Fish Market Information and Traceability Systems Author:

Fish Market Information and Traceability Systems
Author:
Date: 24 May 2011

Aim:       There are two aims of this intervention:

a) To establish a national electronic fish market information system in Kenya to promote fish trade and improve fisheries incomes by providing fish market information accessed through mobile phones, and

b) To establish an electronic traceability system in the Nile perch value chain and enhanced transparency in pricing systems and compliance to certification requirements.

Start date:           9^th March 2011;       Duration: 12 months

Geographical areas covered:

The Fish Market information System, known as EFMIS-Ke includes complete coverage of Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana, Lake Naivasha, Lake Baringo, the whole length of the marine coast, not less than 30 main urban markets in Kenya and selected fish fingerling and feed producers in the aquaculture sub-sector.

The electronic traceability system, known as TRACEFISH-Ke, includes BMUs contained within the Lake Victoria Nile perch supply chain of one participating fish processing and export company and one participating company dealing with lobster and octopus value chains on the marine coast.

Target beneficiaries:

The targeted beneficiaries of EFMIS-Ke are small-scale fishermen, fish farmers, women and men fish processors and traders at landing sites and markets. The targeted beneficiaries of the TRACEFISH-Ke are the fishermen targeting lobster and octopus and some of the 21,000 fishing crew in the Nile perch fishing fleets operating in Kenya. The secondary beneficiaries include the Nile perch fishing vessels owners and fish traders acting as a conduit between fishing units and fish factory. The export companies benefit from increased efficiency to trace a food safety issue to its source, track the distribution of unsafe items, and recall them from commerce and timeliness of issuance of fish quality assurance certificates needed for export.

Issues addressed:

Fish Marketing:

A major constraint on micro and small-scale fish producers and processors is the lack of information on fish prices and the availability of fish at different fish markets; and for fish traders, the lack of information on prices and availability of fish at different fish landing sites. These information gaps allow widespread exploitation of fish producers and processors at landing sites by middlemen offering below market prices. It also results in considerable inefficiencies in market operations and, when fish landings are high combined with rains, leads to substantial losses in fish volumes and value.   

Fish Traceability:

In order to export fish to Europe requires strict compliance to traceability rules and, for marine fisheries, compliance to a new EU regulation on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fisheries activities. There is also need for enhanced transparency in fish pricing along value chains to dispel fears and suspicion of exploitation and unfairness. Improved electronic data collection opens up huge opportunities for improved information for stock management and future eco-labeling schemes. 

Planned Approach:

EFMIS-Ke

A pilot project funded by DFID through the International Labour Organisation and its Cooperative Facility for Africa Fund (Coop^Africa Challenge Fund) successfully set up a new electronic system of information collection and dissemination which allowed fishermen and women fish processors and traders in Kenya to use their mobile phones to access real time information on fish buyers and current selling prices of fish products from many parts of Lake Victoria.

The present intervention, known as EFMIS-Ke, will take over from DFID in supporting the scaling-up of the system to national level including the whole length of shoreline of Lake Victoria, lakes Turkana, Naivasha and Baringo, the full length of the marine coast and major urban fish markets across the country. The system will also include for the first time, information from the aquaculture sector, starting with data on fish fingerling and fish feed suppliers. The design and software systems of the national system will draw on the experience of the pilot project. The system will substantially expand the production and distribution of key fish market and pricing information from fish landing sites, markets, fish processing companies and aquaculture suppliers.

The information will be relayed from individual data collectors to a national data centre set up to synthesize, package and disseminate information in a form that users can access daily by sending an enquiry to the data centre using a mobile phone SMS. The system will operate 24 hours every day and give automated responses instantly. The system will be accessible wherever there is a mobile phone network available in the country.

TRACEFISH-Ke

This component will establish an electronic traceability system for Nile perch from Lake Victoria and seafood products from marine fisheries. The electronic system will increase traceability along the value chain required by EU food laws, improve business efficiencies, increase transparency especially relating to pricing along the value chain and enhance compliance to production and supply regulations linked to future eco-labeling possibilities.

Under this intervention, a database will be linked directly to a system of information provided by mobile phone and will provide information to be accessed by mobile phone. Data will be collected at landing sites by BMU representatives. The type of information collected will include, but not restricted to, the number and weight of fish, the unit price of fish and the value of the catch from each fishing vessel or fisherman and the number, type and specification of fishing gears. Details will be recorded in a central database on vessel registration number, licence number and name of vessel owner and fishermen. At the landing, any rejected Nile perch or seafood will be recorded as well as the volume and values transported by vehicle to factories. The system will incorporate alerts to identify discrepancies in volumes of fish and seafood moving along the market chain.

The system will enable rapid traceability of fish from fisher to factory and provide transparency in pricing systems which can be accessed by phone by stakeholders participating in the value chain. Increased transparency along the value chain, especially in terms of fish pricing, will reduce the possible exploitation of fishers in price negotiations and ensure they get a fair deal. An mpesa-type system will be integrated into the software system to enable payments of business transactions to be made along the value chains.

Progress Made:

The intervention started on 9^th March 2011 and has completed an Inception Phase during which an Inception Report was produced setting out detailed budgeted work plans for activities in the year ahead.