Kenya’s Blue Economy Value Creation.
Kenya’s Blue Economy has been hailed as a flagship of sustainable development — a vision where the country’s lakes, rivers, and ocean generate livelihoods, promote conservation, and spark innovation.
But as investments pour in and projects multiply, a pressing question looms: is Kenya truly maximizing the value of its aquatic resources, or merely scaling old systems?
Since hosting the first global Blue Economy Conference in 2018, Kenya has embraced the idea with remarkable energy.
From newly upgraded ports and fishing equipment to expanded aquaculture and increased marine tourism efforts, the country has made visible strides.
The state has poured billions into infrastructure, while global partners have contributed to conservation, community enterprises, and fisheries support. Ministries dedicated to the Blue Economy have emerged, and strategies continue to evolve.
Yet beneath the surface, many experts and practitioners now warn that progress may be plateauing.
The focus, they say, has largely been on output — more fish landed, more boats built, more tourists counted — rather than on the systems, structures, and innovations that turn output into long-term value.
At the heart of the issue is a developmental model that emphasizes short-term productivity over sustainable transformation.
Fishing cooperatives may now own better gear, but they often lack access to cold chains, processing facilities, or market data. Ports may be bigger, but few are designed as hubs for value addition.
Tourism promotion is polished, but the experiences on offer often mirror international standards rather than local richness.
“We’re seeing a lot of activity, but not enough value creation,” says one Blue Economy analyst based in Mombasa. “Kenya is investing in how things have always worked, rather than asking how they could work differently.”
A good example is fisheries. While the government has helped improve storage and transport, little attention has been paid to what happens beyond the sale of raw fish.
By-products such as fish skin, bones, and waste are discarded, despite global demand for fish leather, marine oils, collagen, and pet food ingredients.
The problem is not a lack of resources, but a lack of structure.
As the analyst puts it, “We know how much fish comes in. What we don’t know is how much is lost before it reaches the market — or how much more value it could have created if processed differently.”
A growing wave of research and grassroots experimentation suggests that Kenya could emerge as a continental leader in high-value marine innovations — but only if it establishes the ecosystem necessary to support such advancements.
Across the country’s waters and coastal communities, potential abounds, waiting to be transformed into economic opportunity.
Take, for example, the often-overlooked by-products of the fishing industry.
Fish skins, typically discarded at landing sites, can be processed into high-quality leather suitable for shoes, bags, and furniture.
Fish scales and bones, too, hold untapped promise — they can be converted into biodegradable plastics, offering a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based packaging.
A handful of Kenyan startups have explored these possibilities, but their growth is constrained by the lack of consistent supply chains, access to tanning equipment, and the absence of dedicated processing hubs.
Without systemic support, these ventures remain niche and fragile.
In the realm of aquaculture, feed remains the single largest cost for fish farmers, often consuming between 60 to 70 percent of total production expenses.
Yet, Kenya is well-positioned to develop a more sustainable and affordable solution.
The country is rich in agricultural waste and already has the necessary knowledge to cultivate black soldier fly larvae — a potent source of protein for fish feed.
Combined with local fermentation techniques, these inputs could drastically reduce reliance on expensive imported feed.
However, without coordinated research and development facilities or structured supply systems, this potential remains largely theoretical.
Water hyacinth, a plant infamous for clogging Lake Victoria and hampering fishing activity, presents another intriguing opportunity.
Rather than viewing it as a nuisance, innovators are beginning to see it as a raw material.
With proper processing, water hyacinth can be turned into textile Fibers, packaging pulp, or even carbon-rich boards used in construction.
A few pilot initiatives have shown early promise, but their success is limited by inadequate data, from harvesting schedules to climate impact metrics, and a lack of access to industrial processing and distribution channels.
Kenya’s coastal communities also harbour a wealth of underappreciated marine species and culinary traditions.
Despite this, most tourist menus feature international dishes rather than local flavours.
There is enormous potential to reinvent Kenya’s culinary identity by highlighting indigenous marine ingredients.
Chefs like Ángel León in Spain have demonstrated how entire restaurants can be built around neglected fish species, turning overlooked food into premium dining experiences.
Kenya could do the same — but it would require investment in culinary labs, support for local sourcing networks, and a redesign of tourism to focus on immersive, locally-rooted experiences.
Perhaps the most critical foundation for all these innovations is data.
Kenya’s marine economy currently operates with fragmented, often paper-based records, which hampers coordination and limits growth.
Building digital systems to track catch volumes, monitor supply chains, and match producers with processors and buyers could dramatically increase efficiency and reduce waste.
Mobile data tools, shared dashboards, and lightweight traceability platforms would not only improve logistics but also strengthen market access for small-scale producers.
Together, these examples point to a simple but powerful insight: Kenya has the raw materials and entrepreneurial spirit to lead in marine innovation.
What it needs now is structure — systems that connect ideas to markets, producers to processors, and innovation to infrastructure.
Without it, these promising initiatives risk remaining isolated experiments rather than transformative economic engines.
What unites these opportunities is not just innovation, but a need for integration. Kenya’s Blue Economy is full of pilots, projects, and ideas, but they often operate in isolation.
What’s missing is the infrastructure and systems thinking to connect them into functioning value chains.
This is where a proposed Productivity and Innovation Lab could play a vital role.
Envisioned as a national coordination hub, such a lab wouldn’t build more infrastructure — it would make existing infrastructure work smarter.
By providing tools for inventory tracking, market linkage, cooperative logistics, and data analysis, it would help small-scale actors transition from subsistence to enterprise.
For example, if fish processors had real-time information on incoming catches, they could plan production more efficiently.
If coastal groups producing seaweed packaging had access to demand forecasts and shelf-life data, they could scale sustainably.
If aquaculture farmers shared waste streams, insect-based feed producers could meet supply quotas while reducing costs.
The idea is simple but transformative: structure innovation, don’t just fund it. Kenya already has the energy, creativity, and groundwork. It now needs to connect the dots.
If the first chapter of Kenya’s Blue Economy was about platforms — building boats, ports, and ponds — the second chapter must be about performance.
That means helping these platforms interact, reinforcing one another rather than existing in silos.
Many high-potential ventures fail not because they lack promise, but because they get stuck between idea and business.
There’s no processing infrastructure, no clear ownership models, no tools for predicting demand or accessing export markets.
A value chain is only as strong as its weakest link — and in Kenya’s case, many of those links remain missing.
The country must now ask: what kind of economy does it want to build?
One that exports raw fish and imports finished goods, or one that processes, packages, and sells its own marine products — at a profit, and on its own terms?
The momentum behind Kenya’s Blue Economy is real. The foundations are strong.
But the next step will require courage, investment, and a shift in mindset — from managing resources to designing systems, from activity to productivity, from potential to performance.
If Kenya chooses to connect its marine efforts — to think like an innovator, not just a manager — the rewards could be immense.
Jobs, industries, and sustainable incomes lie within reach. But they won’t arrive on their own. They will need to be built by design, not default.
It’s time to move beyond the catch.
Liesbeth Bakker (MBA, MSc) co-authored this article under CASBI – Centre for Applied Sciences & Business Innovation
