A Potential Nutritional and Household Economic Role for Integrated Agriculture-Aquaculture in Rural Africa : the Case of Ghana
スポンサーリンク
概要
- 論文の詳細を見る
Small-scale freshwater aquaculture has been widely accepted by policymakers as an effective means of improving small-farm household nutrition and economies. However, despite a long and widespread history of failure in Africa, there has been little attempt to evaluate the potential of aquaculture-especially integrated systems of agriculture-aquaculture (IAA)-in rural development. An evaluation was conducted on the potential impact of the introduction of IAA into existing farming systems on household nutrition and cash incomes in the Deciduous and Rainforest, Transition and Guinea Savanna ecological zones of Ghana. The fish culture component is small-scale and based on extensive or semi-intensive pond systems. Farming systems were modeled with simple bioeconomic spreadsheets based on existing and actually measured information. The results demonstrate that the addition of a vegetable field and pond to modeled farming systems could directly improve household nutrition, and an indirect effect could be achieved through a considerable increase in household cash income. Based on an analysis of protein, carbohydrate, proximate minerals, and vitamin content of the food items, nutrient levels are marginally improved by the addition of a pond and vegetable field, whereas vitamin supply is significantly increased. In the 14 farming systems modeled, household cash incomes improved between 229 and 679%. However, most of this improvement is attributable to vegetable production, whereas cultured fish contributed only 2-4%, depending on pond size. The planned role of farm ponds in rural development should be expanded from that of mere "fish ponds" to exploit their fuller ecological potential.
著者
関連論文
- A Potential Nutritional and Household Economic Role for Integrated Agriculture-Aquaculture in Rural Africa : the Case of Ghana
- The Role of Local Management and Knowledge Systems in Small-Scale Fisheries : a Review of Major Issues and Research Needs in Asian Coastal Zones
- Formulating Policies for Existing Community-Based Fisheries Management Systems