An assessment of the role of fish farming in enhancing food security in bumwoni sub county, Namisindwa district

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.