Data Feedback Transforms an Evasive Fisherman: Kinyika JCMA Updates
- eve
- Feb 17
- 5 min read
Abdi has been one of the very naughty ones. A fisherman for over 15 years in Mkunumbi Village, Abdi brings in crabs 3-4 times a week for sale and gets his hard earned money to sustain his wife and two kids. He is well aware of the Kenyan Fisheries Law that requires him to submit fish data for every catch, but for the longest time, he has been ignoring it and going about his business!
As one of our Kinyika JCMA Initiative action plans, we visited Abdi’s village in November last year to give the Mkunumbi Beach Management Unit (BMU) feedback on data we had received from their fishermen over 5 months, and what it meant to their livelihoods. Abdi and 4 other fishermen in attendance had come to cause trouble as they demanded to know why we were insistent for months on getting their fish data. Were we just collecting data and using it to siphon donations from across the world, without giving them a cut? How dare we!
We had conducted such data feedback meetings with 9 other BMUs under the Kinyika JCMA Project, fully funded by Blue Ventures. In months that preceded and followed, we conducted the following trainings with all 10 villages under this project:
Governance and Leadership: to break down the BMU leadership structure, explain their respective roles and ponder upon their specific conflicts while equipping them with effective conflict management skills.
Financial Management: to foster financial transparency, streamline record-keeping and establish a finance reporting system with the BMU leaders.
In our company for these training sessions were the local administrative chief, fisheries officers, Gulf bank representatives when called upon and our LaMCoT Fisheries Team. The aim was to break down this information to the community, and get to delve into their internal BMU challenges, conflicts and deliberations to come up with real-time solutions together.
Abdi, fully charged up, cited that he did not give his fish data willingly because he did not know why anyone would want that data. Furthermore, revealing the day’s catch brings bad luck - they call it ‘husdah’. On other fishing expeditions, he comes back at wee hours of the night when data collectors are understandably not on site, but would not give them data the next day because he does not trust that any benefits coming from this data would get to him.
Numbers don't lie. The Kobo Toolbox database that we use to store and analyze fish data gave the true picture of what data had been collected, and how much fishermen and dealers were making from their catch.
Mohamed, our Fisheries Coordinator presented to the Mkunumbi BMU their earnings and statistics from all the months of data collection, and compared it to the collective information from all 10 BMUs under this project. This stirred curiosity and competitiveness! ‘Are other BMUs doing better than us? Will we lag behind in something if we do not yield data?’ They murmured.
Komu, our Fisheries Lead who is very entertaining in how he relays crucial information to the community, told them that they were indeed at the verge of missing out on a lot! Without fish data, it is impossible to get the true picture of the biodiversity of their fishing areas, study particular fish patterns, back up livelihood proposal budgets with facts and customize conservation efforts in Lamu for their own good. Furthermore, without data, how will investors and donors know of their shortcomings?
Komu encouraged them to continue holding onto data and invited them to take the front seat in watching their neighboring villages reap any benefits that come with compliance in the near future. He also encouraged them to keep the data a sacred secret and hinder financial transparency in BMU operations; after all, conflicts were up for grabs!
The mood changed. After this meeting with the community, Abdi expressed how disgusted he was with his old ways. He was a man on a new mission; to give data willingly and influence every fisherman he had convinced otherwise, to be vigilant in data collection.
In January 2025, we met the 20 data collectors we have partnered with under the Kinyika Program for an interactive session. They were jubilant that since we did the community engagement meetings; more and more fishers and dealers were compliant in data submission, Abdi included!
In this meetup, we spent the day taking them through Fish Identification Guidelines that we will use in coming up with a Lamu Fish Identification Database. Accompanied by Martinson and Fatma from Blue Ventures, we were taught more than we taught! Being that fish identification is our data collectors’ bread and butter, they enlightened us on the different fish species in Lamu, their Swahili names and what features they use to identify them.
Ours was to take them through the fish scientific names, fish photography and a mentorship session on their work. As the mentor of the day, Jackline, our Fisheries Data Officer was all ears to their reviews on strengths and downsides of their work so far. It was fascinating to listen to data collectors give testimonies of what our trainings have done to their communities back home and what more we can do to collaborate impactfully. Ibrahim was particularly smitten!
Their only plea was that we look into the challenges they had cited to us, and keep visiting the community often for more capacity-building sessions. We intend to oblige because the Kinyika JCMA Initiative is set to be in action for the longest time possible.
In the next few months we will be taking some BMU representatives on a learning exchange visit at Kuruwitu Conservation and Welfare CBO -Kilifi. We plan to also tap into the community’s alternative livelihoods projects. Having issued them with proposal writing guidelines during 2024’s Bahari Yetu Festival Uvuvi Day, we are now receiving the community’s proposal submissions and seeking collaborators to help us meet them at their point of need.
Additionally, we are working towards a standardized data logbook for each fishing craft to avoid missing fish data from those going to cast their nets at night. With our data collectors on the ground, we will manage to get everything we need to create the Lamu Fish Identification guide that will inform more intentional conservation acts for our marine resources.
Our efforts go beyond conservation because Blue Ventures is involved! We are positive that the Kinyika Project is one for the books. Stay tuned on our social media platforms for timely updates on this project and feel free to work with us in guarding our marine ecosystem.
Shots & Story by Evelyn Kimori
Edited by Teresa Gulatoon
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