Skip to main content

Fish farming is one of the world’s fastest growing animal food sectors.1   Zambia is the leading producer of farmed fish in the Southern Africa region and ranks fifth in Africa by volume. 2 Aquaculture is a keyway to satisfy Zambia’s growing local demand for affordable food and an economical alternative to wild catch and fish imports . 3 Small scale aquaculture, carried out by small scale farmers, mainly in earthen ponds, lined with dam liners; comprises just under two-thirds (c. 62%) of Zambia’s aquaculture production. 4

smallholder cooperative fish ponds, beside the Kafue River, Kafue District, Zambia

Smallholder cooperative fish ponds, beside the Kafue River, Kafue District, Zambia

However, like many other sectors, aquaculture is highly vulnerable to accelerating climate change and environmental degradation, which are threatening livelihoods and leading to economic losses and food and nutrition insecurity. 5  Small-scale producers are expected to be affected more by climate change, due to their relatively limited adaptive capacity and  knowledge of the causes and impacts of climate change. 6   Some policies and development interventions also lead small scale producers to focus on specific, high value crops, such as maize; which increases their dependence on less resilient crops.7 

In July 2024, severe drought conditions prompted Zambia to declare a state of disaster, as agricultural yields were devastated. Parts of Zambia experienced their driest conditions in decades, with rainfall less than half of the seasonal average, combined with high temperatures. 8   Zambia saw a 54% decline in maize production from the previous year.  Drought also affected hydropower, as water levels in reservoirs, like Lake Kariba, fell to record lows. Intensified load-shedding in Zambia and Zimbabwe disrupted economic activity and public services. 9   Yet most rural people in Zambia have no access to electricity, they continue to rely on wood (charcoal and firewood) for cooking, as do many urban dwellers, which in turn, leads to substantial deforestation and forest degradation. 10  

Rainfall in Zambia has decreased by an average rate of 1.9 mm/month (2.3%) per decade since 1960.  The rainy season has become shorter and more difficult to predict, with fewer but more intense rainfall events. 11 12  Droughts are most intense in western and southern regions of Zambia.  These can have significant impacts on small scale aquaculture because water sources, such as boreholes and rivers, normally used to provide water for fishponds, are drying up.   Droughts lead to reduced water quantity and quality, triggering conflicts over water usage across different sectors including aquaculture, agriculture, energy, industry and construction. 13   Dams and water extraction, for irrigation on large agro-industrial farm estates, extensively alter seasonal river flooding; leading to environmental degradation and water shortages for rural people. Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to droughts, since most agriculture is rainfed.  Rising water temperatures can negatively affect fish physiology and lead to increased disease outbreaks, especially in relation to fish cages on Lake Kariba.14  

Cage Aquaculture on Lake Kariba, Zambia

Cage Aquaculture on Lake Kariba, Zambia

Vulnerability Factors

Increasing water shortages and low adoption of adaptation practices are some of the key vulnerability factors for small scale producers in Zambia in the face of climate change. 15   Access to water can be so limited that they have to prioritise between household water needs, irrigating their crops or refilling their fish ponds. 16 Changing precipitation and drought patterns have led fish farmers to limit their fish farm production periods to match water availability. Small scale producers’ limited adaptation capacity is largely due to financial limitations (poverty) and limited knowledge of adaptation practices.

However, adaptation measures are costly. Costs of adaptation for aquatic food sectors in all developing countries is estimated at USD 4.8 billion per year by 2030, but there’s a significant gap in finance, with only USD 0.2 billion per year being provided from 2017 to 2021. 17

Conclusion and Adaptation Practices

Whilst the risks from climate change are enormous, key local actors (farmers, farmer, youth and women’s groups, local government and local research institutions) are well placed to identify specific opportunities and constraints to adapting and adopting more climate resilient livelihoods; and, with support from government, donors and NGOs, to develop appropriate adaptation strategies. 

More support, through policies, programmes and projects, is needed from government, donors and NGOs for specific fish farming adaptive strategies such as: 

  • Adjusting growing periods by delaying stocking until rains start/floods recede; 
  • Focusing on water storage, rainwater harvesting and enhancing water use efficiency;
  • Focusing on redesigning existing dams, like Lake Kariba dam, which was only used for hydropower, but is now used for aquaculture, urban water supplies, tourism, transport and mining; and Itezhi-Tezhi dam which is being designed for hydropower and irrigation. 18
  • Monitoring for disease outbreaks, especially in relation to cage fish production.
  • Improved access to weather and climate related information.
  • Raising awareness through the media (radio and TV) about: 
    • climate related changes and opportunities for improving preparedness and resilience;  
    • access to loans and insurance – recent research indicates that majority of aquaculture producers in Zambia do not insure their farms, due to lack of knowledge and financial resources but were interested in doing so. 19

Recent research has also identified the need for a more holistic, joined up approach to improving water resource and natural resource management; through supporting a range of local water and resource users and actors (farmers, fisher people, local government, research institutions) to develop, test and pilot a range of technical options. Such options could include: water harvesting; and non-technical approaches, where relevant, such as watershed management, water pricing and new legislation. 20 21   Other, broader, non-technical approaches to climate resilience include:

  • Encouraging small-scale producers to maintain a portfolio of livelihood options, including crop, livestock and fish production.  Livelihood diversification is a fundamental and well-established adaptation strategy for small scale fish producers and farmers.
  • Encouraging on-farm livelihood diversification through agroforestry (retaining and growing useful tree species in combination with crops, livestock and fisheries) and apiculture, for example.  
  • Facilitating market access by improving farm to market roads, whilst ensuring that adequate measures are put in place to deter activities that become more lucrative as market access improves; but lead to deforestation and forest degradation – such as charcoal production and overharvesting of African rosewood (Guibourtia coleosperma).22  
  • Addressing entrenched, policy driven practices such as maize production, rather than emphasising diversification into alternative, drought tolerant crops,23 such as indigenous vegetables, sorghums and millets.
  • Reducing gender inequality, through improving women’s access to land so that women have more decision-making powers over land and land use and better access to agricultural inputs.24  
  • Focusing on a greater understanding of, cross sectoral linkages, the Water Energy Food Nexus and the implications of climate change and other stressors, such as population and industrial growth.  Water, energy and food are strongly linked.  Food production needs water and energy; the extraction, treatment and redistribution of water requires energy and hydro-energy production requires water.25 Groundwater abstraction has increased, but little is known about the state of aquifers.26
  • Focusing more on local, national and regional monitoring of climate and natural resource change; on solar energy, instead of hydropower; and on the restoration of common property resources, including rivers, grasslands and forests.

Ruth Malleson
Indepentent advisor & researcher for Resilience Constellation

1 https://drawdown.org/solutions/improved-aquaculture
2,FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (2022).  The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2022 in Repurposing Food and Agriculture Policies to Make Healthy Diets More Affordable. Rome. FAO
3, 5, 6, 14, 15, 19, 20 Maulu S, Hasimuna OJ, Chibesa M, Bbole I, Mphande J, Mwanachingwala M, Nawanzi K, Chibeya D, Siavwapa S, Mbewe J, Namukonda L, Balungu F, Mumbula I, Kabika M, Mweemba S, Sikanyenyene M, Siankwilimba E, Imbwae I and Mweetwa HM (2024) Perceived evects of climate change on aquaculture production in Zambia: status, vulnerability factors, and adaptation strategies. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 8:1348984. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.134898
4 Zhang et al 2023, in Maulu et al 2024
7 Rawlins, J. and Kalaba, F. 2021. Adaptation to Climate Change: Opportunities and Challenges from Zambia in Leal Filho et al. (eds.) African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation
8 9Global Water Monitor 2024 Summary Report https://www.globalwater.online/globalwater/report/index.html
10, 18, 25 , 26  Nhamo, L., Bekithemba, N., Nhemachena, C., Mabhaudhi, T. , Mpandeli, S. and Matchaya, G. 2018. The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Climate Risks and Opportunities in Southern Africa. Water. 10, 567.
11, 22, 23, 24  Rawlins, J. and F. Kanungwe Kalaba. 2021 Adaptation to Climate Change: Opportunities and Challenges for Zambia in Leah Filho, W. et al. (eds.) African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation
12 See https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/zambia
13 Barange et al 2018. Impacts of Climate Change on Fisheries and Aquaculture, Synthesis of Current Knowledge, Adaptation and Mitigation Options. Rome FAO.
16 European Commission 2018. Aquaculture value chain analysis in Zambia Value Chain Analysis for Development
17 FAO. 2024. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 – Blue Transformation in action. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd0683en
21 Leeuwis, C., Boogaard, B. Atta-Krah, K. 2021. How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes. Food Security 2021. 13:761-780