This monograph is a result of a 3-year project to produce a decision-support toolkit with supporting databases and case studies to help researchers, planners and extension agents working on freshwater pond aquaculture. The purpose of the work was to provide tools and information to help practitioners identify places and conditions where pond aquaculture can benefit the poor, both as producers and as consumers of fish. By undertaking the project in four countries (Cameroon and Malawi in Africa, and Bangladesh and China in Asia), each at a different stage of aquaculture development, project researchers were better able to test the toolkit for wide applicability and utility.
Applying such a toolkit requires a clear understanding of the existing state of pond aquaculture in each country, the circumstances underpinning its development, and the factors driving its adoption or discontinuation. To achieve this, country case studies were conducted by extensive literature review supplemented with analysis of primary and secondary data.
This monograph is the case study for Malawi. Written in three parts, it describes the historical background, practices, stakeholder profiles, production levels, economic and institutional environment, policy issues, and prospects for aquaculture in the country. First, it documents the history and current status of the aquaculture in the country. Second, it assesses the technologies and approaches that either succeeded or failed to foster aquaculture development and discusses why. Third, it identifies the key reasons for aquaculture adoption.
I hope that this monograph will help development practitioners and researchers interested in aquaculture development in Malawi. The WorldFish Center and its research and national partners1 are grateful to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, for funding the project. We also thank all other partners, including fish farmer respondents, who have contributed to this effort