BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:E-IPER Dissertation Defense: Fridah Nyakundi
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Pacific Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260722T132733Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_52870239264612
DTSTART:20260609T160000Z
DTEND:20260609T170000Z
DESCRIPTION:Please join us for an E-IPER dissertation defense by Fridah Nya
 kundi: "Beyond Production Growth: Risk\, Spatial Governance\, and Feed Eco
 nomics of Nile Tilapia Aquaculture in Western Kenya."\n\nIn-person: Y2E2 2
 99\n\nVirtual: Zoom webinar (password: 673648)\n\nABSTRACT\n\nAquaculture 
 is the world's fastest-growing food production sector and a critical lever
  for closing the protein gap across Sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya\, Nile ti
 lapia (Oreochromis niloticus) farming has expanded dramatically over the p
 ast decade from a niche\, subsidy-dependent activity to a 33\,000-tonne\, 
 US$77 million industry concentrated along Lake Victoria. Public programs a
 nd private capital continue to flow into the sector\, expected to substitu
 te for declining wild catch\, generate rural employment\, improve nutritio
 n\, and underwrite the country's blue-economy ambitions. Yet despite this 
 rapid growth\, evidence on whether the sector is actually resilient\, prof
 itable\, and spatially governable remains thin\, raising pressing question
 s: do farmers' perceived risk priorities align with the objective economic
  losses they bear\; does the rapid expansion of cages on Lake Victoria com
 ply with ecological zoning regulations\; and do the feed cost-coping strat
 egies farmers rely on actually pay off over the production cycle?\n\n\nMy 
 dissertation examines the long-term viability of Nile tilapia aquaculture 
 in Lake Victoria\, Kenya through three interconnected lenses: farmer risk 
 behavior\, the spatial governance of cage expansion\, and the bioeconomics
  of feed substitution. Drawing on primary survey data from farmers\, multi
 -source satellite remote sensing\, and econometric methods\, I move beyond
  simple production-growth metrics to test whether expansion of the aquacul
 ture sector in Kenya is sustainable. In the first chapter\, I use mixed me
 thods to compare risk perceptions and management strategies between commer
 cial cage and pond systems\, documenting a persistent mismatch between sub
 jective risk priorities and objective economic losses. In the second chapt
 er\, I develop a high-precision remote-sensing framework and apply it to m
 ove beyond mapping accuracy: assessing whether cage expansion\, abandonmen
 t\, and intensification on Lake Victoria between 2019 and 2024 comply with
  the official Sustainable Aquaculture Water Areas (SAWA) zoning framework.
  In the third chapter\, I use agricultural models to test whether substitu
 ting commercial feed with cheaper homemade alternatives is economically vi
 able once production-cycle length\, operational risk\, and time-adjusted p
 rofitability are jointly considered. Taken together\, this dissertation re
 frames the question of aquaculture sustainability\, moving from "how much 
 are we producing?" to "is this sector resilient\, profitable\, and spatial
 ly governable?" and offers actionable insights for policymakers\, lenders\
 , and extension services working to sustain and equitably expand aquacultu
 re across Sub-Saharan Africa.
GEO:37.42816;-122.175935
LOCATION:Y2E2 Building\, 299
SUMMARY:E-IPER Dissertation Defense: Fridah Nyakundi
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.stanford.edu/event/e-iper-dissertation-defense
 -fridah-nyakundi
CATEGORIES:PhD Defense
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR