WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2014 33 ever many farmers expected that good-quality larger seed made available through project activities would help them substantially. One example of the case studies reported is provided in Box 2. MALAWI: AwF-WorldFish project In Malawi, the number of pond aquaculture farmers grew by over 300 percent from about 2,000 in 1999 to about 6,000 by 2005. This resulted from implementation of the farmer-scientist research partnership approach, which increased technology transfer and increased NGO involvement in the dissemination of Integrated Aquaculture-Agriculture (IAA). However, aquaculture in Malawi was still very small and contributed only about 2 percent to total fish production. One of the areas where IAA was introduced by the WorldFish Center was the Mavwere Area in Mchinji District. The initiative in this area had started in 2002 with very few farmers but increased to over 350 with over 500 ponds. Because of the large increase in numbers of farmers within a very short period, the availability of fingerlings and extension services had become limiting factors and new ponds were being stocked with slow-growing wild cichlids (Haplochromis spp.). Additionally the district had only one extension officer. A project was started to increase the availability of good-quality fingerlings and to institutionalize a reliable community-based extension service in the Mavwere Area. In the joint AwF-WorldFish Center project, beneficiaries were provided with integrated fish farming training for growing tilapias with various vegetables, crops, poultry and livestock. The aim was to increase farmers’ income, thus improving their financial status and well-being. Poor families were included because, in fish farming, total investments and risks were minimal. With improved fingerling quality and accessibility, coupled with a good extension services, the project hoped to increase average yield from 800-1,000 kg/ha/year to 2,500 kg/ha/year. The water surface was also capable of supporting a second production of more than 20 ha of the staple food maize, enough to feed 1,000 people for 4 months. The main goal of the program was to promote sustainable integrated aquaculture-agriculture to help local communities achieve the goal of reducing poverty, improving food security and nutritional status, and increasing household incomes. To achieve this overall objective, work was pursued in two main areas: • Developing technologies for fingerling production and establishing a core group of fingerling producers among the 500 farmers that had adopted integrated aquaculture in the project area. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 34) (a) (c) (b) (d) FIGURE 4. AwF-WorldFish Malawi project impacts. (a) Children of a project beneficiary ready to eat tilapia. (b) On-farm training of lead farmers. (c, d) An integrated farm belonging to Mr. Goodwill Office (Photos: Joseph Nagoli).
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