Integration of Fish Farming into the Farm-Household System in Luapula Province, Zambia
| ALCOM | GCP/INT/555/SWE |
| Aquaculture for Local Community Development Programme | GCP/RAF/277/BEL |
ALCOM Field Document No. 16
| Integration of Fish Farming into the Farm-Household System in Luapula Province, Zambia |
| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Report of a Mission, 13 August – 10 October 1989
by
Aldo de Kartzow, Agronomist
Peter van der Heijden, ALCOM Aquaculturist (APO)
Joanna van der Schoot, ALCOM Socio-economist
Funding Agencies:
SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
BELGIAN ADMINISTRATION FOR DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION
Executing Agency:
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Harare, Zimbabwe, November 1992
This document is the report of a three-member ALCOM mission that visited Zambia during August – October 1989 to study the integration of fish farming into existing farm household systems in Luapula province, Zambia. The mission was part of the preparation for a farming systems pilot project in the province.
The main agencies co-operating with the mission were the Department of Fisheries, Zambia, and the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Luapula.
ALCOM is a regional aquaculture programme of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Based in Harare, Zimbabwe, it covers all the member-countries of SADCC (Southern African Development Coordination Conference): Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The aim of ALCOM is to assist member countries improve 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 or methodologies, successes achieved, ideas derived, lessons learnt, are applied on a wider scale by member governments.
ALCOM activities include introduction and extension of fish farming; integration of aquaculture into existing farm systems; surveys of fish farmers; better utilization of small water bodies; improving the role of women in fisheries and aquaculture; assistance in planning and project formulation; and information dissemination.
ALCOM is funded by Sweden and Belgium and executed by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Its preparatory phase began in October 1986 and its first implementation phase in October 1990.
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3.1 Farming Systems and Farm Household Systems
3.2 Production Systems
3.2.1 Agriculture
3.2.2 Animal Husbandry
3.2.3 Fisheries
3.2.4 Fish Farming
3.2.5 Uses of Marginal Areas
3.3.1 Land
3.3.2 Labour
3.3.3 Capital
3.3.4 Technology and Knowledge
3.4 Policy/Institutional Factors
3.4.1 Marketing
3.4.2 Support Services
4.1 Summary of Constraints
4.2 Integrated Systems, General
4.3 Towards Solutions
4.4 Priority Target Groups and Areas
1. Number of fish farms in Luapula Province
2. Uses of agricultural by-products
3. Availability of agricultural by-products and their use in fish
4. Share of women and men in agricultural activities in Mwense and Mansa districts
5. Division Of Labour In Farm-Related And Other Household Activities In Selected Rural Areas Of Luapula Province
7. Production Of Marketed Groundnuts and Beans In Luapula and Percentage Marketed
8. Constraints of the farm household systems
1. Systems hierarchy (FAO 1989)
3. Physical location of the agricultural sub-production systems
4. Flow of resources in an integrated farm/household system
A three-member ALCOM mission visited Zambia during August-October 1989, to study and promote the integration of fish farming into the traditional farm household system in Luapula province.
The mission spent six weeks in Luapula province and two weeks in Lusaka. Information was gathered on household resources and production systems. Political, economic and socio-economic data were also collected.
Besides studying available and published information, the mission met key officials from government, private institutions, development agencies, and the church, besides individuals with long experience in Luapula. Several field visits were made, in the course of which 34 individual fish farmers were interviewed. Representatives from three schools and a training institute that had ponds, a fish farming project for handicapped people, two farmers without fish ponds, and several fishermen and fisherwomen were also interviewed. Three group interviews were conducted.
The mission focused on four of the five districts of Luapula province: Mansa, Mwense, Kawambwa and Samfya.
Farm household systems in the province generally encompass five productions systems: crop, livestock and poultry, fishing, fish farming and utilization.
The crop production system is composed of three sub-systems:-
chitemene : shifting cultivation system producing mainly food crops;
farm : permanent or semi-permanent dry land agriculture productions systems producing both cash and food crops;
garden : irrigated crop production system mainly producing food crops.
The livestock system is of minor relevance in the Province. However, poultry are found in every household.
Fishing activities are important in areas along the Luapula River, Lake Mweru and Lake Bangweulu. The fishermen of the Bangweulu Lake and swamps spend an important part of their time in fishing camps on the islands or in the swamps. For them any other kind of activity is secondary.
Fish farming has been adopted by many farmers and is a fast growing activity. There are two ways by which fish farming was taken up:
external contacts through visits to other provinces, books and other people;
introduction by outsiders.
Marginal areas are exploited in order to produce food, energy forage, building materials and medicines.
The main factors differentiating the farm household systems are the level of knowledge; religion; the amount of available capital; the availability of manpower; the geographical location; the composition of the household; and the social organization.
The main constraints to development of the farm household system are:
lack of knowledge;
lack of labour;
lack of inputs;
insufficient marketing opportunities;
lack of capital.
From the analysis it can be concluded :-
there is potential to improve fish farming by integrating it into the farm household system;
there is potential to create an integrated farm household system, but multidisciplinary research is needed;
there is a need to increase knowledge about social issues;
there is need to improve the DoF Extension and Training services;
there is a need to improve the production and distribution of fingerlings.
At the end of the data collection in Luapula a meeting was held in Mansa with provincial politicians, heads of relevant Government Departments and funding agencies. At this meeting, the Mission's main findings and conclusions were presented and discussed and recommendations were formulated.