Accessing Credit Finance by Artisanal Fishermen: The Case of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya

The Fisheries sector contributes 1 % to the Gross domestic Product (GDP) of Kenya. Secondly, it employs at least 800, 000 people directly and another 3 million people indirectly. Moreover, it provides income and a source of food security. However, there is a gap of 7.6 Kg/capita of fish in Kenya coupled with other constraints such as inadequate financing of artisanal fishermen. Therefore the objective of this study was to identify factors that impact on the access to financing by artisanal fishermen in Lake Victoria. A total of 314 artisanal fishermen were interviewed from landing beaches along Lake Victoria. A 5 point Likert scale was used to assess the awareness of the respondents on access to financing. Consequently a factorial analysis was used to order the factors that influence the access to financing. The order of factors that had an impact on access to credit finance were found to be saving regulations (F1), group characteristics (F2), socio economic characteristics of fishermen (F3), gender issues (F4), household expenditures (F5) and marital status (F6). The results can be used in financial interventions since they show that the fishermen are aware of their preference in accessing finance.