Fish consumption in urban Lusaka: The need for aquaculture to improve targeting of the poor

Abstract

Aquaculture in Zambia is growing and likely to play an important role for food and nutrition security in the country. While outputs in capture fisheries and small-scale aquaculture are stagnating, commercial aquaculture holds promising potential to help increasing the availability and accessibility of fish in the country, especially for the poor. While fish supply per capita has increased over the last decade, little is known on the fish consumption patterns and the role of farmed fish in the diets of resource-poor households. The aim of this paper is to (1) generate information on the fish consumption patterns of poor households in urban Zambia and (2) explore the role of Zambian aquaculture as a source of fish among poor urban households.