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This monograph is the case study for Malawi. It is a result of a 3-year project to produce a decision-support toolkit with supporting databases and case studies to help researchers, planners and extension agents working on freshwater pond aquaculture. The purpose of the work was to provide tools and information to help practitioners identify places and conditions where pond aquaculture can benefit the poor, both as producers and as consumers of fish. By undertaking the project in four countries (Cameroon and Malawi in Africa, and Bangladesh and China in Asia), each at a different stage of aquaculture development, project researchers were better able to test the toolkit for wide applicability and utility.
Within the discipline of fisheries science and conservation, Malawi is most closely associated with the unrivalled freshwater biodiversity of Lake Malawi, home to an estimated 500-1,000 fish species including a large number of endemic Cichlid species. However, in stark contrast with this ecological bounty, the nation of Malawi, which exerts the most fishing pressure on Lake Malawi, is currently ranked as one of the poorest countries in southern Africa2 (UNDP 2005) in which an estimated 480,000-1,400,000 people are directly affected by HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS 2006). The nation has few mineral resources and is landlocked, and its primary sources of foreign revenue come from the sale of tobacco, sugarcane, cotton and tea (CIA 2008). While Malawi has historically benefited from extensive capture fisheries on Lakes Malawi, Malombe and Chilwa; the Shire River (Figure 1); and numerous smaller rivers, lakes and lagoons, the declining availability of fish per capita from these sources heightens the need for greater investment in aquaculture in this nation.
It is hoped that this monograph will help development practitioners and researchers interested in aquaculture development in Malawi. |
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