Integration of fish farming into the farm-household system in Luapula Province, Zambia.

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 governme nt, 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 fou r 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 : irrigat ed 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.