Kisumu East DC Mabeya Mogaka (third left) joins the No Sex for Fish women group during the donation of six boats by the US Peace Corps Kenya at Nyamware Beach in Kano, Kisumu County last Wednesday. The project hopes to rid the region of the sex-for-fish tradition that contributes to the spread of Aids. Photo/JACOB OWITI.

Visitors to Kisumu are marvelling at the clear waters of Lake Victoria.
For four months, the lake weed, hyacinth, has migrated from the lake shores due to what experts attribute to strong winds that came with the short rains.
But the fisher folk who are more conversant with the waters are not in a celebratory mood. Fish stocks too, appear to be dwindling.
Among the groups that are mostly affected by the consequences of the drop in amount of fish are women who are involved in the fish trade.
They can often be spotted at the different beaches every morning, waiting for the youthful fishermen to arrive with the day’s catch before the scramble begins.
US Peace Corps volunteer Dominic Mucklow, who has been working with the fishing community in Nyando District for the last two years, said there was need to address the rising HIV prevalence rates that are coming about due to the overdependence of women on the fishermen.
According to Mr Mucklow, this can be achieved if the women are trained and equipped to embrace entrepreneurship.
“It is great to talk about a role for ladies in the new Kenya, but they need economic power. They need to be behind business and take up roles that were traditionally considered only for men,” he said. 
To that effect, the US Peace Corps formed the No Sex for Fish women group for women involved in the fish trade, and initiated a project to make women own the fishing trade process.
A pilot project has already seen the donation of six boats to the group of 10 women drawn from three beaches across the district. Each boat costs Sh75,000.
“It is Peace Corp’s belief that such initiatives, though minimal, will eventually gain popularity and sustainability to reduce the number of women engaging in the sex-for-fish trade,” Mr Mucklow said.
Mrs Jostine Obura, who is a fish trader at Nduru Beach in Nyando disclosed that the sex-for-fish culture, locally referred to as jaboya has been rampant despite the increase in rates of HIV infections reflected on landing beaches in the region.
She said some of the women gave plastic bags to the fishermen as they went into the waters, and when they returned, some of the best catch would be set aside for them, stashed in the bags.
“When the young men who go fishing return, the fish can easily belong to you if you are willing to pay in kind,” Mrs Obura said.
According to a 2009 Kenya Aids Research and Study Committee report, fishing beaches in Nyanza have a documented HIV prevalence rate of 30 per cent.