KENYA – NEW FEED MILL GEARING UP TO START OPERATIONS

Maize is the main ingredient in African fish feeds

The SamakGro aqua feed mill is gearing up to start production in Naivasha in the next few months. The plant is a partnership between Netherlands based Maxim Agri Holding and Gatsby Africa. It is expected to provide Kenya’s aquaculture industry with a badly needed thrust. According to Obaid Ur Rahman, General Manager of the company, ‘ we are excited about the strategic advantages and opportunities for the aquaculture industry that this joint venture will create through localizing feed production and making available a product of verifiable, consistent quality that aquaculture practitioners and entrepreneurs can rely on ’.

An interesting focus of the company’s operations will be the investment in trials and development of local feed ingredients, with the view to achieving suitable blends of materials for optimum efficiency.


The cost of fish feed is a major challenge for fish farmers in Africa, due to the fact that local production of the major ingredients, especially maize and soya meal, is inadequate, and governments often resort to imports to meet demand, resulting in high prices. Feed costs absorb 70% of the African fish farmer’s budget, so the deployment of local ingredients in feed production will make a major impact on the industry.