“Poor people with HIV/AIDS across Africa, including Malawi, are looking for ways to improve their livelihoods, through better work opportunities that will integrate them into society” said Madalitso Magombo, a young aquaculturalist from WorldFish Center, kicking off a roundtable discussion “Developing Creative Approaches to Fight HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa” held during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in September.

The audience included Zimbabwe's Finance Minister, Hon. Herbert Murerwa; Zambia's Finance Minister, Hon. Ngandu Magande, Malawi's Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Hon. Goodall Gondwe, and Frannie Leautier, World Bank Vice-President, among others.

Africa is the region worst affected by HIV/AIDS, with 70 percent of the world's 42 million infected people. In Malawi alone, more than 15 percent of adults have HIV/AIDS and the disease has already left close to 400,000 orphans. For poor people, aquaculture and fish farming represents a more accessible and often cheaper alternative to beef, providing essential proteins, minerals and vitamins, in addition to higher incomes.

The roundtable was organized to engage youth practitioners in fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. In her presentation, Ms. Magombo explained how a joint project between World Vision and WorldFish Center was teaching female-headed households in AIDS-stricken Malawi to produce their own fish, thereby helping improve nutrition and generating much-needed income. In addition to Madalitso Magombo, three other youth practitioners from Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe also presented their work.

“The roundtable was a once in a lifetime opportunity for youth leaders to have a frank dialogue with their Ministers on the key development challenges facing their countries” said Phil Hay, Roundtable Moderator and Communications Advisor with the World Bank's Human Development Network.

The joint World Vision-WorldFish Center project converts agricultural waste into high quality fish protein while reducing ecosystem pollution. Community training facilities provide participatory advisory services on aquaculture and HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation issues, and government extension workers supervise farmers after the training to ensure project sustainability.

Each of the youth practitioners was a winner of the 2005 World Bank's Country-level Development Marketplace Award, a competitive grant program that directly supports innovative, bottom-up development ideas that deliver results.