Socioeconomic and Zootechnic Characterization of the Fish Farming in the High and Low Altitude Rural Zones in the South-Kivu (DRC): Which Link with the Fish Farming History?

This study aims to identify the current state of fish farming in two rural agroecological zones in the South-Kivu province (Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC): one of Low Altitude (L.A.) and another of High Altitude (H.A) different by their fish farming histories. It was carried out from January to June 2017 using a participatory survey coupled with individual interviews with 263 fish farmers distributed in these two rural agroecological zones. In addition to these interviews, field observations have also been focused on 576 fish ponds. The results obtained revealed that the fish farming is mainly practiced by men (L.A.: 72.0%, H.A.: 84.1%) for subsistence and business (L.A.: 57.0 %, H.A.: 67.5%) in both zones of study, that the fish ponds of these two zones are of the same average length (L.A.: 25.9 m and 25.06 m, H.A.: 25.17 m), have almost all the wooden monk (L.A.: 73.17% and 82.53%, H.A.: 72.64%) and composters (L.A.: 73.17 % and 73.53%, H.A.: 96.96%) where is made fertilization with local ingredients (L.A.: 69.0%, H.A.: 90.8%). However, beyond these similarities, the results reveal several differences between the socioeconomic and zootechnic characteristics of the fish farming of these two zones. These differences can be correlated with the different fish farming histories of the two zones; aspects which are widely discussed in the article.