FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Equipment · Baskets, trays and beds
Fish-drying crib · Dagaa drying rack
A low-cost raised bed for sun-drying small fish, documented in Lake Victoria communities in Tanzania in wood-and-reed and improved mesh forms.
A raised fish-drying rack holds the drying surface above the beach or ground. In 2019, Sokoine University of Agriculture described Lake Victoria processors in Mwanza being encouraged to use crib methods instead of spreading small fish on sand. The article reports contamination concerns around sand-dried fish and includes a photograph captioned “Sardines on the Cribs.” The photograph shows long raised beds loaded with small fish, but it does not identify their dimensions or the material of the pictured surface.
The rack supports sun drying; it is not the cooking vessel. The available accounts do not establish one universal shape, capacity, or drying schedule for the equipment.
A 2015 Tanzanian project assessment describes traditional local racks made from reeds and sticks. It says they wear quickly and need rebuilding. The same report discusses wire-mesh racks as a more durable proposed alternative. Those are distinct material choices: the wire-mesh project design should not be mistaken for the reed-and-stick form. The report does not provide a measured specification for the traditional racks, so this page gives no dimensions or construction plan.
A 2016 Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization survey spanning Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania records raised racks among processors' methods, alongside nets and ground drying. It also identifies rain and poor drying conditions as regional challenges. Its results describe a sample across several countries, not every Tanzanian landing site.
A 2026 FAO/FISH4ACP account from Kigoma describes a Tanzanian processor working with fish racks alongside a solar tent and an oven. That is evidence that rack-based drying remains part of current fish processing, but it does not show that the Kigoma racks share the reeds-and-sticks materials described in 2015. The sources do not supply a capacity, exact height, surface construction, maintenance schedule, drying endpoint, or validated safety process. A raised bed may separate fish from sand; the equipment record alone cannot establish how dry or safe a batch becomes.
A 2015 assessment names traditional reed-and-stick racks; a 2016 regional survey, a 2019 Mwanza account, and a 2026 Kigoma report document raised or rack-based fish drying in Tanzania. These sources establish varied present-day use, not a single design or an uninterrupted history.
Sokoine University of Agriculture reports concern about small fish laid on sand and describes a move to cribs; the report does not validate a rack as complete pathogen control.
Hazard sourceA raised surface does not establish a drying time, moisture endpoint, or validated food-safety process; none is supplied by these equipment sources.
The 2015 assessment says reed-and-stick racks wear quickly and require rebuilding; it supplies no service life or maintenance specification.
Source →Sokoine University describes Lake Victoria fish processors in Mwanza using crib methods; this row does not claim every landing site uses the same rack.
A 2015 Tanzania project assessment describes traditional reed-and-stick fish-drying racks; its country-level record is not narrowed to a specific community here.
FAO/FISH4ACP describes a current fish processor working with racks alongside a solar tent and oven; the source does not identify those racks as reed-and-stick construction.
A metal-frame rack set on concrete footings, with removable hardwood trays under mesh, raises fish above the ground for air-drying. The design was promoted in Burundi and documented by FAO in 2014.
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Sokoine University of AgricultureDescription · Geography · Safety
Fishing community encouraged to follow best practicesThe 2019 account concerns dagaa processors in Mwanza Region on Lake Victoria
It describes crib drying as an alternative to drying small fish on sand
The page includes a photograph captioned Sardines on the Cribs
Cited in: A Lake Victoria drying crib
African Development BankDescription · Materials · History · Limits
Tanzania Transport Sector Support Program: ESIA Summary for the Tabora–Koga–Mpanda and Mbinga–Mbamba Bay RoadsThe 2015 assessment describes traditional local fish-drying racks made from reeds and sticks
It says these racks wear quickly and require rebuilding
It discusses wire mesh as a proposed durable alternative
Cited in: Traditional materials and later alternatives; A varied current practice
Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization, East African CommunityDescription · Geography · History
State of Lake Victoria Dagaa (Rastrineobola argentea): Quantity, Quality, Value Addition, Utilization and Trade in the East African Region for Improved Nutrition, Food Security and IncomeThe 2016 regional study sampled processors and trade in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania
It records raised racks among dagaa drying practices, alongside nets and ground drying
The report names poor weather and rain among processing challenges
Cited in: Traditional materials and later alternatives
FAO Fish4ACPHistory · Geography
Training and better equipment helps Tanzanian fish processor build a better lifeThe June 2026 account places a fish processor in Kigoma by Lake Tanganyika
It describes present work involving racks, a solar tent and an oven
It documents current rack-based drying in Tanzania without identifying the racks as reed-and-stick construction
Cited in: A varied current practice