Victory Farms, Kenya’s largest tilapia producer, is reeling in success with a unique strategy that tackles a major obstacle in the country’s agricultural landscape – fragmented land ownership.
Traditionally, this complex system, often stemming from inheritance practices, has hindered the growth of large-scale enterprises. However, Victory Farms, with an ambitious target of producing 18,000 tonnes of tilapia this year, has devised a win-win solution for themselves and local communities.
“The biggest constraint to our expansion is fingerling production,” says Steve Moran, co-founder of Victory Farms. Moran boasts a proven track record, having previously established Tropo Farms, the leading tilapia producer in West Africa. “Our model relies on vast pond systems for broodstock and egg collection, and to grow, we need significant tracts of land.”
Empowering Communities, Boosting Production
Victory Farms’ solution is as innovative as it is socially responsible. “We partner with local communities,” explains Moran. “We have a waiting list a mile long! We lease plots of land and construct a small broodstock pond on each, typically measuring 20 meters by 60 meters and housing around 1,000 broodstock fish.”
The key to the success of this partnership lies in shared benefits. “Victory Farms manages the ponds as company assets,” says Moran. “In return, landowners receive a monthly royalty based on the volume of eggs collected. This royalty translates to roughly two and a half times the minimum wage – a substantial passive income stream for a piece of land that was previously underutilized.”
Beyond Tilapia: A Symbiotic Ecosystem
The innovation doesn’t stop at land ownership. Victory Farms is fostering a holistic ecosystem around its tilapia production. “We’re moving away from typical high-value aquaponics models that often struggle financially,” says Moran. “Instead, we’re combining tilapia production in ponds with the use of effluent water from those ponds to irrigate and grow vegetables for local consumption – tomatoes, onions, greens.”
This vegetable facet of the business falls under the purview of Stable Foods, a sister organization of Victory Farms. Stable Foods manages the irrigation systems, either through profit-sharing agreements or by renting the irrigation equipment to local farmers.
Victory Farms’ strategy is a refreshing example of how a commercially successful venture can co-exist and empower the communities it operates within. By tackling the challenge of land ownership and adopting a symbiotic approach to agriculture, Victory Farms is not only scaling its tilapia production but also nurturing a more sustainable and equitable food system in Kenya.
