theories might be giving a one sided and Eurocentric interpretation of those local economies. If there are no sufficient welfare services offered by a state, creating a defence mechanism against risks through social attachments, could possibly be preventing the growth of other social problems. Moreover, an easily accessible resource like omena does seem to offer an opportunity for many marginalized women in Kenya to escape extreme poverty. A wider interpretation and application of the concept of involution is needed to study its relevance to these issues.

57 Acknowledgement This research could not have taken place without the help of a number of people. First of all I want to thank everybody from KMFRI for their hospitality, engagement, advice and the inspiring conversations we had along the way. In particular I want to thank Horace Owiti Onyango and Christopher Aura Mulanda for their guidance, advice and the time they spent on – and the care they gave for – our fieldwork to succeed. Also I want to thank all the research assistants that joined us in the field: Pamela, Robert, Salima, Eric, Eunice and Truphena, for their patience while translating and their helpful interpretations. Furthermore I want to thank KMFRI drivers Paul and Abdi ‘van der’ Huseyn who gave us pleasant fieldwork trips with good background music and made sure we returned home safely afterwards. Moreover, I want to thank all respondents at the offices, landing sites and markets we visited for their participation, openness and the time they gave us during business hours. And lastly, even though we did not got to meet her in the end, I want to thank Modesta Medard for her engagement, guidance and advice early in this research project.

58 7. References Abate-Kassa, G., & Peterson, H. C. (2011). Market access for local food through the conventional food supply chain. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 14(1030-2016- 82895), 63-82.

Abila, R. (2005). Impact of International fish trade: A Case Study of Lake Victoria Fisheries. Rome, Italy: Food and Agricultural Organization of The United Nations.

Abbott, J. G., Campbell, L. M., Hay, C. J., Næsje, T. F., & Purvis, J. (2007). Market-resource links and fish vendor livelihoods in the upper Zambezi river floodplains. Human Ecology, 35(5), 559-574.

Alder, J., Campbell, B., Karpouzi, V., Kaschner, K., & Pauly, D. (2008). Forage fish: from ecosystems to markets. Annual review of environment and resources, 33, 153-166. Awange, J. L., Ogalo, L., Bae, K. H., Were, P., Omondi, P., Omute, P., & Omullo, M. (2008). Falling Lake Victoria water levels: Is climate a contributing factor?. Climatic Change, 89(3-4), 281-297.

Awiti, A., Scott, B. (2016). The Kenya Youth Survey Report. East Africa Institute, 1-4.

Balirwa, J. S., Chapman, C. A., Chapman, L. J., Cowx, I. G., Geheb, K., Kaufman, L., ... & Witte, F. (2003). Biodiversity and fishery sustainability in the Lake Victoria basin: an unexpected marriage?. BioScience, 53(8), 703-715.

Battersby, J., & Watson, V. (2019). Urban Food Systems Governance and Poverty in African Cities. New York, USA: Routledge.

Bene, C., Hersoug, B., & Allison, E. H. (2010). “Not by rent alone”: analysing the pro-poor functions of small-scale fisheries in developing countries. Development Policy Review, 28(3), 325–358.

Bene, C., & Friend, R. (2011). Poverty in small-scale inland fisheries: old issues, new analysis. Progress in Development Studies, 11(2), 119–144.

Bene, C., Barange, M., Subasinghe, R., Pinstrup-Andersen, P., Merino, G., Hemre, G. I., & Williams, M. (2015). Feeding 9 billion by 2050–Putting fish back on the menu. Food Security, 7(2), 261- 274.

59 Berkes, F., Colding, J., and Folke, C. (2003) Navigating social–ecological systems: building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

Von Bertalanffy, L. (1972). The history and status of general systems theory. Academy of management journal, 15(4), 407-426.

Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford university press.

Burns, T. R. (2006). The sociology of complex systems: An overview of actor-system-dynamics theory. World Futures, 62(6), 411-440.

Burns, T. R., Baumgartner, T., & DeVille, P. (2002). Actor-system dynamics theory and its application to the analysis of modern capitalism. The Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, 27(2), 211-243.

Burrows, F., Caillaux, M., Velez Laris, M., Maina, G., Mous, P., Revenga, C., Rude, J., (2015). Making Sense of Wild Seafood Supply Chains. Future of fish. USA: The Nature Conservancy Report. Retrieved from: http://futureoffish.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/TNC.SeafoodSupplyChainReport.V1 0.Print_.pdf

Cashion, T., Le Manach, F., Zeller, D., & Pauly, D. (2017). Most fish destined for fishmeal production are food‐grade fish. Fish and Fisheries, 18(5), 837-844.

Cinner, J. E., Daw, T. M., McClanahan, T. R., Muthiga, N., Abunge, C., Hamed, S., ... & Jiddawi, N. (2012). Transitions toward co-management: the process of marine resource management devolution in three east African countries. Global Environmental Change, 22(3), 651-658.

Costanza, R. (2012). Ecosystem health and ecological engineering. Ecological engineering, 45, 24-29.

Costanza, R. (2014). A theory of socio-ecological system change. Journal of Bioeconomics, 16(1), 39-44.

60 Cote, M., & Nightingale, A. J. (2012). Resilience thinking meets social theory: situating social change in socio-ecological systems (SES) research. Progress in Human Geography, 36(4), 475- 489.

Crona, B. I., Basurto, X., Squires, D., Gelcich, S., Daw, T. M., Khan, A., ... & Allison, E. H. (2016). Towards a typology of interactions between small-scale fisheries and global seafood trade. Marine Policy, 65, 1-10

D'Arcy, M., & Cornell, A. (2016). Devolution and corruption in Kenya: Everyone's turn to eat?. African Affairs, 115(459), 246-273.

Dijk, M. & Trienekens, J. (2012): Global value chains. Global Value Chains: Linking Local Producers from Developing Countries to International Markets. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press.

FAO (2018). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 - Meeting the sustainable development goals. Rome, Italy: Food and Agricultural Organization: Rome. Retrieved from: http://www.fao.org/3/i9540en/i9540en.pdf

Folke, C. (2006). Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses. Global environmental change, 16(3), 253-267.

Fraser, E. D., Mabee, W., & Figge, F. (2005). A framework for assessing the vulnerability of food systems to future shocks. Futures, 37(6), 465-479.

Geertz, C. (1963). Agricultural involution: the process of ecological change in Indonesia. California, USA: University of California Press.

Ghai, Y. (2008). Devolution: restructuring the Kenyan state. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2(2), 211-226.

Giddens, A. (1983). Comments on the theory of structuration. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 13(1), 75-80.

61 Glaser, M., Krause, G., Ratter, B., & Welp, M. (2008). Human/Nature interaction in the Anthropocene potential of social-ecological systems analysis. Gaia-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 17(1), 77-80.

Gutierrez, M. (2011). Making Markets Out of Thin Air: A Case of Capital Involution. Antipode, 43(3), 639-661.

Heck, S., Bene, C., & Reyes-Gaskin, R. (2007). Investing in African fisheries: building links to the millennium development goals. Fish and Fisheries, 8(3), 211–226.

Harland, C. M. (1996). Supply chain management: relationships, chains and networks. British Journal of management, 7, 63-80. Heck, S., Bene, C., & Reyes-Gaskin, R. (2007). Investing in African fisheries: building links to the millennium development goals. Fish and Fisheries, 8(3), 211–226.

Hendrickson, M. K., & Heffernan, W. D. (2002). Opening spaces through relocalization: locating potential resistance in the weaknesses of the global food system. Sociologia ruralis, 42(4), 347- 369.

HLPE (2017). Nutrition and Food Systems No. 12. A Report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security. Rome, Italy: Committee on World Food Security (CFS). Retrieved from: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7846e.pdf

Huang, P. C. (1990). The peasant family and rural development in the Yangzi Delta, 1350-1988. Stanford, UK: Stanford University Press.

Isaacs, M. (2016). The humble sardine (small pelagics): fish as food or fodder. Agriculture & Food Security, 5(1), 27.

Jacobs, A. (2017, April, 30). China’s appetite pushes fisheries to the brink. New York Times, 30. Consulted on: June 26, 2019 from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/world/asia/chinas- appetite-pushes-fisheries-to-the-brink.html de Jonge, V. N., Elliott, M., & Orive, E. (2002). Causes, historical development, effects and future challenges of a common environmental problem: eutrophication. In Nutrients and eutrophication in estuaries and coastal waters. Hydrobiologia, 475(1), 1-19.

62 Kanyinga, K. (2016). Devolution and the new politics of development in Kenya. African Studies Review, 59(3), 155-167.

Kawarazuka, N., & Bene, C. (2011). The potential role of small fish species in improving micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries: building evidence. Public health nutrition, 14(11), 1927-1938.

Kibaru-Mbae, J. (2018). The State of Kenya Population 2017. Nairobi, Kenya: National Council for Population and Development (NCDP). Retrieved from: http://www.ncpd.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/STATE-OF-KENYA-POPULATION- JUNE-2018.pdf

Kneafsey, M., Venn, L., Schmutz, U., Balazs, B., Trenchard, L., Eyden-Wood, T., ... & Blackett, M. (2013). Short food supply chains and local food systems in the EU. A state of play of their socio- economic characteristics. JRC scientific and policy reports, 123, 119-128.

Kobingi, N., Raburu, P. O., Masese, F. O., & Gichuki, J. (2009). Assessment of pollution impacts on the ecological integrity of the Kisian and Kisat rivers in Lake Victoria drainage basin, Kenya. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 3(4), 097-107.

Kolding, J., van Zwieten, P., Mkumbo, O., Silsbe, G., Hecky, R. (2008). Chapter 19: Are the Lake Victoria fisheries threatened by exploitation or eutrophication?, Towards an ecosystem-based approach to management. In: The ecosystem approach to fisheries (p. 309 – 326). Wallingford, UK: CAB International.

Kristiansen, S. (2003). Small-scale Business in Rural Java: Involution or Innovation? The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 12(1), 21-41.

Kronen, M., Meijberg, A., & Reinhard, I. (2015). Small fish with a big potential for women’s business? Rural, 21, 24-26

Legros, D., Luomba, J. (2011). Dagaa Value Chain Analysis and Proposal for Trade Development, Implementation of a Regional Fisheries Strategy for the Eastern-Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Region. Rapport SF/2011/19. Rome, Italy: FAO. Retrieved from: http://www.fao.org/3/a- az389e.pdf

63 Majluf, P., De la Puente, S., & Christensen, V. (2017). The little fish that can feed the world. Fish and Fisheries, 18(4), 772-777.

Medard, M. (2012). Relations between people, relations about things: gendered investment and the case of the Lake Victoria fishery, Tanzania. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 37(3), 555-566.

Medard, M. (2015). A social analysis of contested fishing practices in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Dissertation research. Wageningen, the Netherlands: Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS).

Milestad, R., Westberg, L., Geber, U., & Bjorklund, J. (2010). Enhancing adaptive capacity in food systems: learning at farmers' markets in Sweden. Ecology and Society, 15(3).

Mkumbo, O. C., & Marshall, B. E. (2015). The Nile perch fishery of Lake Victoria: current status and management challenges. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 22(1), 56-63.

Mohajan, Haradhan (2013-10-29). "POVERTY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF KENYA". International Journal of Information Technology and Business Management. 18: 72–82.

Nathan, D., & Kelkar, G. (1999). Agrarian involution, domestic economy and women: rural dimensions of the Asian crisis. Economic and Political Weekly, 1135-1141.

Njiru, J., van der Knaap, M., Kundu, R., & Nyamweya, C. (2018). Lake Victoria fisheries: Outlook and management. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management, 23(2), 152-162.

Odada, E. O., Ochola, W. O., & Olago, D. O. (2009). Drivers of ecosystem change and their impacts on human well‐being in Lake Victoria basin. African Journal of Ecology, 47, 46-54.

Okungu, V. R., & McIntyre, D. (2019). Does the informal sector in Kenya have financial potential to sustainably prepay for health care? Implications for financing universal health coverage in low-income settings. Health Systems & Reform, 1, 1-13.

64 Odongkara, K., Yongo, E., Mhagama, F., Onyango, P., Chimatiro, S., Tumwebaze, R., ... & Ochaya, H. (2018). Strategies to improve trade in Dagaa (Rastrineobola argentea) from Lake Victoria. African Journal of Tropical Hydrobiology and Fisheries, 16(1), 63-71.

Ogutu-Ohwayo, R. (1990). The decline of the native fishes of lakes Victoria and Kyoga (East Africa) and the impact of introduced species, especially the Nile perch, Lates niloticus, and the Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Environmental biology of fishes, 27(2), 81-96.

Omolo, A., Kantai, W., & Kiragu, W. (2010). Devolution in Kenya Prospects, Challenges and Future. Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), No. 24. Nairobi, Kenya: IEA. Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/lovan/Downloads/Devolution-in-Kenya.pdf

Ostrom, E. (2009). A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science, 325(5939), 419-422.

Parsons, T., Shils, E. A., & Smelser, N. J. (2017). The social system. In: Toward a general theory of action (p. 190-233). New York, USA: Routledge.

Redman, C. L., Grove, J. M., & Kuby, L. H. (2004). Integrating social science into the long-term ecological research (LTER) network: social dimensions of ecological change and ecological dimensions of social change. Ecosystems, 7(2), 161-171.

Ribot, J. C. (1998). Theorizing access: forest profits along Senegal's charcoal commodity chain. Development and change, 29(2), 307-341. van Rijssel, J. C., Hecky, R. E., Kishe-Machumu, M. A., Meijer, S. E., Pols, J., van Tienderen, K. M., ... & Witte, F. (2016). Climatic variability in combination with eutrophication drives adaptive responses in the gills of Lake Victoria cichlids. Oceologia, 182(4), 1187-1201.

Rounsevell, M. D., Robinson, D. T., & Murray-Rust, D. (2012). From actors to agents in socio- ecological systems models. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367(1586), 259-269.

Seehausen, O., Van Alphen, J. J., & Witte, F. (1997). Cichlid fish diversity threatened by eutrophication that curbs sexual selection. Science, 277(5333), 1808-1811.

65 Shifa, M., & Leibbrandt, M. (2017). Urban poverty and inequality in Kenya. Urban Forum 28(4), 363-385.

Simiyu, B., Oduor, S., Rohrlack, T., Sitoki, L., & Kurmayer, R. (2018). Microcystin content in phytoplankton and in small fish from eutrophic nyanza gulf, lake victoria, kenya. Toxins, 10(7), 275.

Tacon, A. G., & Metian, M. (2009). Fishing for feed or fishing for food: increasing global competition for small pelagic forage fish. Ambio, 294-302.

Tamukamoyo, H. (2009). A case study of informal trading at a Zimbabwean flea market (Doctoral dissertation). Johannesburg, South Africa: University of the Witwatersrand. Retrieved from: http://wiredspace. wits. ac. za/jspui/bitstream/10539/8166/2/H% 20TAMUKAMOYO% 20Thesis. Pdf).

Thorpe, R., Holt, R., Macpherson, A., & Pittaway, L. (2005). Using knowledge within small and medium‐sized firms: a systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews, 7(4), 257-281.

Tong, X., Pan, H., Xie, H., Xu, X., Li, F., Chen, L., ... & Jin, Y. (2016). Estimating water volume variations in Lake Victoria over the past 22 years using multi-mission altimetry and remotely sensed images. Remote Sensing of Environment, 187, 400-413.

Trienekens, J. H. (2011). Agricultural value chains in developing countries a framework for analysis. International food and agribusiness management review, 14, 51-77.

Verschuren, D., Johnson, T. C., Kling, H. J., Edgington, D. N., Leavitt, P. R., Brown, E. T., ... & Hecky, R. E. (2002). History and timing of human impact on Lake Victoria, East Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 269(1488), 289-294.

Vuluku, G., Wambugu, A., & Moyi, E. (2013). Unemployment and underemployment in Kenya: A gender gap analysis. Economics, 2(2), 7-16.

Yongo, E., Agembe, S., Outa, N., & Owili, M. (2018). Growth, mortality and recruitment of Nile perch (Lates niloticus) in Lake Victoria, Kenya. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management, 23(1), 17-23.

66 Young, O. R., Berkhout, F., Gallopin, G. C., Janssen, M. A., Ostrom, E., & Van der Leeuw, S. (2006). The globalization of socio-ecological systems: an agenda for scientific research. Global Environmental Change, 16(3), 304-316.

67 Annex 1: List of fieldwork locations Markets Landing sites Location Research Date Location Research Date method method Kibuye Surveys and 23/04/19 Marenga Omena Surveys and 22/04/19 market observation beach observation Jubilee Surveys and 17/04/19 Asat beach Surveys and 18/04/19 market observation observation Kiboswa Surveys and 26/04/19 Uhanya beach Surveys and 22/04/19 market observation observation Ahero Surveys and 27/04/19 Litare beach Surveys and 19/04/19 market observation observation Chiga Surveys and 27/04/19 Sindo beach Surveys and 19/04/19 market observation observation Wichlum beach Observation 02/05/19

68 Annex 2: List of in-depth interview respondents Institution Respondent Role Interview method Date Kenyan Marine Christopher Deputy Director Semi-structured, in- 30/04/19 Fisheries Research Aura Mulanda of fresh water depth Institute, Kisumu systems research Monica Achieng Research officer Semi-structured, in- 26/04/19 (KMFRI) Owili in charge of catch depth assessment Horace Owiti Scientist at Semi-structured, in- 25/04/19 Onyango department of depth socio-economics County Fisheries Ken Luga County Director of Semi-structured, in- 03/05/19 Management Fisheries depth Joyce Okwara County Fisheries Semi-structured, in- 25/04/19 Department, Officer depth Kisumu Fisheries Service, Robert Principal Semi-structured, in- 30/04/19 Kisumu Wanyama Fisheries Offcier depth Christine Okoth Assistant Director Semi structured, in- 29/04/19 of Fisheries depth Fisheries Service & Rodrick Kundu Fisheries expert Semi structured, in- 30/04/19 Ministry of for Lake Victoria depth Environment Environmental Management Project (LVEMP) Beach Unknown BMU’s Secretary Unstructured, short 22/04/19 Management Unit conversations (BMU), Marenga Omena Beach, Busia count Beach Unknown BMU’s Chairmen Unstructured, short 19/04/19 Management Unit conversations (BMU), Litare beach, Homa Bay

69 Annex 3: List of survey respondents

Number Name Gender Location Date 1 Evaline Achieng Female Kibuye market 18/04/2019 Okello 2 Anonymous Female Kibuye market 18/04/2019 3 Anonymous Female Kibuye market 18/04/2019 4 Anonymous Female Kibuye market 18/04/2019 5 Anonymous Female Kibuye market 18/04/2019 6 Margeret Olwony Female Kibuye market 18/04/2019 7 Anonymous Male Jubilee market 17/04/2019 8 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 9 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 10 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 11 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 12 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 13 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 14 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 15 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 16 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 17 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 18 Edith Achieng Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 19 Leonide Otieno Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 20 Grace Atieno Female Jubilee market 17/04/2019 21 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 22 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 23 Anonymous Male Chiga market 26/04/2019 24 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 25 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 26 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 27 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 28 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 29 Anonymous Female Chiga market 26/04/2019 30 Clarice Akelo Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 31 Margaret Kutte Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 32 Anonymous Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 33 Anonymous Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 34 Doreen Female Ahero market 27/04/2019

70 35 Anonymous Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 36 Anonymous Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 37 Anonymous Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 38 Anonymous Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 39 Anonymous Female Ahero market 27/04/2019 40 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 41 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 42 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 43 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 44 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 45 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 46 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 47 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 48 Anonymous Female Kiboswa market 27/04/2019 49 Anonymous Female Marenga Omena beach 22/04/2019 50 Anonymous Female Marenga Omena beach 22/04/2019 51 Janet Babu Female Marenga Omena beach 22/04/2019 52 Evalyne Female Marenga Omena beach 22/04/2019 53 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 54 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 55 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 56 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 57 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 58 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 59 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 60 Anonymous Female Asat beach 18/04/2019 61 Anonymous Female Uhanya beach 22/04/2019 62 Anonymous Female Uhanya beach 22/04/2019 63 Jane Achiembo Female Uhanya beach 22/04/2019 64 Anonymous Female Uhanya beach 22/04/2019 65 Anonymous Female Litare beach 19/04/2019 66 Anonymous Male Litare beach 19/04/2019 67 Anonymous Male Litare beach 19/04/2019 68 Anonymous Female Sindo beach 19/04/2019 69 Anonymous Female Sindo beach 19/04/2019 70 Anonymous Female Sindo beach 19/04/2019 71 Anonymous Female Sindo beach 19/04/2019

71 72 Anonymous Female Kibuye market 22/04/2019 73 Anonymous Female Kibuye market 22/04/2019 74 Anonymous Female Kibuye market 22/04/2019 75 Anonymous Female Jubilee market 18/04/2019

72 Annex 5: Semi-structured survey

Survey: Omena trade for local consumption No. ______We are Loes van der Plaat and Lola van der Voort from the University of Amsterdam, and we cooperate with the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) on a research about Omena trade in Kenya. This research is part of the project ‘SmallFishFood’, which studies the position of small pelagics, such as Omena, in the food security debate. The project aims to improve the food security-reinforcing role of these small pelagics by studying the way in which low price fish chains function. Our study will contribute to the wider project by studying the flow of Omena that is locally traded for the purpose of direct human consumption. Participants will be treated anonymously and names will not be documented. Your cooperation is highly appreciated.

Date: ______Location:______

General information respondent

1. Gender: ☐ M ☐ F

2. Age: ☐ 18 – 30 ☐ 31 – 45 ☐ 46 – 60 ☐ 61 +

3. Ethnicity: ☐ Luo ☐ Luhya ☐ Kikuyu ☐ Kisii ☐ Other: ______

4. Education ☐ Primary level ☐ College ☐ No education ☐ Secondary level ☐ University

5. Household size: ______

73 6. Marital status ☐ Married ☐ Separated ☐ Single ☐ Widow/er

7. Position in the household: ☐ Head ☐ Spouse ☐ [living with parents]

8. Main type of work: ☐ Wholesale trader ☐ Retail trader ☐ Processor/trader ☐ Other: ______

9. Which of the following applies to you? (more than 1 answer possible) ☐ I am self-employed without employees ☐ I am self-employed with employees ☐ I am employed by someone else ☐ I work in a family business ☐ Other: ______

10. Average income/Ksh______DAY/WK/MONTH

Accessibility of traders to Omena

Mark the most suiting answer per statement:

Strongly Strongly Statement: Disagree Neutral Agree disagree agree

My income from Omena trade 11 allows me to meet my basic needs

In recent years the demand for 12 Omena from consumers has increased in Kisumu

13 I receive sufficient Omena for

74 sale

14. What kind of difficulties do you encounter in running your business? (more than 1 answer possible) ☐ Product quality ☐ Supply fluctuations ☐ Market access ☐ Changing consumer habits ☐ Product access ☐ Negative perception of Omena by certain ☐ Price fluctuations consumer groups ☐ Other: ______

______15. From which groups do you gain business advice regarding Omena fish trade?

Never Sometimes Regularly

Fellow traders

Family members/relatives/friends

Resource management (KMFRI, Beach Management Units, etc.)

People from the same village/neighbourhood

Fishermen

Processors

Traders from other markets

16. From which groups do you buy fish?

Never Sometimes Regularly

Fellow traders

Family members/relatives/friends

People from the same village/neighbourhood

Fishermen

75 Processors

Specify: ______

______

______17. To which groups do you sell fish?

Never Sometimes Regularly

Fellow traders

Family members/relatives/friends

People with lower incomes

People with medium/higher incomes

Export companies

Processing companies

Specify: ______

18. Who, or what, supports you financially/materially/physically with your business in periods when it is more difficult to sustain it?

Never Sometimes Regularly

Fellow traders

Family members/relatives/friends

People from the same village/neighbourhood

Fishermen

Processors

Financial institutions (loans)

Micro financing

76 Specify: ______

______

______

19. What kind of agreements or contracts do you have with the following people/institutions in order to maintain a successful business?

Formal contracts Informal agreements

Fellow traders

Fishermen

Processors

Transporters

77 Market masters

Consumers

Financial institutions

20. Which group do you mainly consider as a competitor in Omena trade? ☐ Other traders selling Omena at markets in the Kisumu region ☐ Traders exporting Omena across the Kenyan borders ☐ Traders or agents buying fish on behalf of fishmeal factories ☐ Other:______

______

21. What did you do in the past to improve your competitive position? (multiple answers possible) ☐ Increase and improve storage ☐ Improve transport ☐ Higher fishing investments

78 ☐ Cooperate closer with partners ☐ Reduce the price of Omena ☐ Value addition (through processing) ☐ Get related to someone in the business (to get fish at a reduced price) ☐ Increase working capital ☐ Improve marketing ☐ Other: ______

______

______

Is there anything you would like to add that might be of importance?

______

______

______

______

______

Thank you very much for your cooperation. It is highly appreciated.

79