1. Justification.
Nutrition amongst the homestead population on Swazi National Land (SNL) can be improved. Meat consumption is low, especially among children, and even a modest gain in fresh fish consumption for each family member would be a significant improvement.
Indications are that the homestead population, when given the opportunity, is eager to eat fresh fish, whether tilapia or carp. Recent drastic price increases for canned fish, otherwise commonly available in rural areas, are likely to cause a reduction in its consumption.
In Lubombo District homestead owners have constructed small ponds, some for the purpose of assuring water for vegetable gardens and household use, others specifically for fish farming, especially in those areas having access to water from large-scale irrigation schemes. Some of these ponds were stocked with tilapia and/or carp during the early 1980's. Given the financial and other difficulties experienced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), the assistance provided to farmers by the District Fisheries Specialists through the extension field officers has diminished during the last few years.
From the point of view of the homestead owner it is rational to increase the use of his pond by placing fish in it. He can do so virtually at no cost (either in cash, inputs, or time) to himself. However, the relatively small amount of fish produced (estimated at no more than 1.5 tonnes per year in Lubombo District) makes it important that public support to the sector be kept to a reasonable cost. This means that the homesteads and surrounding communities should become independent of government support to fish farming as rapidly as possible.
Assistance to the MOAC for a revival of this extensive small-scale fish farming effort therefore is justified by:
the intangible results, in terms of improved quality of life, which the homestead population will enjoy from improved nutrition;
the belief, to be verified, that there are several thousand of these ponds to be exploited in this fashion in Swaziland.
2. Pilot Project Objectives.
The pilot project should produce a document describing:
the nutritional benefits to homestead families derived from raising and consuming fish in homestead ponds;
integration of the homestead fish farming activities with community organizations for the purpose of assuring rational provision of fingerling and assistance in harvesting;
the low cost of MOAC support for rehabilitating and extending the practice of fish farming in homestead ponds.
In Swaziland, therefore, the pilot project is expected to lead to:
homestead inhabitants eating more fish, initially in Lubombo District and later elsewhere in the country;
a government effort to support this fish farming activity which is comensurate with the value of the fish produced;
an increase in the use of local organizations, both formal and informal, supporting fish farming activities as direct government support is phased out.
3. Pilot Project Activities.
The pilot project will have three phases and last from two to three years. The first phase will involve establishing the baseline situation in Lubombo District and probably will last for 3 months. During the second phase the fish farming in Lubombo District will be rehabilitated and made self sustaining through the involvement of local organizations. This phase may last for 9 months. The third phase, which probably will last for at least a year, involves expanding the activities within Lubombo District and to other Districts in the country.
3.1 Study Phase.
Three subjects will be documented, and the conclusions will form the base for actions to be undertaken during the second phase of the pilot project:
Each of these subjects will be covered by surveys. The first should identify the status and possibilities of using the homestead pond for fish farming. The nutritional information will help to orient extension advice to ensure that maximum nutritional benefits are obtained by the homestead family from the fish grown in their pond. It will also provide the bench mark for a later evaluation of the nutritional impact of the pilot project. This will require interviews and some household observations. The survey of local organizations will provide essential data with which to elaborate a strategy for involving the local community together with local organizations in support of local pond fish culture.
3.2 Rehabilitation Phase.
The details of the rehabilitation phase will depend on the findings of the survey phase. The initial objective will be to devise a set of farming systems that will ensure that the net benefit from the pond, in terms relevant to the homestead, is maximized. In most cases this may mean that productivity will be lower than it could be if an intensive, but less economic, farming system was used.
All work with homestead families will be carried out by the local extension agents. They will be encouraged to involve and make use of the local organizations so as to find more permanent, local, solutions to whatever problems the fish farmers may be facing. The extension agent will focus his/her work in such a manner that he/she eventually will not be required to intervene. This applies particularly to stocking, harvesting, and predator control.
3.3 Expansion Phase.
Once solutions have been found to the technical and social issues confronted during the rehabilitation phase, the extension work will be expanded to other areas of Lubombo District and to other Districts in the country. Farming systems may have to be adapted to fit the other agroclimatic conditions found in the country. The same may hold for the approach to local organizations and/or methods to modify food habits.
4. Resources.
The Programme will provide specialist advice, some equipment, and a modest amount of funds for recurrent expenses. Most of the manpower time, however, must come from the Government of Swaziland. The Programme input will be largest at the beginning of the pilot project.
4.1 Resources for Survey Phase.
The Programme will provide an aquaculturist and if possible a sociologist in-country for about one month. Proposals for the nature and format of all three surveys will be prepared at the Programme's headquarters and forwarded to the collaborating sections in Swaziland for review. The Government of Swaziland must make available the extension field officers in the concerned Areas as well as the Lubombo District Fisheries Specialist.
The Programme will contribute towards the operating expenses of one four wheel drive vehicle for field work and minor equipment and supplies.
4.2 Resources for Rehabilitation Phase.
During this phase the Programme will make available an aquaculture specialist, probably for no less than 3 months in-country spread over two visits, as deemed necessary at the time of implementation. The District Fisheries Specialist should work in tandem with a district-based Swazi sociologist and through the established extension services for agriculture, home economics, and nutrition.
4.3 Resources for the Expansion Phase.
The Programme will make the aquaculturist available for a total of about two months. The recurrent expenditures during this phase should be borne entirely by the Government of Swaziland.
5. Organization.
The pilot project will be managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives through the Fisheries Section. Close cooperation should be established with the home economics unit. All contacts between the Programme and others involved in the pilot project will be channeled through the UNDP Resident Representative.
From the outset of the pilot project the Lubombo District Fishery Specialist will act as pilot project manager. He will follow the project through the expansion phase, even though this will take him outside of Lubombo District.
It will be the task of the Fisheries Officer in charge of the Fisheries Section to ensure that other local staff (sociologist, nutritionist, economist) are made available as and when required for the execution of the pilot project. In this regard close contact should be maintained between this officer and the pilot project manager.
6. Evaluation and Reporting.
Pilot project activities will be continuously documented. This documentation, complemented with interviews and participatory observations, will form the basis of evaluation reports. Such evaluations are essential in order to establish:
During the pilot project, the pilot project manager will report every four months on project activities. Each phase of the pilot project will be concluded by a comprehensive report on activities and results. The entire pilot project will be concluded by an evaluation report.
