As featured https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/families-reap-income-from-aquaponics-project/ in Kenya News Agency
Victory Farms is transforming the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Kaksingri, Suba South Sub-County, through an ambitious aquaponics initiative that is turning idle land into a consistent source of income.
The Homa Bay Extensive Aquaponics Programme (HEAP), an innovative partnership between the aquaculture firm and local landowners, is emerging as one of the region’s most promising rural economic empowerment models.
Through the programme, smallholder farmers earn steady monthly royalties from fish-egg production hosted on their underutilized land.
Under the arrangement, Victory Farms installs ponds on farmers’ land, stocks them with fish, manages the ponds, and harvests eggs weekly, paying farmers for the eggs in return.
Landowners earn Sh1,200 per kilogram of tilapia eggs harvested, creating a reliable monthly income stream while contributing to the company’s aquaculture supply chain.
Speaking during a HEAP awareness football tournament in Kaksingri, Project Manager Georgia Hoile said the model is designed to build long-term household financial stability.
“The HEAP model allows landowners to participate in our success. The goal is to bring families a reliable monthly income that can help them meet essential needs such as school fees and other household expenses,” Hoile said.
Beyond income generation, the HEAP system boosts local food production through an integrated aquaponics approach. Solar-powered pumps installed on the ponds regularly flush nutrient-rich water into nearby farms, where it is used to irrigate vegetables and other crops, creating a natural fertilizer system driven by fish waste.
The programme currently works with 30 pond owners, some hosting up to seven ponds with many more community members expressing interest as its benefits become widely known.
Victory Farms Community Relations Coordinator David Otieno described HEAP as both an economic catalyst and a community empowerment platform. He said the football tournament was organized to showcase the program’s impact and rally more residents to join.
“We are here today courtesy of HEAP, a project the farm runs in partnership with community members where we outsource fish egg production to local smallholder farmers. We are excited about its outcome and the potential it has to accelerate economic transformation and uplift our landowners,” Otieno said.
Otieno emphasized that the tournament was designed not only to empower local youth but also to rally the community to join the HEAP bandwagon by telling the story of economic transformation and bring more people on board.
At the tournament, the company donated balls and training equipment to local teams as part of efforts to nurture talent in the football-rich region.
“Kaksingri is a hotbed of football talent, but lack of resources continues to hold the teams back. Victory Farms is stepping in as a trusted partner to promote these teams and expose their abilities as we continue to grow the economics of pond partnership,” he said.
However, beneficiaries like Benard Owato reported improved financial stability and better use of previously idle land.
Owato, who hosts two ponds, said he now enjoys financial stability and better use of land that previously lay idle.
“I am a pond partner with two ponds and I get about Sh30,000 as royalties after every harvesting cycle. Victory Farms has helped us a lot. Our lives have transformed. I am able to pay school fees, and by the fourth day of every month, the payment always reflects without fail,” he said.
