ALCOM Field Document No. 15

Aquaculture and Farming Systems

	A Study of Fish Farmers in North-Western Province, Zambia, June 1989
	Contents

by
Rolf Larsson
Soci-Economist (APO)

Funding Agencies:

SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
BELGIAN ADMINISTRATION FOR DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION

Executing Agency:

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Harare, Zimbabwe, July 1993

This report was prepared during the course of the project identified on the title page. The conclusions and recommendations given in the report are those considered appropriate at the time of its preparation. They may be modified in the light of the further knowledge gained at subsequent stages of the project.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or constitutional status of any country, territory or sea area, or concering the delimination of frontiers.

Preface

This paper documents the findings of a socio-economic study carried out in June 1989 of the relationship between small-scale rural aquaculture and farming systems in Mwinilunga district, Northwestern Province, Zambia. The paper compares fish culture management practices for subsistence-oriented and semi-commercial farmers.

Informal interviews were conducted with 23 fish farmer households selected at random for the study. Some of the wives of fish famrers were also interviewed. Fish farms of the respondents were visited to verify the information provided. Besides, all eight fish scouts in the district, and a variety of “key informants” -- agricultural extension workers, school teachers, nutritionists, researchers -- were also interviewed.

The survey was carried out by Mr Rolf Larsson, ALCOM socio-economist (APO) in co-operation with officials in Northwestern Province, Zambia.

ALCOM is a regional aquaculture and fisheries programme of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Based in Harare, Zimbabwe, it covers all the member-countries of SADC (Southern African Development Community): Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

ALCOM activities include introduction and extension of fish farming; integration of aquaculture into existing farm systems; surveys of fish farmers; better utilization of the fisheries of small water bodies; improving the role of women in aquaculture and fisheries; assistance in planning and project formulation; and information dissemination.

The aim of ALCOM is to assist member countries in improving the living standards of rural populations through the practice of aquaculture. Toward this end, pilot activities are conducted in member countries to demonstrate new techniques, technologies and methodologies. Successes achieved, ideas derived, lessons learnt, are applied on a wider scale by member governments.

ALCOM is funded by Sweden and Belgium. Its preparatory phase began in October 1986, and its first implementation phase in October 1990.

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Internet sites do not imply any official endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software. FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.

Contents

Summary

1.   Introduction

2.   Objectives of the study

3.   Methodology

4.   Mwinilunga District in North-Western Province

4.1   General
4.2   Agriculture
4.3   Fish farming

5.   Aquaculture and Farming Systems

5.1   Subsistence vs semi-commercial farmers
5.2   The sample

6.   Results

6.1   Production achievements

6.1.1   Expanding and non-expanding farmers
6.1.2   Characteristics of new ponds

6.2   Pond management and use of inputs

6.2.1   Fertilizers
6.2.2   Feed
6.2.3   Other inputs
6.2.4   Labour

6.3   Harvesting strategies
6.4   Disposition of cultivated fish

6.4.1   Fish as a source of food
6.4.2   Fish compared to other types of food
6.4.3   Cultivated fish as a source of income

7.   Conclusions

8.   Map of the study area

9.   References

APPENDIX I   Methodology
II   Study of ICARA Project/Farming Systems
III   Farming Systems in Mwinilunga District
IV   Social and Cultural Setting

Summary

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 interviewed 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.

Ponds 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).

Integration of ducks with fish farming, or any other method of pond fertilization, is not practised.

For feed, fish farmers use exclusively on-farm products which are basically identical to the main ‘relishes’ of the households. There is no difference between the two types of farmers in this respect. Cassava leaves in particular are used as fish feed. In the rainy season, various greens are utilized in fish farming through daily feeding. But during the dry season, greens are scarce and there is competition over their use. Feeding decreases considerably in quantity and frequency, and may for some farmers completely cease for a period before the rains. Semi-commercial maize growers have an advantage over subsistence farmers through their access to maize bran as complementary fish feed during the dry season.

Fish farming in the area requires the same labour-intensive techniques and basic tools as agriculture in both groups of farmers. Semi-commercial farmers, however, frequently have additional tools such as slashers, shovels and wheel-barrows. This gives them an advantage over subsistence farmers with respect to pond maintenance and construction of new ponds.

Labour (to operate new ponds) is usually not scarce. But during the busy rainy season, and when land is being prepared, farmers find it difficult to devote enough time to the ponds. Apart from feeding, little else is done with ponds during such periods.

The labour for operating the ponds is minimal and does not interfere with other everyday activities. The exception is during the rainy season when women's workload increases since they are responsible for daily feeding.

Two harvesting strategies are practised: major and intermittent harvesting. Major harvests take place either with the assistance of extension workers who bring seine nets, or by the households themselves using baskets managed by women. The average period between major harvests assisted by extension workers is 17.3 months.

Nearly one-third of any major harvest is consumed by the household or given to relatives and friends for the same purpose. The rest is used for sale (30%), paid to people in exchange for work (20%) or for assistance during the fish harvest (20%).

Fish farmers ensure a local supply of broodstock and fingerlings, either by not draining the ponds during a harvest or by taking some fish aside to be returned to the ponds after completion of the harvest.

Virtually all farmers practise intermittent harvesting, mostly with hook and line (children), followed by baskets (women). In relation to major harvests, the proportion of fish removed by intermittent harvesting is twice as large for subsistence farmers as for semi-commercial farmers, 41% and 21% of major harvests respectively. Fish taken out intermittently is used exclusively for household consumption. Consequently, cultivated fish has a greater significance as an additional food source for subsistence than for semi-commercial farmers. Most fish consumed, however, derive from outside the household (about two-thirds).

Fish is considered the most important source of animal protein. It is consumed more often than once a week in quantities that appear to change little over the year.

Fish farming has had two major implications for the households: one is that consumption of fish has gone up, the other is that cultivated fish has reduced purchase of fish (thereby reducing cash expenditures); it has also reduced the catches of fish in rivers and streams by household members.

Sale of fish is in most cases the responsibility of women. It takes place at the pond site. Prices vary, depending on proximity to “urban” markets. Due to the meagre quantities harvested, returns (June 1989) rarely exceed K100–K200 annually. There are some exceptions.

Within the framework of the farming system, fish culture serves to spread the risks of subsistence farming. Returns are low, but then, inputs in kind and labour are limited. The inputs seem to be in balance with what the households can afford without jeopardizing other complementary activities. With the exception of occasional hired labour for harvesting and pond construction, the inputs are entirely from the farm.

In the way fish ponds are managed and the yields utilized, there are no crucial differences between subsistence and semi-commercial farmers. For both types of farmers, fish farming works according to the principles of risk speading. Fish farming is not a specialized activity substituting other means of income and livelihood. The small-scale rural fish farming described here integrates marginal surplus resources generated from the annual cycle of the farming systems. Semi-commercial farmers have a few more resources (tools, feed, fertilizers) at their disposal as compared to subsistence farmers, and therefore achieve a slightly higher production.