Review of the fisheries information resources in malawi. Case study

by

Gift A. Kadzamira, Margaret E. Ngwira and Geoffrey F. Salanje
Bunda College of Agriculture Library, University of Malawi
P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi

INTRODUCTION

In support of the FAO Regular Programme Activity for Advice on Marine Resources and Environmental Issues and Aquaculture Development, the Bunda College of Agriculture Library (a constituent college library of the University of Malawi) was subcontracted to propose mechanisms for the sharing of information resources and improve access to inland fisheries and aquaculture information and documentation to improve access to information in Malawi, which is a Low Income Food Deficit Country (LIFDC). Providing better access to information in this area will facilitate research activities that are constrained by the lack of current and relevant information.

Furthermore, the project aimed at proposing mechanisms for exchanging information at regional level and ensuring that the fisheries literature published locally is widely disseminated and preserved for future generations.

CONTEXT

Water and wetlands in Malawi cover 26.5% of the total 118 485 km² of the land area and this provides a diverse aquatic system for fish production that ranges from floodplains, temporary pools to a deep rift valley lake (Msiska, 2001).

Apart from providing the cheapest and most easily digested protein of about 70% of the total animal protein intake in Malawi (Balarin, 1987), fish production also provides employment to 150 million people world wide (Balarin, 1987) hence fishing is an important industry in Malawi, as well as world wide. Being a land-locked country, the type of fishing practiced in Malawi is inland fishing and the fish is consumed locally, marketed domestically and consequently contributes to the subsistence and livelihood of poor people.

Additionally, scientific evidence has shown that fish plays an important role in the prevention and management of human diseases such as heart disorders, neurological diseases and mood swings (Choo and Williams, 2003). Another aspect that makes fisheries resources important is their self-renewable character. Unlike mineral resources, if the fishery resources are well managed their duration is practically unlimited.

FAO (2003) has projected that the average per capita fish consumption could grow from 16.3 kg (1999) to 19 - 20 kg by 2030 raising the total fish use to 150 - 160 million tons on a global scale. On the other hand, a study conducted by FAO (FAO, 1992) indicated that fish stocks are being depleted and overexploited to such an extent that it is becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy the fish demand from the world’s growing population. In Malawi, the problem has been compounded by the limited supply of fish and the prohibitively high prices, brought about by transportation problems. Difficult preservation methods add to the problem of transporting fish to a large population of people that live far away from Lake Malawi, which is the main source of fish (Msiska, 2001).

Due to the increasing environmental threats to many inland water bodies caused by increasing aquatic pollution, habitat degradation, water use and other man made pressures, there is a need to provide a better understanding of the aquatic systems and prevent the environmental impacts affecting fisheries resources and aquatic biodiversity. At the same time there is a need to expand aquaculture and sustain capture fisheries, in order to meet the high demand for fish (FAO, 2003).

Choo and Williams (2000) stress the importance of information by noting that the deficiency of data and information is one possible reason for the failures in fisheries management. This paper reviews the fisheries information resources required in Malawi for effective aquaculture and fisheries management in terms of teaching, conducting research and transmitting the results of research to all of the stakeholders involved.

OBJECTIVES

In particular, the project aimed at achieving the following objectives related to the situation in Malawi:

• Assessing the information resources and needs of fisheries institutions;

• Proposing mechanisms for improved access to fisheries and aquaculture information and documentation;

• Assessing the role of a national focal point to coordinate the sharing of information resources;

• Assessing the grey literature published by fisheries and aquaculture institutions;

• Updating the Directory of Fisheries and Aquaculture Information Resources in Africa: http://www4.fao.org/fishdir.

METHODOLOGY

Firstly, appropriate institutions were identified through consultations and with the Director of the Fisheries Department and staff of the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Science at Bunda College of Agriculture, which offers undergraduate and graduate courses in aquaculture and fisheries science in the Sub Saharan region.

Questionnaires (Appendix 1) intended for librarians and scientists were designed to answer the objectives of the study in addition to identifying the existing networks and document exchange mechanisms and assessing the role of a national focal point to interact with the regional network. Appendix 2 shows the list of institutions and users that were interviewed.

A pilot survey was carried out in the Aquaculture and Fisheries Department at Bunda College of Agriculture and then the main survey was conducted by site visits and by post. Given the geographical spread of the institutions and budget limitations, visits were not made to Mzuzu and Salima but interviews were carried out in Lilongwe, Mangochi, Monkey Bay and Zomba districts. Questionnaires were sent by post to the sites that were not visited. (See map Appendix 4).

Demonstrations of the Aquatic Biology Aquaculture & Fisheries Resources (ABAFR) CD-ROM were carried out during the site visits. Search results for “Malawi” were compared with the publications obtained at the different institutions to find out if they were indexed and therefore accessible internationally. The management processes for the locally generated materials were also identified and sixty-one publications that were not in Bunda library were obtained.

Data was collected on the whole population size of the aquaculture and fisheries institutions in Malawi and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Aquaculture and fisheries institutions in Malawi

The survey results indicated that in Malawi the aquaculture and fisheries institutions are made up of academic, research, governmental and only one non-governmental organization. Out of the sixty questionnaires sent out, a 58.3% response rate was achieved despite efforts to obtain more response.

As shown in Figure 1, it was found that a majority of information users are in academic organizations, followed by governmental and then research organizations, although the latter are also governmental they are classified differently from the administrative.

Figure 1. Percentage of the types of organizations

Information content for various users

The results indicated the various types of users with different needs for aquaculture and fisheries information. These are researchers, lecturers, students (graduates and under-graduates) and also extension workers. Figure 2 shows the relative percentages of these users. Extension workers are embedded in the ‘other’ group.

Figure 2. Types of users of aquaculture and fisheries information

Additionally, the usage of the various types of information resources (IR) was correlated to the level of education of a user to assess whether the choice of a particular IR was related to the user’s level of education. The results did not show any significant relationship between the levels of education, for example Ph.D. holders are not using more journals compared with diploma holders.

REVIEW OF FISHERIES INFORMATION RESOURCES

Assessment of information resources

Respondents indicated the usage of various types of information resources such as books, journals, CD-ROMs, grey literature, Internet. In all the institutions the current methods of acquisition for information resources ranged from very low budget purchases to donations.

Table 1 shows the percentages of usage of the various IRs by the type of organization. All respondents in all organizations indicated the usage of books, hence the 100% usage.

Table 1. Relative usage of IRs in different types of organization (percentages)

The following section analyses the different information resources used and the reasons given for using them.

Internet

As indicated in Table 1 above, it was found that the highest usage (70.6%) for the Internet was in academic institutions. The main use being access to information using search engines, browsing various fisheries institutional websites, newsgroups and referencing through e-mails. E-mails were preferred because they are cheap and fast. The lowest level of Internet usage was 20% in government institutions due to lack of good Internet facilities.

Though the respondents realized that the Internet is a source of a great deal of information, such as electronic journals, it was found that there is low usage because of high Internet costs and low bandwidth. It was further noted that the institutions that are using the Internet rely on donor funding or externally funded projects, which are not long term or sustainable.

Of all the institutions interviewed, only Bunda College at the time of the study was using the Internet for accessing e-journals that have been paid for by eIFL.net (Electronic Information for Libraries: an international consortium of library consortia), made available in Malawi through MALICO (Malawi Library and Information Consortium). eIFL.net leads, negotiates, supports and advocates for the wide availability of information by not-for-profit users in member countries.

Figure 3. Usage of the Internet by type of user

CD-ROMS

The highest percent usage of CD-ROMs was found in academic institutions (82.4%, see Figure 4) and some of the examples of the CD-ROMs used are ABAFR, TEEAL and FishBase. Since most CD-ROM products are very expensive, most institutions cannot afford to purchase them using their institutional budgets. This explains why there is only 20% usage from government institutions, as these are generally under-funded and library resources are not on the priority list. The CD-ROMs in academic institutions are acquired through donations for example the ABAFR CD-ROM donated by FAO to Bunda Library.

The low usage of CD-ROMs was also stated as being because some institutions do not have the necessary equipment to read them, i.e. basic computers and CD drives. In addition, CD-ROM databases provide bibliographic references only and not full text documents, another reason for users stating a preference for books and journals. However, the situation has improved for Bunda Library since access to full text articles became possible through its participation in the FAO/SAIAB network. Even so, access is not immediate unless the article is sent as an Email attachment and on average it takes three weeks to receive the articles either from SAIAB or FAO by post.

Figure 4. Usage of CD-ROMs by type of user

Journals

Almost all institutions indicated the use of journals. However, most of the journals are not current especially in governmental and research institutions. The high costs and fluctuations of the exchange rate (US dollar against Malawi Kwacha) make the journals unaffordable and very few or no journals are being subscribed to. For example Bunda Library had to cut down its subscriptions from 200 titles to 31 titles over the past fifteen years. In addition, the back volumes of most journals are incomplete with few titles bound into complete volumes. For institutions receiving donations of publications, it was indicated that some of the journals received are irrelevant and sometimes not current.

Most of the information requested is related to:

• international regulations and policies;
• technical manuals for extension work;
• research carried out elsewhere, especially on freshwater fisheries.

The journals that are most frequently requested include Aquaculture Research, Freshwater Biology, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Journal of Fish Biology, Aquaculture and Fisheries Management. Serial titles most frequently requested include the WorldFish Center Technical Reports, Rural Aquaculture, and The Physiology of Fishes.

Figure 5 shows the relative usage of journals by the various types of users, showing undergraduate students as the major users (see Figure 2) and they feature highly in using both e-journals and printed journals.

Figure 5. Usage of journals by type of user

Books

There was a 100% usage of books in all institutions (Table 1 above). The users indicated that though most of the books were old, the content was still useful. Just as with journals, there were no budget commitments in all institutions for buying new books and most new books and journals were acquired through donations.

Extension guides were also indicated as another type of information resource used by the government extension workers (Department of Extension Services) for transferring research results and transmitting new technologies to farmers.

Radio

Though this information resource was not indicated in the survey results, the radio is an important tool for transmitting extension methods, announcing regulations news and adverts to farmers in Malawi. For example, there is a programme called Usodzi wa lero on the national radio station for broadcasting fish farming messages to farmers and radio is an important information source for extension work.

Library management systems used

Apart from Bunda College of Agriculture and the WorldFish Centre libraries, which both have a computerized Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) system, all of the other institutions use the card catalogue for locating and accessing their resources. There are two main OPAC databases in use at Bunda, the MARC database using WINISIS and the Library Solution software. The main collection uses both systems to locate and access resources, whereas the local aquaculture database comprised of locally generated publications only runs on the CDS/ISIS software. The WorldFish Center also uses the CDS/ISIS software for its catalogue. The systems of classification used in all institutions are either Dewey or Library of Congress.

PROPOSED MECHANISMS FOR IMPROVING ACCESS TO FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION

Needs assessment

A needs assessment was conducted to find out how many users in the various institutions were satisfied with the services being offered to them. 80% of the users indicated that they were not satisfied with the information services rendered to them, whereas only 10% indicated that there needs were being satisfied.

The following are the suggested mechanisms to be employed for improving access to fisheries information and documentation in Malawi:

• Training users in information searching skills;
• Providing access to Internet with fast connections;
• Subscriptions to fisheries journals;
• Purchasing of new books;
• Information exchange;
• Employing qualified librarians;
• Establishment of a network for all fisheries institutions in Malawi.

Establishing a national focal point

In order to ensure maximum exposure of locally published work and to coordinate the sharing of information resources, a proposal was made that a national focal point be established in Malawi. 94% of respondents indicated that they would support the establishment of a national focal point and 6% did not respond. Some of the benefits for all parties by improved coordination and networking of information resources are as follows:

• Faster access to and dissemination of local information;
• Preservation of paper publications through digitization;
• Regular access to details of newly deposited publications;
• Web access to deposited materials through digitization.

Existing networks

At the moment, the only existing network is between Bunda Library in Lilongwe and the WorldFish Center Library in Zomba (see map Appendix 4). The other institutions in Malawi working in fisheries and aquaculture do not participate in this network, which is therefore not comprehensive and of limited national benefit.

In the 1990's a network focusing on improving information exchange in fisheries and aquaculture in Malawi was established with the initiative of the SADC Inland Fisheries Sector Technical Coordination Unit (IFSTCU). When this Unit was discontinued the collection and coordination function were transferred to the Department of Fisheries, which has been unable to continue the activity. Lessons learned from the lack of sustainability of this network should be taken into consideration when planning future activities. The overall view is that a fisheries information network in Malawi would be beneficial for the sector and the economy.

Resources required by the focal point

It was recognized that each fisheries and aquaculture institution in Malawi has its own specific information policy, depending upon the operation and focus of the organization. A Memorandum of Agreement would be an important element in devising a common information and library policy that would facilitate formal cooperation in terms of inter library exchange of information.

The other information resources that would be required to facilitate the work of a national focal point are:

• Local databases and CD-ROM databases;
• Journal articles;
• Grey literature;
• Books.

Circulation of acquisition lists and content pages of journals were also mentioned as a mechanism to be employed for improving access to information among the members of a national network. Most respondents mentioned training as an important factor for effectively accessing information if a national focal point was established. Figure 6 shows the types of training needs that were suggested with information searching skills being the most important and the use of card catalogues the least.

Figure 6. Percentage of the various training requirements

ASSESSMENT OF GREY LITERATURE

It was found that a lot of fisheries and aquaculture practitioners publish and use grey literature. The types of grey literature used are of various types, namely: newsletters, technical reports, conference papers, dissertations and theses. Table 2 indicates the percentage of usage for the various types of grey literature in the various fisheries and aquaculture institutions in Malawi.

Table 2. Percentages of grey literature usage by organizations

Types of publications generated

The types of publications generated include policy documents, legislation documents, project proposals, workshop papers and strategic plans. Figure 7 shows the publishing patterns:

Figure 7. Percentages of various grey literature types published

Management of grey literature

It was discovered that none of the institutions, apart from academic organizations, has a policy or mechanism put in place to ensure that local publications are easily and readily accessible to other users, either within or outside the country. As a result, most publications are kept in the individual offices and are not organized or catalogued in any way as noted during the site visits. However, despite having no policy, some individual scientists ensured that their work is exposed to the international community by publishing in peer-reviewed journals. It was interesting to find some of the respondents published work in the ABAFR CD-ROM and examples are given in Appendix 3.

The academic institutions, specifically Universities (Bunda and Chancellor Colleges), automatically have their publications deposited in the library. The university policy ensures that graduating students’ projects and dissertations are deposited into the library, ensuring maximum dissemination and usage of dissertations and theses in academic institutions.

Local aquaculture database and coverage in ABAFR

In addition, Bunda Library has a locally created Aquaculture Database. The library collects and keeps the locally generated publications and creates a bibliographic database using the WINISIS software. This is heavily used by researchers, lecturers and graduate students when they want to know which research projects have already been conducted in Malawi and their results. At the time of the survey the database contained four hundred and sixty five records.

From the locally published materials that were collected during the site visits, it was found that about 83.3% of the publications were not covered in the ABAFR CD-ROM of up to June 2003. The publications that were found in the CD-ROM were mostly research reports conducted in the research stations and by the WorldFish Center. The publications of academic and government institutions in Malawi were not well covered by ABAFR.

MECHANISMS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LOCAL PUBLICATIONS

Multiple copies deposited in different institutions

The National Focal Point institution, if established, should become a repository for all aquaculture and fisheries publications in Malawi. Aquaculture and fisheries institutions will be mandated to deposit their publications with the National Focal Point as a mechanism for preservation such that if one copy goes missing in one institution, at least one other copy will be available in the repository.

Digitization

Because many of the aquaculture publications are in poor condition and also too fragile for frequent use, maintaining and disseminating digital copies of these works, would save the wear and tear on the original documents. Pending a true digital repository, the publications that are already available in electronic format can be stored on CD-ROM to complement the objective of saving the original documents. Furthermore, those users not eligible to take the rare documents outside the confines of the physical library will be able to access the electronic copies from many locations at any time and they will be delivered to many simultaneous users, bearing in mind any copyright restrictions.

More importantly, digitizing the local publications will be a solution to the problem of lack of local content on the Internet whilst also exposing the locally generated material (grey literature) to a wider community.

CONCLUSION

The socio-economic and health benefits from fisheries are of great importance in Malawi. All in all, the study has shown that aquaculture and fisheries information is an important asset if research and academic activities in the sector are to improve.

The existing services provided by the aquaculture and fisheries libraries are not satisfying the information needs of users due to the inadequate information resources available, budget limitations and insufficient trained personnel in the libraries.

Establishing a national focal point for coordinating the sharing of information, training the library personnel, training users in information literacy skills and utilizing the new information and communication technologies, such as accessing CD-ROM databases and electronic journals via the Internet can help in solving some of the problems.

REFERENCES

Choo, P.S. & Williams, M.J. 2000. Fish wars: science is shaping a new peace agenda. In: Crawford Fund. Food, water and war: security in a world of conflict. Record of a conference conducted by the Crawford Fund for International Agricultural Research, Parliament House, Canberra, 15 August 2000. ACIAR Monograph No. 73, pp. 83-98. Canberra, ACIAR. 114 pp.

Choo, P.S. and Williams, M.J. 2003. Fisheries production in Asia: its role in food security and nutrition. NAGA, WorldFish Center Quarterly, 26 (2): 11-16.

FAO. 1992. FAO Yearbook. Fishery statistics. Catches and landings. Vol. 70. 1990. Rome. 646 pp.

FAO. 1987. National reviews for aquaculture development in Africa, 12: Malawi, by J.D. Balarin. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 770.12. Rome. 92 pp.

FAO. 2003. Ensuring access to food for all. In FAO. Agriculture, food and water: a contribution to the World Water Development Report, pp. 29-37. Rome. 61 pp.

ICLARM. 2000. Farming fish the right way. Focus for research, 3(2): 4.

Msiska, O.V. 2001. A review of limnology of Malawi. In Wetzel, R.G. & Gopal, B. (eds.) Limnology in developing countries, Vol. 3. pp. 121-189. New Delhi, SIL. 3 vols.

APPENDIX 1

QUESTIONNAIRE

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE AQUACULTURE AND FISHERIES INFORMATION NEEDS IN MALAWI

This questionnaire is for the purposes of an FAO Regular Programme Activity (Advice on Marine Resources and Environmental Issues and Aquaculture Development) which is aiming at assessing the information resources and needs of the fisheries institutions in Malawi and also proposing mechanisms for improving access to fisheries and aquaculture information and documentation.

We would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire and send it back to Bunda Library, by the 20^th of September, 2003.

Gift A. Kadzamira, Margaret E. Ngwira and Geoffrey S. Salanje

INSTRUCTIONS: How to fill the questionnaire

• Fill in the answers on the dotted lines

• Mark the boxes with a tick (?) for YES and a cross (x) for NO.

• Rank by indicating the given scale

SECTION 1: CLASSIFICATION DATA

SECTION 2: INFORMATION AND RESOURCES NEEDS

Thank you for taking the time to complete the questionnaire. Your help is greatly appreciated.

APPENDIX 2

LIST OF INSTITUTIONS AND INTERVIEWEES

List of FAO project survey participants:

APPENDIX 3

PUBLICATIONS FROM MALAWI: AQUATIC BIOLOGY, AQUACULTURE AND FISHERY RESOURCES (ABAFR) SEARCH RESULTS 1990-2003

Search Fields:
AUTHOR AFFILIATION = MALAWI gives false hits due to historical details of Authors. Total hits = 374

INSTITUTIONAL AUTHOR = MALAWI gives 42 references, including the following institutional addresses:

Fisheries Dept., Lilongwe (Malawi). Fish stocks and fisheries of Malawian waters: Resource report 1999. Fisheries Bulletin, no. 39, 39 p.; 1999

Southern African Development Community, Lilongwe (Malawi) Technical Coordinating. Unit. SADC Inland Fisheries Sector. Annual Report, 1998, no. 002, 24 pp; 1999

Banda, G.A. University of Malawi, Zomba (Malawi). Centre for Social Research

Matrilinity and development: implication for adoption of aquaculture in Malawi. Zomba (Malawi), 1997. 20 p.

Likongwe, J.S. Bunda College of Agriculture, Lilongwe (Malawi). Animal Science Dept. Some socioeconomic and personal characteristics of adopters and non-adopters of aquaculture innovation in Central Malawi. Lilongwe (Malawi), 1996. 33 p.

Maluwa, A.O. Brooks, A.C. Fisheries Dept., Mzuzu (Malawi). Central and Northern Regions Aquaculture Centre. Definition of technical parameters for the establishment of fish farming in the Central and Northern Regions of Malawi.1996. 46 p.

Turner, G.F. GOM/FAO/UNDP Chambo Fisheries Research Project, Monkey Bay (Malawi). Mechanised fisheries of Lake Malawi. Jul 1992. 26 p.

Jumbe, C.B.L. Bunda College of Agriculture, Lilongwe (Malawi). Socio-economic characteristics of fish farmers in Extension Planning Areas 11 and 12 of the Lilongwe Rural Development Project, LADD. Project (B.Sc.). 1990. 38 p.

APPENDIX 4

MAP OF MALAWI