Food insecurity remains one of the most evident aspects of poverty. The growing population and the competition for resources such as land and water imply that global food demand is burgeoning. In Kenya, food insecurity trends are worrying as the population is predicted to hit 55 million by 2030 as the per capita annual growth rate of arable land and the increase in food prices. Aquaculture is vital for enhancing food security, alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable economic growth in Kenya. The main challenges in the aquaculture subsector in Kenya include; Inadequate availability and affordability of quality fish seed (f ingerlings), lack of high quality and affordable fish f eeds, inadequate supportive infrastructure e.g. hatcheries, fish m arketing systems, fish processing p lants, shortfall in budgetary a llocations to support aquaculture i nitiatives, weak research- extension- farmer l inkages, slow adoption rate of fish farming technologies, i nnovations and management p ractices (TIMPs), lack of good credit facilities and schemes for fish f armers, p oor security and safety of fish in ponds and c ages, poor book keeping and record management leading to inaccurate d ata, policy and legal framework for fish feed and seed certification to monitor compliance. The opportunities to enhance aquaculture contribution to food security, poverty a lleviation and malnutrition in Kenya include; integration of aquaculture into conventional f arming, upscaling modern technologies, innovations, and management p ractices (TIMPs), competency- based training on special skills in a quaculture, organizing fish traders into groups to maximize financial and market o pportunities, exploring opportunities in value- added product d evelopment, investment in modern fish processing technologies and marketing t echniques, promoting public –private partnerships to support aquaculture initiatives.
Keywords : food insecurity, poverty and malnutrition