Integrated agriculture-aquaculture project improves lives in Malawi

Scientists at The WorldFish Center have reported that an innovative project to encourage fish farming among families affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi has doubled the income for 1,200 households and greatly increased fish and vegetable consumption among rural communities.

The findings were released in a review of a multi-year initiative by the Malaysia-based center, one of 15 supported by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and aid organization World Vision to promote aquaculture among “vulnerable populations” in Malawi. The two organizations have worked in Malawi to encourage farming families headed by women and orphans to adopt integrated agriculture-aquaculture.

The project assists farmers by digging small, rain-fed ponds their land in which they raise commonly cultivated fish species such as tilapia. Farm and kitchen waste serves as food for the fish and the light labor requirements make the ponds easy to manage for households affected by the AIDS pandemic.

Stephen Hall, Director General of WorldFish said, “In addition to the income they gain from selling fish, the fish themselves provide a vital source of food that is critical to survival for people with HIV/AIDS. The ponds also can provide water for crops during dry periods and sediment that makes for an excellent fertilizer.”

Families participating in the project have shown a 150 percent increase in fresh fish consumption, boosting their intake of protein, calcium, vitamin A and micronutrients. A 2006 nutrition survey by World Vision found that for households adopting the integrated agriculture-aquaculture approach, in three years malnutrition among children under five dropped from 45 percent to about 15 percent.

“The purpose of the project is to develop technologies and practices in fish production that are specifically suited for orphan and widow-headed households,” said Dr. Daniel Jamu, the Regional Director for WorldFish in Eastern and Southern Africa. “We have seen that fish farming, while not a cure-all for their problems, can dramatically improve conditions among rural families dealing with HIV/AIDS.”

The success of the pilot project in Malawi has prompted WorldFish and its partners to expand the initiative to include 26,000 farming households in Malawi and neighboring Mozambique and Zambia, with the goal of providing benefits to 134,000 people.

So far about 30 percent of the farmers in the program are women . Experts teach them how to raise, process and market their fish, generating much-needed income. The ponds have proven capable of producing 1,500 kilograms of fish per hectare each year.

Fish caught from natural lakes and streams have traditionally been an important part of the diet in landlocked Malawi. But an increase in population and a decline in catches reduced annual per capita fish consumption from 14 kilograms in the 1970s to 4.2 kilograms in 2005. However, previous efforts to increase fish consumption through aquaculture have failed, in part because they required large financial investments from farmers who simply did not have the money.

The approach is succeeding because it cheaply and efficiently integrates aquaculture into existing farm operations. Investment is minimal because farmers are encouraged to use farm waste and crop byproducts to feed their fish. And by providing additional water and natural fertilizer, it can boost production of both subsistence and cash crops across the farm. Research has shown that farms that integrated ponds into their traditional agriculture farming were nearly 20 percent more productive during times of drought than farms without ponds because of the soil fertility boost from the pond sediments. In addition, some farmers have started growing valuable crops like bananas and guava on the perimeter of their ponds, taking advantage of the water that seeps into the surrounding soil.

GGIAR