An innovative project to encourage fish farming among families affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi has doubled the income of 1,200 households and greatly increased fish and vegetable consumption in rural communities.

These findings were released in a review of a multi-year initiative by the Malaysia-based WorldFish Center, one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, and World Vision, an international humanitarian aid organization, to promote aquaculture among vulnerable populations in Malawi. The two organizations have worked extensively in Malawi, a country devastated by the AIDS pandemic, encouraging farm families headed by women and orphans to adopt integrated aquaculture-agriculture.

WorldFish-During a fish processing demo, Mrs Ethel Chidothe closes a sale with her processed fish.

The project assists farmers by digging on their land small, rainfed ponds measuring about 20 by 10 meters. The farmers raise commonly cultivated fish species such as tilapia. Labor requirements are light enough for children and the elderly to pitch in, making the ponds easy to manage for households affected by AIDS.

"These small fish ponds offer tremendous benefits to struggling farming families in rural Africa, whose many challenges have been greatly compounded by AIDS," says Dr. Stephen Hall, director general of WorldFish. "In addition to income from sales, the fish provide a vital source of food that is critical to survival for people with HIV/AIDS. The ponds also provide water for crops during dry periods and sediment that makes excellent fertilizer."

Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. Almost a fifth of Malawians aged 15-49 are infected with HIV/AIDS, which kills tens of thousands of them each year. The pandemic has worsened poverty and hunger among Malawians, most of whom are subsistence farmers cultivating less than a hectare of land.

Families participating in the fish farming project have shown a 150% increase in fresh fish consumption, boosting their intake of protein, calcium, vitamin A and other micronutrients. Research by the World Health Organization has shown that good nourishment can prolong the life of HIV/AIDS patients by up to 8 years. According to the World Food Programme, fresh fish offers important nutritional benefits to people afflicted by disease, who need up to half again more protein and 15% more calories than healthy people.

A 2006 nutrition survey by World Vision found that, among households adopting integrated agriculture-aquaculture, malnutrition among children under 5 dropped from 45% to about 15% in 3 years.

"The purpose of the project is to develop technologies and practices in fish production that are specifically suited to households headed by orphans and widows," says Dr. Daniel Jamu, the WorldFish regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa. "We've seen that fish farming, while not a cure-all for their problems, can dramatically improve conditions among Malawi's rural families dealing with HIV/AIDS."

The success of aquaculture in Malawi has prompted WorldFish and its partners to aggressively expand the initiative to include 26,000 farming households in Malawi and neighboring Mozambique and Zambia, with the goal of providing benefits to 134,000 people. About 30% of farmers in the program are women. Experts working with WorldFish and World Vision teach them how to raise, process and market fish. As in many areas of Africa badly affected by AIDS, women in Malawi are the primary providers and caregivers.

Fish has traditionally been an important part of the diet in landlocked Malawi, but population growth and declining catches reduced annual per capita fish consumption from 14 kilograms in the 1970s to 4.2 kilograms in 2005. Previous efforts to increase fish consumption through aquaculture failed, in part because they required large financial investments. The WorldFish approach is succeeding because it cheaply and efficiently integrates aquaculture into existing farm operations. Investment is minimal because farmers are encouraged to use farm waste and crop byproducts to feed their fish. By providing additional water and fertilizer in the form of pond sediment, fish farming can boost crop production across the farm. Some farmers grow valuable crops like bananas and guava on the well-watered perimeter of their ponds.

A WorldFish impact study shows that between 1999 and 2004 the number of fish farmers in Malawi grew by threefold. "Many poor farmers in Malawi and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa are starting to view aquaculture as an easier and cheaper alternative to raising cattle," observes Jamu.

"This project shows that farmers can produce up to 1,500 kilograms of fish per hectare," he says. "If fish farming were adopted on only 1% of the 250 million hectares identified by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization as suitable for aquaculture, the operations could produce 3.75 million tons of fish per year. That's four times the reported catch for all fisheries in the region."

WorldFish has recently partnered with Globalgiving.com so that people can contribute to the Malawi project online. Ten dollars can buy enough fish to stock one family's pond, and $200 can fund the construction of an entire fish pond. Please click here for more information.