No Thumbnail Available

A study of fish farmers in North-Western Province, Zambia, June 1989

Year of publication 1993

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages p.41

Author Larsson, R.

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) In June 1989, ALCOM carried out a socio-economic study of the relationship between small-scale rural aquaculture and farming systems in Mwinilunga District, North-Western Province, Zambia. Informal interviews were held with 23 randomly selected fish farmer households. ALCOM's 1988 fish farmer survey in the province served as the background for a deeper study of production achievements, management practices, labour and resource allocations, harvesting strategies and disposal of harvested fish. The Farming Systems classifications defined by the Adaptive Research Planning Team (ARPT), the Zambian research body on farming systems, constituted the reference against which fish farming activities were investigated. There are two major farming systems in Mwinilunga District: “the traditional cassava-based subsistence shifting cultivation system”, encompassing the majority of households; and the “small-scale semi-commercial farming system”, practised by about 10% of the households. Of the i nterviewed households, 13 belonged to the “semi-commercial” group and 10 to the “subsistence” group. Production from fish ponds is low, in most cases within the range of 3–6 kg/are annually. Semi-commercial farmers produce more fish than subsistence farmers; motivated by their higher returns, they expand farms more often, using their own means. New ponds, however, are smaller and have a shorter life-span than the ponds built by subsidies provided by externally funded projects in the 1980s. P onds are inadequately fertilized. The main reason is scarcity of manure. The available manure is applied mainly during the cold dry season, both to fish ponds and vegetable gardens, not during the warm rainy season when the fish grows. Seasonal shortage of labour to collect and apply manure is one reason. Semi-commercial farmers have better manured ponds than subsistence farmers, the most apparent reason being their more numerous farm animals (cattle, goats and chickens).

Language English

Also available in:
No results found.

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • No Thumbnail Available
    Project
    Fish farmers in rural communities:: Results of a Survey in Northwestern Province of Zambia
    Results of a survey in northwestern province of Zambia
    1992
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    At the request of the Government of Zambia (GOZ), ALCOM surveyed farmers with fish ponds in the North Western Province during the second quarter of 1988. The objectives of the survey were: to determine the current status and future prospects of tilapia pond culture. to examine the characteristics of subsistence fish farmers, and constraints faced by them. The survey was carried out by staff from the Department of Fisheries and ALCOM, assisted by investigators and interpreters recruited for the survey. About 10% of the Province's known 1372 subsistence fish farmers were interviewed. The survey indicated that subsistence farmers harvested about 50 tons of tilapia during 1988. This was equivalent to about 6.6 kg per individual in the concerned households. The average physical productivity of the earthen gravity-fed ponds was low; about 4 kg per 100m2 per year. It is estimated that just below 20% of the production was taken out though intermittent harvesting (hook and line), the re st in major harvests, one or two per year. Ponds were seldom if ever drained. Some fish were left behind to reproduce. The tilapia farmed by subsistence farmers was expected to register production increases of about 5% per year, if existing ponds were kept in workable condition. This increase would come about through a rise in the total pond surface area, as an increase in physical productivity of ponds was not likely in the immediate future. The average subsistence fish farmer is better edu cated, more influential, and likely to be economically better off than the average head of a farming household in the Province. A comparison between farmers who have been introduced to tilapia culture through a recent aid project (ICARA) and other farmers, shows that prior to the ICARA project the characteristics described above for a fish farmer were even more pronounced.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Booklet
    Finance options to enable community forestry and climate action in North-Western Province, Zambia
    Technical brief
    2025
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    Rural communities and CFMGs are key to local climate action but face limited access to finance. Formal and informal services exist, yet barriers include high costs, low literacy, and weak rural coverage. Strengthening financial literacy, linking CFMGs with FIs, and creating tailored products can enhance forest-based enterprises, promote inclusion, and support sustainable development in North Western Province.
  • No Thumbnail Available
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.