Abstract:
Fish farming, also known as aquaculture, has gained significant attention worldwide as a means
to enhance household income, offer employment opportunities and improve nutrition from
direct consumption. This study thus sought to unravel information regarding the contribution
of fish farming in enhancing food security in Bumwoni Sub- county, Namisindwa District. The
objectives of the study were: i) to evaluate the current status of fish farming in terms of
production systems used and cultured fish species in Bumwoni subcounty; ii) to determine fish
production from aquaculture production systems in Bumwoni sub-county; iii) to compare the
proportion of income spent on aquaculture products to that spent on other food items, and, iv)
to determine the contribution of aquaculture to house hold income. Across sectional study
involving quantitative approaches was employed in this study. Dependent variables were food
security status, fish consumption, income from fish while independent variables were fish
farming resources and fish farming access. The study revealed that the contribution of fish
farming to household income was 16.02%, 74.24% practice earthen pond and 46.97% of
respondents’ farm cat fish. There was no statistically significant difference between the
proportions of income spent on fish products to that of other food items in the study area, pvalue= 0.9478. In conclusion, the study highly recommends the farming community of Bumwoni to specialize in farming of cat fish and use of earthen pond because to its adaptive,highly productive, feed friendly and environmentally friendly.
