Fishing communities on Kenya’s north coast will be the first to benefit from smart identity cards aimed at distinguishing genuine fishermen and loggers from poachers who raid waters and cut down mangroves vital to ease climate change threats.
Each government-issued Mvuvi card – the word means fisher in Swahili – features a photo and fingerprint taken from its registered owner.
Authorities will be able to read the cards using smartphones loaded with communications software that allows short-range wireless data transfers.
Officials hope the cards, being used first in Lamu County, home to what the government says are about 60% of Kenya’s protected mangrove forests, will boost security and curb illegal fishing and logging.
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