Abstract:
Despite the importance of fish farming, its adoption in Moiben has been low for a long time
though the government has been supporting the industry through the Economic Stimulus
Programme. This study sought to assess the fish farmers‘ educational level on sustainability
of fish farming. The objectives of the study were to establish; to assess the farmers‘
educational level on the sustainability of fish farming; to examine the fish farmers‘ level of
awareness on technical support on sustainability of fish farming; to establish the effect of
culture on sustainability of fish farming; assess how financial resources affect the
sustainability of fish farming in Moiben sub-county, Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya. The study
was guided by the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (Rodger, 2003). The study used
descriptive survey design. The target population was 120 fish farmers in the sub-county. A
sample of 72 fish farmers and were proportionately sampled from the five wards in Moiben
Sub-County; five extension officers were selected purposively. The stratified purposive and
simple random sampling was used. Questionnaires focus group discussion and interview
schedule was used to obtain information from fish farmers and the extension officers from
fisheries department. The research instruments were validated through expert judgement and
piloting was used to determine reliability through Cronbach Alpha coefficient. Data was
analyzed using SPSS. Regression analysis was conducted to establish the determinants. The
results indicated that there is no significant relationship between education of the farmers and
sustainability of fish farming (β1= 0.02, p = 0.865). The technical support was found to
significantly affect sustainability of fish farming (β2 = 0. 318, p = 0.014). The study also
established that cultural factors significantly affect sustainability of fish farming (β3 = 0.482, p
= 0.000). Finally, financial resources had a significant effect on sustainability of fish farming
(β4 = 0.295, p = 0.043). The study established that most fish farmers do not access loans to
expand their fish farming business. The researcher made the following recommendations; the
County government should intensify imparting technical skills on fish farmers through
training, and visiting other fish farms that have shown best practices in fish farming, the
relevant authorities should devise ways to publicize information on fish farming practices in
order to arise the interest of other farmers, the department of fisheries should conduct
awareness campaigns to educate people on the advantages of fish as source of animal protein,
the County government should source for development partners that can extent financial
assistance to fish farmers to expand their business.
