Supply. The annual fish production in Zambia varied between 47 000 and 58 000 t during the years 1975–1981. Most of the fish from the main fishing centres is dried and transported to the urban centres (L'Heureux, 1985). In Eastern Province, where there are few perennial streams and reservoir fishing is minimal, fish is scarce.
Demand. Fish is a regular part of the Zambian diet; average consumption was 10 kg/c/yr in 1985. Fish consumption was as high as 17 kg/c/yr in 1971–72 but consumption was reduced as fish imports were cut. Because most fish is transported to urban centres, the consumption in the cities is higher than in the rural areas, 15 kg/c/yr versus 7 kg/c/yr (L'Heureux, 1985). This results in a high unmet demand for fish in most of the rural areas (Appendix 2).
Consumption. An advantage of fish over other animal products is that chickens, goats and cattle are only consumed on special occasions such as traditional ceremonies, funerals and weddings, whereas fish forms part of the normal diet. This means that if somebody is hungry he/she will not slaughter a chicken, but he/she may go to the pond to catch fish.
Saving function. Farming fish can also have a saving function; the moment a farmer needs money he/she can drain the pond or catch part of the fish and sell it.
Flexible labour demand. Many farmers do not expand their farms because of the heavy workload in the planting and weeding season (Appendix 1). In aquaculture, the construction of the pond demands a lot of work but is not restricted to a particular period. It can be done whenever the farmer has some spare time. Once the construction is finished the management of the pond does not require much time. The labour constraint for expanding agricultural activities does not seriously affect aquaculture.
Inputs for fish farming
Labour availability. Female-headed households have to contend with a bigger labour shortage than male-headed households (Appendix 1). Moreover, women have their domestic duties, which can take up to 5 hours per day (Skjønsberg, 1981 and Due et al., 1984).
Capital. The absolute income of rural people is low. Besides, most of the policies aimed at improving credit access for Zambians have been irrelevant to the needs of the small-scale farmer (Harvey, 1975). The capital input requirement for rural fish farming should thus be kept very low.
Available means of production. Small-scale farmers possess few implements. Hoes, buckets or baskets and compactors are used to construct a fish pond. Few farmers have a wheel-barrow.
Water availability: quantity and seasonal variations. In Chipata District there are hardly any perennial streams. This means that aquaculture will depend either on water diverted from reservoirs or on short-term production of fish during the period when rainfall is adequate and the water table or streams are high enough. This also means that the number of sites suitable for pond culture is limited (Appendix 1).
Land. There is no serious shortage of land in Eastern Province. A person can acquire individual rights over a piece of land and through customary law. In matrilineal societies, men as well as women can acquire land. In patrilineal societies, women can obtain a piece of land through their husbands.
Fish feed. No complete compounded fish feed can be bought in Chipata District. It is also difficult to buy the different ingredients for preparing fish feed. The type, quantity and seasonal variations of available agricultural wastes and by-products which can be used as fish feed or for pond fertilization are described in section 6.2.
Physical factors
Climate. Rainfall is concentrated between November and April, during the other months there is no rainfall. The temperature is suitable for the culture of tilapias; however the growth of the fish may be limited during the coldest period, June-July (Appendix 1).
Soil characteristics. The soil characteristics and the slopes vary among the areas and must be examined on a case-by-case basis (Appendix 1).
Community
Ethnic composition. There is a genuine mixing of different tribes in many villages. Other villages are composed of only one extended family. This has implications for cooperation at the village level (Appendix 2).
Kinship system and its influence on the allocation of land and control of economic resources. Many tribes in Eastern Province are matrilineal (descent through the female line, i.e., a man's heirs are his sister's children, not his own), few are patrilineal (descent through the male line, a man's heirs are his own children). However, most are changing towards the patrilineal system, although to varying degrees. Inheritance almost always follows patrilineal rules. This also means that land usually belongs to the men, although women may have access to it (Appendix 2).
Different groups in the community and their interaction. There is a social differentiation process going on in the rural areas, even though it is still at a very low absolute level. To understand this process one should look at differentiation in terms of relationships of production and not at the living standards (Appendix 2).
Access to different inputs per group. Large scale farmers have better access to credit, extension services and settlement scheme land than small-scale farmers. With regard to labour availability and mechanization services, the bigger farmers are also better off. Men are usually favoured over women with regard to agricultural credit (Appendix 1 and 2).
Migration. The emigration from Chipata District was 35% in the population census of 1980. The immigration was 14%, two-thirds of which went to the rural areas. Sometimes immigrants form separate villages, but often they merge and get assimilated into those already existing. One effect of the net labour emigration is that the rural areas of Eastern Province have more older people than the national average and also fewer males of working age. It also has a high incidence (39%) of female-headed households (of these 25%–50%, depending on the definition used, are created through labour emigration) (Appendix 1).
Nutritional status. Studies have shown that the nutritional status of households declines as farmers enter the market economy. They have also shown that malnutrition of differing degrees is rampant in Zambia and is chronic rather than acute. The most serious nutritional problem is an inadequate energy intake, often caused by the low energy density in staple foods. While in general there is no serious protein deficiency, significant variations occur within geographical areas, communities, and families (Appendix 1).
Markets. There are no organized market places in the pilot areas (Appendix 2).
Transport systems. There is hardly any transport in the rural areas. Cash crops are usually collected in the rural areas by the marketing boards (Appendix 2).
Activities of the target group
Farming systems (type of subsistence and cash crops). Small-scale farmers grow several food crops, mainly for home consumption, and often one cash crop (Appendix 2).
Animal husbandry. Almost every household has some poultry and animals (goats, pigs, cattle) kept on a small scale and managed in an extensive way with almost no feeding (Appendix 2).
Other economic activities. There are few economic activities of importance other than agriculture and animal husbandry in the pilot areas.
Agricultural calendar and labour inputs. Preparation of the fields before the start of rains requires a lot of labour but is not strictly tied to a specific time period. Planting has to be done in a short time span because the growing season is so short. This means that the workload in the weeding season (December until mid-February) is heavy and is often the factor which limits further expansion of the farm size (Appendix 1).
Cultural calendar with regard to the availability of labour. After the harvest, when the farmers have received the money for their crops, people travel to visit family or friends. Cultural ceremonies do not take more than a few days (Appendix 1).
Gender-linked activities. Most agricultural activities are executed both by men and women, except for the clearing of new land which is considered man's work. Men usually concentrate more on cash crops, women on food crops. The digging of a fish pond is seen as a man's job, although there are examples of women doing it as well (Appendices 1 and 2).
Who takes what decisions and who can influence the decisions. Most of the decisions on agricultural practices and the sales of farm products are jointly taken by husband and wife (Appendix 2).
Communication
Formal: newspapers, radio. There are no newspapers in the rural areas. Because of the high price of batteries, people in the rural areas can not always listen to the radio.
Informal: meeting places, markets, contacts through migration. As stated above, there are no markets in rural areas where people meet. A place where people gather weekly is the church. Other places are hospitals and rural health clinics. At village meetings every person is usually invited, but such meetings are held irregularly. People use the contacts they have built up during trips to areas away from their villages.
Literacy. In Eastern Province 33% of the rural people have received some kind of schooling.
Language. Most people speak Chinyanja in Chipata District. Usually there are several people in the villages who also speak English.
Access of the target group to technical knowledge
How does the extension system work, what are the results? Late adopters did not take up the practices of the innovators because they have serious resource constraints related to labour, farm equipment and inputs. After the introduction of the Training and Visit system in Eastern Province, few farmers said that they received advice from the contact farmers (Appendix 1).
To which group do they address themselves? Historically, the orientation of the agricultural extension services has been towards the large-scale farmers. The Training and Visit system has not significantly changed this situation (Appendix 1).
Experience of projects and extension services. In general it can be said that the target group in the pilot project area is not reached by the extension services, except for the Lint Company officer (extension worker for soya beans and cotton) in Yokoniya. In two of the three pilot areas, people have had experience with an IRDP project. In each case IRDP only contacted the teachers of the school; parents of pupils or other members of the community were not informed and did not participate. It was stated by the people that these projects were not their felt need and that 8supervision was done by people from Chipata instead of themselves (Appendix 2).
Impression target group has of extension workers and aid organizations. Because the IRDP project gave a lot of material to the schools, the idea prevailed that donor organizations have a lot of money and always give “presents”.
Intermediary between extension worker and target group. Officially, the introduction of every development project has to go through the different Committees (introduced in 1971). Therefore the chairmen at different levels should be contacted first. However, people still hold their traditional leaders in esteem. Besides, the leadership of these Committees is often limited to a small local elite. A different group is reached through these political leaders than through the traditional leaders (Appendix 2).
