Socio-economic and marketing constraints to the development of aquaculture and utilisation of small water bodies in Zimbabwe

A questionnaire survey was administered in Murehwa and Masvingo Districts and 160 fish farming households (FFH) and 80 non-fish farming households (NFFH) were interviewed. Of those FFH interviewed, 25 were female-headed and 28 NFFH interviewed were female-headed. The study found that the potential for aquaculture development was relatively higher in wetter areas like NRs II and III, but because NRs IV and V are relatively dry and a large number of dams have been built there, they are, however, suited to the exploitation of these fisheries. Fish farming households were generally the wealthier households in the community. FFHs had more land and labour, produced more field and horticultural crops than NFFHs. Integration of fish farming within the farming systems was more likely among farmers with irrigated garden plots than those without; so that concentrating the extension message on this target audience could increase AGRITEX's impact. The majority of NFFH were aware of fish farmi ng in all NRs implying that the extension project had a significant impact in the pilot zones. Although they were aware of fish farming, they did not have suitable land for siting a pond and failed to hire enough labour to construct the pond. The proportion of female-headed FFH was relatively high in wetter areas (NR II) but lower in NRs III and IV. Although the average proportion of female-headed FFH was fairly standard, the absolute sample size was too low to permit rigorous examination of s ocio-economic differences among different gender groups. Wives in male-headed households were responsible for day-to-day pond management but the decisions of their husbands dominated. Fish farming was considered a sideline activity which required little management.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Govereh, J.,Chigume, S.M.,Sen, S.;Fisheries and Aquaculture Management Division
Format: Project biblioteca
Language:English
Published: 1989
Online Access:https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/ab967e
http://www.fao.org/3/ab967e/ab967e00.htm
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