Abstract
The challenges constraining the contribution of aquaculture to food security and household incomes have mostly been documented as low utilization of improved feed, lack of improved seed and unfriendly financing services. This study looked at the influence of markets including market information on adopting aquaculture technologies. Data were collected from 110 farmers in Zomba District, Malawi. Using a logit model, farmers’ adoption of new technologies was mainly influenced by market information, level of education and number of ponds owned by a farmer. Therefore, linking rural farmers to urban markets can improve the adoption of fish farming technologies. Key words: Adoption, aquaculture, livelihoods, marketing access.  
Highlights
The productivity of artisanal and commercial fishing on major lakes and river systems in Malawi has declined by more than 37% over the period of 1974 to 2004 (World Bank, 2004) due to overfishing and poor conservation practices
The challenges constraining the contribution of aquaculture to food security and household incomes have mostly been documented as low utilization of improved feed, lack of improved seed and unfriendly financing services
This study looked at the influence of markets including market information on adopting aquaculture technologies
Summary
The productivity of artisanal and commercial fishing on major lakes and river systems in Malawi has declined by more than 37% over the period of 1974 to 2004 (World Bank, 2004) due to overfishing and poor conservation practices This decline, coupled with rapid population growth in Malawi has reduced the per capita consumption from 16 - 18 kg/year in the 1980s (Allison, 2011) to about 8.12 kg/year in 2014, (GOM, 2015). Ndah et al (2011), Farnworth et al (2015) and Olaoye et al (2016) found that the adoption of agricultural fish farming practices are directly linked to access to agricultural markets, gender, improvements in rural infrastructure and marketing institutions These determinants are essential for the transformation of subsistence-oriented smallholder agriculture to commercially orientated agriculture. Markets support flow of goods from areas of surplus to areas of deficit to ensure that food is efficiently distributed (Hebebrand and Wedding, 2010)
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