Monitoring and Evaluation Practices and Performance of Aquaculture Projects in Kenya

Abstract

Aquaculture provides millions of people globally with nutrients, the inexpensive protein which represents a tremendous opportunity to improve food security and nutrition. The performance of aquaculture development projects is being threatened by the effects of climate change, necessitating the concentrated use of mitigation and adaptation techniques. There must be guarantee of a consistent supply in the market for the aquaculture sector to be profitable and achieve a competitive advantage in global market. In this study, Kirinnyanga County's NARDTC was used as a case study to evaluate the performance of aquaculture projects in Kenya as it is right now. The study's goals included determining the impact of budgetary procedures, stakeholder participation, technical capability, and the planning stage on the success of aquaculture projects in Kenya. Program Theory and Human Capital Theory were the theories utilised in the investigation. The study's research methodology was descriptive. One NARDTC project coordinator, 16 fish farming project managers, 10 evaluation and monitoring officers, 25 fish farming record officers, and 40 training officers who are taking part in the aquaculture projects that are administered by NARDTC, Kirinyaga County, make up the study's target population of 92 participants. The study has 75 responders as its sample size. The results of the descriptive study showed that budgetary practices had a positive influence on the accomplishment of fish farming projects in Kenya's Kirinyaga County. The outcomes also showed that the success of fishing projects in Kenya's Kirinyaga County is positively impacted by employee capacity. The study came to the conclusion that financial procedures in Kirinyaga County, Kenya, favorably affect the success of aquaculture projects. The study came to the further conclusion that the performance of the fish farming initiatives in Kirinyaga County, Kenya, is positively impacted by stakeholder involvement. The study came to the additional conclusion that practices related to personnel capacity had a favorable impact on effectiveness of aquaculture operations throughout Kirinyaga County, Kenya. The study suggests that in order for the fish farming project to be sustainable, funding should be allocated to the planning methodologies used by NARDTC administration in Kirinyaga County. Some of the planning process strategies that need an improvement include ensuring that there are monitoring and assessment strategies for successful project execution, making sure that activities are assigned and carried out as the project is implemented, make sure that time and allocated resources for a variety of M&E tasks and make sure that reporting schedules for implementation progress are available.