Coronavirus Provides Unexpected Help for Kenyan Fishermen
2020-03-31
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1The spread of the new coronavirus has unexpectedly helped fishermen in Kenya.
2More Kenyans are now buying freshly caught fish from Lake Victoria instead of frozen fish imported from China.
3Kenya bought $23.2 million worth of frozen fish from China in 2018.
4The International Trade Center reports that almost all of Kenya's fish imports came from China.
5Kenyan fishermen have long noted that the low-cost imports were harming the country's fishing industry.
6But the coronavirus pandemic has slowed Chinese imports.
7In Kenya, many buyers have now turned to local fish.
8However, Kenya will soon face shortages unless imports from China are re-started.
9China produces just over one third of what people in Kenya eat.
10One Kenyan fisherman profiting from the new interest in fresh fish is 38-year-old Maurice Misodhi from Kisumu.
11He says China's efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus seemed to have stopped imports of low-cost Chinese fish.
12"As fishermen, we can now smile, not because people are suffering from coronavirus, but because we can now sell our fish, and at a good price," Misodhi said.
13A month ago, one kilogram of Nile perch cost 250 shillings or about $2.50. Now, the price is up to $3.50.
14Fish trader Mary Didi usually buys from Chinese suppliers but now buys from Misodhi.
15She says, "The supply at the Chinese importers has gone down, and many of my customers were also scared of the Chinese fish, thinking they would contract the virus.
16To keep the business running, I had to turn to fish from the lake."
17Bob Otieno is chairman of the Dunga Beach Management Unit.
18He says sales of locally caught fish have risen.
19He said the area records a catch of between 1 and 1.5 tons of fish each day.
20He added that sales have gone up from 50% of the catch to 90% over the past two weeks.
21Before, fishermen would eat, trade or give away around half of their catch.
22Otieno told the Reuters news agency, "We used to have many fishermen sell their catch at low prices because of competition from the Chinese fish."
23Kenya produces 180,000 tons of fish each year, but eats about 500,000 tons, according to 2019 government records.
24Christine Adhiambo is the government's assistant director of fisheries for Kenya's lake region.
25She said the two biggest importers of Chinese fish had not shipped from China since November.
26She noted that Kenya could face shortages soon.
27"Kenya cannot satisfy its local fish demand," she said.
28"That is why we heavily rely on supplements from China."
29I'm Jonathan Evans.
1The spread of the new coronavirus has unexpectedly helped fishermen in Kenya. 2More Kenyans are now buying freshly caught fish from Lake Victoria instead of frozen fish imported from China. 3Kenya bought $23.2 million worth of frozen fish from China in 2018. The International Trade Center reports that almost all of Kenya's fish imports came from China. Kenyan fishermen have long noted that the low-cost imports were harming the country's fishing industry. 4But the coronavirus pandemic has slowed Chinese imports. In Kenya, many buyers have now turned to local fish. However, Kenya will soon face shortages unless imports from China are re-started. China produces just over one third of what people in Kenya eat. 5One Kenyan fisherman profiting from the new interest in fresh fish is 38-year-old Maurice Misodhi from Kisumu. He says China's efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus seemed to have stopped imports of low-cost Chinese fish. 6"As fishermen, we can now smile, not because people are suffering from coronavirus, but because we can now sell our fish, and at a good price," Misodhi said. 7A month ago, one kilogram of Nile perch cost 250 shillings or about $2.50. Now, the price is up to $3.50. 8Fish trader Mary Didi usually buys from Chinese suppliers but now buys from Misodhi. 9She says, "The supply at the Chinese importers has gone down, and many of my customers were also scared of the Chinese fish, thinking they would contract the virus. To keep the business running, I had to turn to fish from the lake." 10Bob Otieno is chairman of the Dunga Beach Management Unit. He says sales of locally caught fish have risen. He said the area records a catch of between 1 and 1.5 tons of fish each day. He added that sales have gone up from 50% of the catch to 90% over the past two weeks. Before, fishermen would eat, trade or give away around half of their catch. 11Otieno told the Reuters news agency, "We used to have many fishermen sell their catch at low prices because of competition from the Chinese fish." 12Kenya produces 180,000 tons of fish each year, but eats about 500,000 tons, according to 2019 government records. 13Christine Adhiambo is the government's assistant director of fisheries for Kenya's lake region. She said the two biggest importers of Chinese fish had not shipped from China since November. She noted that Kenya could face shortages soon. 14"Kenya cannot satisfy its local fish demand," she said. "That is why we heavily rely on supplements from China." 15I'm Jonathan Evans. 16Katherine Houreld reported on this story for the Reuters news service. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 17________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19customer - n. someone who buys good or services from a business 20pandemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world 21scared - adj. afraid of something; nervous or frightened 22supplement - n. something that is added to something else in order to make it complete