In Uganda, low-income groups and individuals cannot afford larger and popular types of fish, such as Nile Perch and Tilapia – meaning they miss out on a crucial source of nutrients. The solution? Embracing an overlooked variety that’s little in size but packs a big punch: silver fish, or ‘Mukene’.
This small, finger-sized fish species is one of the three main pelagic varieties found in Ugandan waters. However, it has mostly been ignored, and only eaten by poor families or used by animal feed processors in chicken, dog or pig food.
For 20 years, Charles Kyeswa fished on Lake Victoria at the Kiyindi landing site without appreciating the true value of this small fish. “We used to handle this fish like dirt,” he said. “We just poured it on the boat and stepped on it. At the landing site, we threw it on the ground for women to buy and carry away for drying.”
Poor handling resulted in the fish being mixed with sand and animal droppings, or it being stepped on or eaten by birds. Furthermore, insufficient storage facilities saw most silver fish laid out on plain cement in unventilated rooms once they were landed. This caused them to change colour, from silver to brown or grey, and the resulting bad smell, taste and appearance affected the market price and deterred many people from eating it. “I could not imagine Mukene in my mouth,” explained Enyou Peter, a fisherman at Lake Victoria’s Kikondo landing site.
Catching the next wave
Widespread nutritional deficiencies are prevalent in Uganda’s poor communities, especially among women of reproductive age and children under five years. To help address this problem, IDRC and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, through their Cultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CultiAF) program, awarded funds to a consortium of researchers to work with fish value-chain actors to implement the ‘NutriFish’ project.
The partnership, which began in April 2019, involves the Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences at the College of Natural Sciences at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda’s National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Nutreal Uganda Limited, and McGill University in Canada. The researchers aimed to find ways to reduce post-harvest losses of Mukene, increase product quality, safety and accessibility, and improve the nutritional value of the fish.
The project looked at various improved post-harvest and processing technologies. “The first technology we promoted was simple plastic containers to reduce losses during fishing. Instead of piling the fish in stacks, every catch is put in a separate container which has the ability to let out water, thus reducing the spoilage that takes place if all the fish is stacked in one large container,” explained Jackson Efitre, NutriFish principal investigator. The project has also encouraged fishermen to use salt to preserve their catch and further reduce spoilage.
For processors, the project introduced solar tent drier technology to reduce losses. This is particularly important during the wet season when there is insufficient sunshine to fully air-dry the fish. The solar tent drier is a greenhouse-like structure constructed from wooden poles and covered with ultra-violet-treated polythene. “It helps avoid waste during the rainy season, and improves the fish quality because it is no longer exposed to contaminants,” Efitre revealed. “Above all, we have seen the price of solar-dried fish increase dramatically; processors now earn twice the amount per kg compared to open sun-dried fish.”
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