SAWA — Aquaculture Suitability Maps
Click any county to view aquaculture site suitability for pond, cage, and mariculture systems — built on water access, land suitability, market proximity, and 47-county field validation.
Select a county to view suitability
Click any county on the map, or use the search box, to view its aquaculture suitability rating, key constraints, and recommended species for the selected system type.
What SAWA maps for each system type
Pond Aquaculture
Earthen and lined ponds for tilapia, catfish, and carp. The dominant system in western Kenya, requiring reliable freshwater access and suitable soil for water retention.
Cage Culture
Floating net cages in lakes and reservoirs — predominantly Lake Victoria. Suitability depends on water depth, current, and protection from wave exposure.
Mariculture
Coastal seaweed, oyster, and finfish farming along Kenya's Indian Ocean shoreline — concentrated in Kwale and Kilifi counties' sheltered bays and mangrove fringes.
How suitability scores are calculated
SAWA applies weighted multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) in a GIS environment, combining biophysical and socioeconomic layers into a single suitability index from 0–100 per 1km² grid cell, then aggregated to county level.