Mwinilunga District is situated in the far north-western corner of the province. It is one of the least populated areas in Zambia, about 4 people/sq.km. The whole province covers nearly 126,000 sq.km., but with a population of just over 300,000 people (1980 national census). Corresponding figures for Mwinilunga District are 21,070 sq.km. and 84,173 people (projection 1984).
Administratively, the district is divided into “chiefs”, each of which defines the area of operation of a Fish Scout.
Climatically, the year is divided into two distinct seasons: the dry season from April to October, and the wet season from November to March. Average rainfall is 1,342mm for Mwinilunga. Temperatures are cool from April to July, hot from August to September and farm from November to March. Occasional frost may occur during June/July.
The main occupation in Mwinilunga District is subsistence oriented agriculture, based on shifting cultivation of cassava with a handful of other crops to supplement it. Animal husbandry is not common. The majority of households have no animals apart from a few chickens and goats. Only a few households have cattle (mainly in chiefs Kanyama, Kakoma and to some extent in Kanongesha).
Income generation and formal employment opportunities are few. The most important off-farm activities are honey collection, hunting, fishing, beer brewing and casual labour. People migrate for jobs, mostly to the Copperbelt Province. The occurrence of female-headed households is about the same as in other parts of Zambia (about 30%).
Semi-commercial farming is practiced to some extent, with pineapple as the most important crop. There is limited potential for other crops due to acid soils. Apart from pineapple and soyabeans, Irish potatoes and hybrid maize (in the south-western part) are grown for sale and are considered to have some development potential.
Until recently there has been no organized marketing of either the staple food cassava or other crops.
A description of the social and cultural setting of the farming population in Mwinilunga District is presented in Appendix IV.
Mwinilunga District is characterized by a gently undulating topography with plenty of valleys, each with perennial streams and rivers. Much of the land is still virgin. Land and water are in abundance and there is little, if any, competition amongst different types of land use (fish farming as opposed to agriculture, irrigation, grazing, settlement, etc.).
The total number of fish ponds in the district was 100 to 200 in the beginning of the 1980s. Tilapia of mixed origin were cultivated. The number grew rapidly during the 1980s in response to externally funded projects intended mainly to alleviate the plight of refugees. The first project was executed by UNHCR with a target of subsidizing the construction of 1,000 ponds in four chiefs of the district between 1982 and 84. At the termination of this project, the ICARA II Fish Pond Project followed. The project was extended to nearly the whole district and included Maheba Refugee Settlement in Solwezi District.
The ICARA II project was terminated in mid-1988. By the end of that year there were in the district 1,195 farmers with 2,189 ponds of a total surface area of about 108 ha (Department of Fisheries, DoF). The fish farmers from Mwinilunga District made up about 80% of all fish farmers in the province.
