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As fish caught from natural lakes and streams have traditionally been an important part of the diet in Malawi, increasing population and declining catches reduced annual per capita fish consumption from 14 kilograms in the 1970s to about 4 kilograms in 2005. Aquaculture has since been seen as an exit option to relieve pressure from dwindling capture fisheries and increase fish consumption. WorldFish Center has made remarkable contribution to improving household income and food security through the promotion of Integrated Agriculture Aquaculture (IAA) in Southern Africa and Malawi in particular. There are now over 6000 farm families that have adopted different IAA technologies up from about 300 in the 1980s. The IAA farm families have achieved a range of benefits including increased farm productivity, increased household incomes, improved adaptation and resilience to erratic climatic conditions; improved food and nutritional security through increased production and consumption of fresh fish and food crops grown around the fish ponds.
To-date however HIV and AIDS affected households have not been adequately targeted with IAA technological interventions. Yet such households need IAA benefits the most, especially for ensuring nutritional benefits for the sick. Their plight and priorities have not been investigated in order to design appropriate IAA interventions. In particular, the implications of their labour constraints and relative isolation from producer organizations and markets. In order to enable HIV and AIDS affected households to adopt IAA technologies to improve their income, food security and nutrition, the WorldFish Center in conjunction with World Vision Malawi carried out a one year project (July 2005 to June 2006) in Chingale - Zomba District with funding from the World Bank. Through participatory approaches, the project identified constraints that limit HIV and AIDS affected households’ realisation of the benefits from fish farming and adapted technologies and practices for the affected beneficiaries to boost fish production and utilization.
The results have shown that developing customized technologies are a critical component in setting an all-inclusive strategy for economic growth among HIV/AIDS ravaged families in Malawi. While it is not a solution for all their problems, the results also indicate that IAA can dramatically improve the ability of families to cope with the effects of HIV/AIDS. With its innovative approach to lessen the constraints facing the families, the project doubled the income of 1,200 households and greatly increased fish and vegetable consumption by about 150% among rural communities |
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