Aquaculture the New Way of Creating Sustainable Livelihoods Among Rural Populations in Africa. A Case of Seke Rural District Zimbabwe

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Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing agricultural activities in Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe today, a rare visit on social media you will be greeted by ads on aqua farming service providers. Thore aqua farming is broad in Asian communities where it is mainly practiced due to their strong fish diet especially in Easten Asia, prawns, fish and calamari to name a few are reared in Asia. In Africa the Nile tilapia is the most commonly reared fish in aqua culture. Food sustainability has been a key problem in Africa where most of the population live in rural setups where the rely on outdated farming methods and poor equipment which presents a challenge in production output. The main focus of this paper is to look on how aqua farming commonly known as fish farming has helped with sustainable livelihoods among rural populations with main focus being Seke in Zimbabwe. The research will look at the shortfalls that are faced by the farmers due to natural and man induced during the execution of the project. The recurring draughts in Zimbabwe in recent years has seen the need for an alternative sustainable livelihood to mainly horticulture-based economies like Seke District, aqua farming also helping in supplementing diet of the community as fish is highly nutritious and can be substituted for red meat which can easily be attacked by diseases. The research will show the role that has been played by aqua farming service providers in equipping the farmers with the know how to run the projects adequately, they have also been key to provide the materials that are necessary to carry out the projects. Job creation is also one area that the author will dwell on as aquaculture has made our rural areas better especially for the youth as they are the ones that are mainly responsible for the digging and construction of the ponds. This research will show the benefits and the shortfalls of aqua farming. The question will utilise interviews, data collection techniques and participant observation to support findings.