At Kiyindi Landing Site in Buikwe District, silverfish (mukene) trader Peruse Logose begins her day confident that she will not return home empty-handed. Where she once earned Shs5,000 a day, she now earns up to Shs200,000 through improved drying, processing, and value addition of mukene. ‘I started hawking mukene on foot,’ she told this publication on December 10. Ms Logose added: ‘Now I own a tricycle and a van, employ 10 people, and supply silverfish across the region.’
Her story reflects changes at several businesses on landing sites that are thriving due to value addition.
At Kikondo (Buikwe District), Katosi (Mukono District) Dei (Pakwach District) and Kiyindi (Buikwe District) landing sites, several women who once dried fish on bare ground now use raised racks and solar dryers to keep it clean and free from dust, stones, and flies, supporting successful businesses. The shift has greatly increased mukene’s value, with a basin that was once sold at between Shs20,000 and Shs30,000 now fetching between Shs50,000 and Shs70,000, and sometimes up to Shs150,000, depending on demand and location.
The improved quality has attracted buyers from Tanzania, Rwanda, DR Congo, South Sudan, Kenya, and across Uganda. ‘Before, mukene had soil and customers avoided it,’ said Ms Prossy Nabwanika of Kiyindi Kwagalana Mukene Women Development Group last Wednesday. She added: ‘Now, properly dried, a batch that once earned Shs70,000 profit now brings at least Shs300,000. Value addition changed everything.’ Improved earnings have helped women achieve major milestones; at Dei Landing Site in Pakwach District, they pooled savings to buy 13 fishing boats.
In Kikondo, women hire men to fish while managing processing and marketing. Several have joined or formed savings and credit co-operative societies (Saccos), saving up to Shs10 million to reinvest in their businesses. ‘Mukene has boosted our household incomes,’ said Ms Florence Kiguli of the Yagaliza Ofune Group in Katosi, Mukono District. ‘Schools now buy it as an appetiser, and anyone can process it from home.’ Value addition now goes beyond drying, with women producing porridge mixes, snacks, samosas, sausages, bagiya snacks, and instant meals, attracting higher-income consumers.
‘People now buy mukene from supermarkets because it’s clean and tasty,’ Ms Kiguli said. ‘Even the rich have embraced it.’ The Kikondo Women’s NutriFish Processors and Traders Organisation now produces deep-fried mukene and powdered products that fetch higher prices. ‘People once saw mukene as poor quality, but it is now valued, allowing us to start other businesses. I sell charcoal, soft drinks, and sugarcane,’ said Ms Rose Masese, the group’s secretary.
‘I used to sell a basin of silverfish between Shs25,000 and 35,000. Now we sell a basin at between Shs60,000 and Shs80,000. Better markets and processing facilities have made a huge difference,’ she added. Ms Sarah Akwale, the chairperson of the Kikondo Mukene Processors, said the business allows her to support her six children as a single mother. ‘I support my family through mukene. Demand has grown, four of my children finished A-Level, others joined university, and my monthly profit rose from Shs100,000 to Shs10 million, with one boat earning up to Shs4 million a day.’
Despite the progress, processors face challenges such as a lack of certified working spaces, transport limitations, and exploitation by middlemen. ‘Middlemen buy a kilogramme of deep-fried silverfish at Shs14,000 and resell it at Shs40,000,’ said Ms Akwale. She added:’We need secure processing spaces to meet UNBS [Uganda National Bureau of Standards] standards and access export markets.’ Ms Akwale highlighted the challenges faced by local fish traders. ‘I lack a proper place to operate. Authorities sometimes stop fishing, arrest workers, and seize our fishing gear despite our taxes. Removing soldiers from the waters would help the poor,’ she said.
NutriFishPlus fuelling change
Ms Nelly Badaru, a gender expert on the NutriFishPlus Project, said the initiative builds on an earlier NutriFish project by the Department of Zoology, Entomology, and Fisheries Sciences at the College of Natural Sciences (CoNAS), Makerere University. The project has reduced malnutrition by boosting the acceptability and consumption of nutrient-rich small pelagic fishes. Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), NutriFishPlus aims to scale up Phase I activities to improve incomes and livelihoods in fishing communities. Launched on October 28, the project will run until March 2028. ‘The initial 40-month project promoted the nutritional and economic value of small fish like mukene, which is eaten whole and provides essential nutrients,’ Ms Badaru said.
The project introduced improved technologies such as raised racks, solar dryers, and dust-free spaces, enabling hygienic processing while improving market access and joint marketing. ‘NutriFishPlus focuses on improving technologies, strengthening processing and marketing, empowering women, and promoting alternative livelihoods,’ Ms Badaru added. With a Shs2 billion budget, the current phase is being implemented at five landing sites: Katosi, Kikondo, Bangladesh, Kayago, and Dei, around Lakes Victoria, Kyoga, and Albert, promoting alternative livelihoods and value-added products.
Makerere University provides technical leadership, ensuring women, youth, and fishing communities benefit from clean and high-quality mukene for domestic and export markets. The project also emphasises longer shelf-life products, skills development, and climate-resilient enterprises. Ms Elizabeth Claire Nabuule, the assistant commissioner for Fisheries Co-Management at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (Maaif), said: ‘People used to think mukene was not important, yet it is a key food for children with measles and malnutrition. Pelagic species like mukene provide essential proteins and help build strong bones,’ she said.
Ms Nabuule added that China rejects poorly processed mukene, and Uganda currently has only one factory in Buikwe producing export-quality fish.
Promoting small pelagic fishes is a priority of Maaif under the Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan to tackle hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity while improving fishing community livelihoods.