The two faces of Turkana: Thousands starve as multi-million-shilling fish is exported

As the sun rays kiss the surface of Lake Turkana, Naterai village slowly awakens.

Kalokol town in Turkana Central Sub-county is home to 28,000 people, and the mainstay for the community is fishing.

Some 300 kilometers long and 50 klometers wide, anam Kalokol, meaning the sea of many fish, feeds not only the local market but the regional market as far as the Democratic Republic of Congo, with exports of about 6,000 tonnes of fish every year originating from this water body.

Two kilometers from the shoreline, the scorching sun provides just enough heat to dry the fish. Some prefer to smoke the fish in these makeshift structures for about seven hours before packaging for sale.

Peter Nachuch has been a fish trader for 22 years and owns the largest dry fish store in Kalokol town. In 2007, he withdrew the dry fish supply to the Kenyan market and opted to sell salted fish to traders from the Democratic republic of Congo.

On a good day, he could fetch profits of up to 300,000 shillings after every sale

“Kwanza Congo iko mara mbili. Iko Congo ile upande ya Lubumbashi na iko Congo upande ya Bukavu so tukaona hii baishara ya salted ndio iko na bsiahra mzuri ambapo ukipata hiyo samaki bei yake iko juu kuliko ya dry,” Nachuch says.

Jackson Chilombo, a trader in the DRC says; “Congo yenyewe huko ndani tena samaki hakuna. Tanganyika sasa tunakataa kutoka kwetu kuja Tanganyika juu ya transport ya Tanganyika na kwetu na pia tofauti ya language unajua mtu anatofuta bishara mahali iko salama unalala salama unaamka salama pasipo na tatizo hapa sisi tuko na security.”

The stacks are measured in kilos, majorly composed of small sized fish. Nachuch says the demand has been high.

According to the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), annual fish production at Lake Turkana hit 15,000 metric tonnes in 2021, topping the production in 2020, which stood at 12,000 metric tonnes.

However, due to the increased demand to feed the export market, illegal fishing is widespread in this lake.

Some 60 kilometers from the lake, still within Turkana Central, the heat hangs over the Katamat village as carcasses of livestock dot the dusty paths.

At the home of 67-year-old Lokichan Lochan, he inspects the gourds at his first wife’s manyatta.

From a herd of 700 goats and 100 camels in October, the drought has decimated his wealth to seven goats, he has no way to fend for his family

“Tangu nizaliwe hii miaka yangu sijaona kiangazi kali kama hii ambayo imekuwa mbya zaidi unaona ata mimi vile uanian mwili mwili yangu nimekonda sana kitambo nilikuwa na nyama kwa mwili lakini saa hizi mwili sasa imeisha kabisa,” he says.

He has three wives, five children and ten grandchildren, by this time, the boys should be out herding his expansive flock but now, the family takes turns to break the shell of these wild fruits to alleviate the pangs of hunger.

One of his wives struggles to scratch off the remaining bits of rice that they cooked three days ago.

And despite living 60 kilometers from the lake, Mzee Lochan tells us, pastoral communities here lack knowledge on fish consumption

“Ile utendakazi ya samaki hatujui kwa sababu sisi ni watu tulilelewa kwa mifugo kuna wakati kuna mtu alienda bahari akaleta samaki kwa ile hali nikijaribu kukula mafupa iliingia kwa koo hapa kutoka hiyo siku mimi siwezi kukula samaki kwa sababu inaweza kuniumiza koo ama nimeze mfupa ambayo itaniumiza ata kwa afya,” he says

Nachuch, adds: “Utastukia ni mtu wa nje ndio ako na ujuzi ya kujua mambo ya samaki na bahari na saa hii dilali ndio hii imemaliza mpaka mbuzi so mtu anakosa njia ya kujisaidia ndio maana unaona sasa njaa inavuna sana hapa kwetu Turkana.”

According to research scientists, the Turkana community began the practice of fishing about 10,000 years ago. However old habits die hard and cattle herding still take prominence over fishing.

“The Turkana came to fishing when their livestock begun dying off as a result of severe drought and then they perfected the art of fishing so mainly they like eating meat and those around the lake now are the ones that use fish mostly as a daily meal,” says Maurice Obiero, the KMFRI Coordinator for Turkana.

Numbers published by the ministry of East African Community and ASAL indicate that 4.35 million Kenyans are in dire need of relief food, with 8 counties entering the alarm phase of drought.

In Turkana County, an estimated 500,000 people have been affected by the extended dry spell with the county leadership now saying, that despite setting up blue prints to revitalizing irrigation using water from river Turkwel, it has set aside 100 million shillings to revamp fishing in lake Turkana as it embarks on teaching communities to adopt alternative foods apart from livestock

David Erekudi, the Turkana County Executive Committee Member for Pastoralism and Fisheries, says “The education will just be given gradually it is not an instant thing that when you tell pasrolalists lets go fishing then they will accept it is just a mental change of the people to enusre that is is not as they belive and they can leave their pastoral life and venture in to fishing to support themselves and even support their livelihoods.

For Mzee Lochan, at this point he is a drowning man and the only lifeline available is one that would need him to move away from his pastoral norm

“Tunaomba serikali tukipata maji tunaweza jaribu kuweka mashamba ambayo tunaweza pata chakula sababu ukiangali hii mchanga hapa iko na rotuba ambayo ukiweka chakula inaweza zalisha chakula kwa hivyo serikali inaweza tusaidia na njia hiyo,” Lochan says.

For now, Turkana Central exists like two sides of a coin, each bearing a different face from the other.

And as night falls in Kapua location at the homestead of Mzee Lochan, they prepare wild fruits for their empty stomachs their hearts full of hope that the government will interlink the fish rich Lake Turkana to the thousands of starving villages to save them from the biting effects of drought.