Community Feature: Kiunga

Our co-founders checked in with our fishing friends in Kiunga, a coastal community in the Lamu Archipelago situated on the Somali border. When you’re in Kiunga, you get both Safaricom and Hormuud (Somalia’s) network 🙂.

Kiunga has faced challenges over the past decade due to Al-Shabaab’s presence in the forest directly bordering the community. Despite being a beautiful village that possesses one of - if not - Kenya’s most pristine national marine reserves, its economy struggles with tourism and fisheries market access due to the extremely remote nature of the settlement and the security situation on the ground.

During our visit, Kumbatia’s primary focus was on identifying, training, and integrating local fishermen into our network of sustainable harvesters. We are proud to announce that we successfully onboarded over 50 fishermen, many of whom were harvesters that recently participated in a gear exchange program where they traded out their illegal nets for legal fishing gear. We additionally began the process of engaging in a formal partnership with a women’s group out of Kiunga that has set up a seasonal closure program within a Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) in an attempt to harvest octopus in a manner that enables improved population management.

Whether it’s gear exchange programs or seasonal closures, Lamu is setting the standard for effective community-based marine conservation in Africa. At Kumbatia, we believe it is essential to match these conservation efforts with improved market access so fishers committed to sustainable harvest practices are rewarded financially for doing so. This will create long-term sustainability compliance and motivate community members fishing illegally to transition to responsible harvest methods. It is our duty to create this improved economic environment for our partner communities.