Speaking Up: Young People Advocate S cience-based Solutions

What do fish have to do with the fight against HIV/AIDS in Malawi? More than 15% of adults in Malawi 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 much needed income.

In 2005, the NGO World Vision and the WorldFish Center began teaching women and orphan-headed households how to construct their own fish ponds through joint community activities, saving families time and labor.

Madalitso Magombo, WorldFish aquaculturalist, spoke about this project during the Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) portion of this year's World Bank/International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings held in Washington, D.C.. And in what was a first, Madalitso and three other youth practitioners from Southern Africa participated in a roundtable discussion with senior ministers and development experts, including the Zimbabwe Finance Minister, Hon. Herbert Murerwa, Zambia Finance Minister, Hon. Ngandu Magande, Malawi Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Hon. Goodall Gondwe, and World Bank Vice-President, World Bank Institute, Frannie Leautier, among others.

According Madalitso Magombo, "we target women because they often care for the chronically ill and people with HIV/AIDS. We teach them how to handle, process, and market their own fish, generating much-needed income for their families.

Youth perspectives should become an integral part of development policy" said Madalitso Magombo at the roundtable. "I believe science-based solutions have a big role to play in the process."

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

"The CGIAR and other partners at the Roundtable have demonstrated how youth can join the fight against poverty in Southern Africa and around the world" said Hart Schafer, World Bank Country Director for Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He is a strong supporter of this year's youth events during the Annual Meetings.

Participants of the roundtable discussed how agricultural solutions can be combined with youth education, partnerships, and volunteerism. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is particularly devastating in Africa where 64% of the world's infected live, around 50% of them women and children, many of them among the poorest of the poor. The UN Summit and this year's G-8 Summit have reinforced the world's commitment towards Africa and the fight against poverty. The role of youth in this process will only increase with time, as policymakers realize today's problems need to be addressed by tomorrow's leaders.

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.

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In 1987, the WorldFish Center established an office at the National Aquaculture Center in Domasi, Malawi. Research projects conducted in partnership with the Department of Fisheries of Malawi and the University of Malawi focus on farmer- participatory and demand-driven research to improve fish production and provide food security.

The mission of the WorldFish Center is to reduce poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture, with most of their work carried out in developing countries.

From left to right: Hon. Goodall Gondwe, Finance and Economic Planning Minister of Malawi, Madalitso Mogombo, WorldFish, Phil Hay, World Bank, Rick Little, ImageNations, Shingai Moyo, Student Partnerships Worldwide, Hon. Herbert Murerwa, Finance Minister of Zimbabwe, Chimpampe Ngulimba, Sign Language Interpreters of Zambia, Hon. Ngandu Magande, Finance Minister of Zambia, Hart Schafer, World Bank.

World Bank Roundtable on "Developing Creative Approaches to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa" in Session.

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