CLIMATE CHANGE DEADLY TO FISH FARMERS.

 BY CYNTHIA NKHATA

The reality of global warming is now undeniable: many aquatic ecosystems are experiencing progressive increases in seasonal temperatures coupled with wider thermal variation, and an increased incidence of extreme heatwaves.

Climate change is already impacting the world’s oceans and will have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people who depend on fishing for their livelihoods, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Increasing water temperatures caused by climate change may make low oxygen conditions worse.

 For many years, Fish are part of the culture of the Lozi people in Western Province, but their numbers have been falling in the River Zambezi, in part because of climate change. In Sioma, Rosta Ikatanga leads a group of 15 people who are making a change in their community.

In 2020, when Rosta and her friend Alice Mubita saw the supply of fish falling in the Zambezi’s Barotse sub-basin, they formed the Tusano Fish Farming Group. A sub-grant from the Strengthening Climate Resilience in the Barotse Sub-basin (SCReBS) project, enabled them to buy two fish cages, each stocked with 10,000 fingerlings (so called the baby fish because they are the size of a finger).

The community did not give up when they lost these to floods in the 2020/21 rainy season, moving their cages to a lagoon with stable water levels and re-stocking them with new fingerlings in early 2022, in expectation of a fish harvest in September 2022.

 Her group is promoting climate adaptability and engaging in fish farming using cages stationed on a lagoon.

Impact of climate change on fishing.Despite Zambia’s rich endowment of water resources, the fisheries sector has only contributed between US$51 and US$135 million per annum to gross domestic product [GDP] over the years, a World Bank report states.

 This relatively small contribution at the macro level masks important contributions of fish production to the rural economy through employment, earnings and as a source of food. It is estimated that more than 300,000 people are deriving their livelihoods directly as fishers and fish farmers, or indirectly as traders, processors and other service providers. Although the sector has continuously faced challenges such as illegal fishing and weak governance, the impact of climate change has had a debilitating effect. 

There is need for fish farmers especially women to be taught on how to combat climate change especially in rural areas. Women in rural areas luck more knowledge about climate change. Government and other stakeholders need to come together and engage women in all the rural areas.