Worldfish - Kenya

In partnership with WorldFish Kenya, illuminAid implemented a two-part Video Education initiative in November 2025 to support the Climate-Resilient Aquaculture Systems for Africa (CASA) project. This effort aims to strengthen smallholder aquaculture across western Kenya, where farmers face growing challenges related to water quality, climate variability, fish health, and market access. illuminAid’s contribution centers on empowering local partners to produce practical, farmer-centered training videos that reinforce climate-smart practices and improve access to reliable technical knowledge.

Over a two-day Working Session in Nairobi, 14 participants from organizations across the aquaculture value chain—including experts in production systems, feed quality, post-harvest handling, value addition, and market access—collaborated to identify priority training topics and set the project’s video learning plan. Through hands-on activities, participants received foundational training in participatory video production, behavior-change communication, scriptwriting, and storyboarding using illuminAid’s solar-compatible camera and projector kits. By the end of the workshop, the group had identified 18 high-value video topics and developed formal script drafts for several of the top priorities, establishing a unified and technically grounded direction for the upcoming fieldwork.

Immediately following the workshop, illuminAid and WorldFish conducted a three-day field mission across Homa Bay and Kisii counties. During this field practicum, the team collected extensive raw footage and interviewed farmers, hatchery operators, aquaculture officers, and women traders. Content captured included pond establishment, stocking techniques, feeding practices, fish health management, water testing routines, harvesting methods, and perspectives from youth and women working along the value chain. Two WorldFish “Video Champions” received practical coaching on interviewing, shot composition, b-roll capture, and on-site troubleshooting, gaining confidence in producing high-quality, locally grounded instructional footage.

The field mission yielded raw material for well over 10 upcoming videos, with three strong priority topics emerging directly from on-farm realities: pond establishment and stocking, fish feeding practices, and practical capacity strengthening for farmers facing day-to-day challenges. Cross-organizational collaboration remained a consistent strength throughout the process—partners shared technical insights, aligned expectations, and identified subject matter experts who will support accuracy and relevance during the editing phase.

These November activities launched the next phase of CASA’s video learning initiative, which will include editing, multilingual subtitling, and community screenings. Over the coming months, illuminAid and WorldFish will work together to organize and log all footage, guide the Video Champions through a structured editing workflow, and produce the first set of videos in English, Swahili, Luo, and Luhya. This process will build durable, long-term video production capacity within the Kenya team while ensuring that the training resources reflect authentic farmer experiences and climate-resilient aquaculture practices.

Discipline: Climate Resilience, Agriculture, Women’s Empowerment
Location: Nairobi, Homa Bay & Kisii Counties, Kenya
Partner: WorldFish (CASA Program)
Project Date: November 2025 – Ongoing