ABSTRACT
The socio-economic and cultural contexts within which most African fish farming is developing can be grouped into factors internal to the producing household and those external to the household. Household and community factors play a major role in the successful adoption of an innovation like fish farming and its continuing development. Perceptions of target households influence the success of efforts to introduce and diffuse innovation. The fish farming physical production process consists of pond construction, acquisition of water, stocking, feeding, fertilizing, harvesting, and routine pond maintenance. The importance of marketing factors in the process of adopting fish farming has been widely noted. Social structure may limit the extent to which a farmer's increased productivity will result in personal rains. The chapter is based on research conducted mainly in the Zomba District of Southern Malawi during involvement with a project jointly sponsored by the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management, the German Technical Assistance Agency and the University of Malawi.
