1. The introduction of aquaculture into
family farming systems in subtropical
Northeast Argentina
Ariel Zajdband

2. Province of Misiones
29,5% population below poverty line
(poorest province in Argentina)
206 children died from malnutrition and
6,000 were malnourished in 2010
87% of farms are small-scale family farms
European settlement in 1900s
(“colonos”= settlers)
Cash crops: yerba mate, tea, and tobacco
(vertically integrated)

3. 1990s: neoliberal policies
State regulatory agencies dissolution
0.2
Fall in prices of traditional crops 0.18
0.16
0.14
0.12
Intensification of vertical integration 0.1
0.08
0.06
Crisis of the family farm model 0.04
0.02
0
1990 1995 2000
Yerba mate leaf price (1990-2001)
in US$.kg-1

4. 2000s: recovering from the crisis
The return of the state intervention
Diversification strategy: aquaculture development as a
way of increasing farmers’ income
~2,000 farmers involved in aquaculture
Different public-funded programs to support
aquaculture development (e.g. pond
construction, fingerling supply)

5. Understanding the role of aquaculture
In which kind of farm is aquaculture being
introduced?
How is aquaculture being managed in these farms?
How is aquaculture contributing to income
generation and fish supply for rural markets/self-
consumption?

6. Methodology
Visits to farms
Interviews with farmers
Farmers meetings
Statistical analysis

7. In which kind of farm is aquaculture being
introduced?
Cluster analysis (18 variables; n=68)
Family and labour- Land use area-related Animal Welfare level-
related production-related related
Household head’s age Industrial perennial # cattle Tractor
crops area (has.)
# of years of farm Afforested area (has.) # poultry Tea harvester
occupation by family?
# household members Tobacco area (has.) # swine Housing conditions
(made of wood and
tin / brick)
# contracted temporal Domestic crops area Vehicle (no, car,
workers (has.) pick-up)
# off-farm family Foraging area (has.)
workers
Woodland area (has.)

8. In which kind of farm is aquaculture being
introduced?
Cluster 1. Perennial crops-based farms
Strong reliance on family labour (only
5% contract temporal workers)
Total surface ~ 25 ha
Based on perennial crop production;
mostly yerba mate and tea: 8,5 ha/farm
61% have a tea harvester
100% Brick-made houses

9. In which kind of farm is aquaculture being
introduced?
Cluster 2. Forestry-livestock-based farms
Less on family labour (92% contract
temporal workers)
Total surface ~ 40 ha
Based on cattle production (mean: 20
heads/farm) and afforestation (mostly
pine; mean: 11,67 ha/farm)
33% have a tractor
100% Brick-made houses

10. In which kind of farm is aquaculture being
introduced?
Cluster 3. Tobacco-based farms
Strong reliance on family labour (only
5% contract temporal workers)
Total surface ~ 20 ha
Based on tobacco (labour intensive)
Higher woodland area (untapped)
Only 17% have a car
94% of houses made of wood and tin

11. In which kind of farm is aquaculture being
introduced?
Cluster 2. Forestry-livestock-based farms
+
WEALTH
Cluster 1. Perennial crops-based farms
- Cluster 3. Tobacco-based farms

12. In which kind of farm is aquaculture being
introduced?
Pond area x farm cluster
High correlation
Cluster 3 between pond area
and # ponds
(r2=0,8954)
Cluster 2
Cluster 1
Total Pond Area (m2)

13. How is aquaculture being managed in
these farms?
Raised species
Carp polyculture Self-Recruited-species
grass carp (main species) Lambarí (Astyanax spp.)
common carp
silver carp
bighead carp
Native species Other
pacú (P. mesopotamicus) Tilapia
jundiá (R. quelen)
sábalo (P. lineatus)

14. How is aquaculture being managed in
these farms?
Husbandry techniques
100% use animal manure
100% cattle
16% poultry
Fertilization 5% swine
6% add inorganic fertilizers
2% 15-15-15
Semi-intensive 4% urea
systems 100% on-farm by-products
100% cassava
Supplementary 93% corn
78% sugarcane
feeding 62% avocado
11% add artificial feed
7% poultry feed
4% fish feed

15. How is aquaculture being managed in
these farms?
Fish production (kg) x pond area
500.00
450.00 Cluster 1
400.00 Cluster 2
350.00
Cluster 3
300.00
Linear (Cluster 1)
250.00
200.00 Linear (Cluster 2)
150.00 Linear (Cluster 3)
y1 = 0,2597x - 18,797
100.00 R² = 0,9537
50.00 y2 = 0,2018x + 1,2526
R² = 0,8745
0.00
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 y3 = 0,2099x - 16,455
R² = 0,9367

16. How is aquaculture contributing to income generation and
fish supply for rural markets/self-consumption?
Destination of fish production (kg) x cluster
cluster 3
self-consumption (kg)
cluster 2
gift (kg)
sold (kg)
cluster 1
0 50 100 150 200
Significative differences
self-consumption (kg) gift (kg) sold (kg)
mean sd mean sd mean sd
cluster 1 93,10 17,43 11,19 8,05 67,62 76,35
cluster 2 77,00 15,85 22,00 10,85 82,50 104,86
cluster 3 72,14 16,84 8,57 7,70 31,61 106,85

17. How is aquaculture contributing to income generation and
fish supply for rural markets/self-consumption?
Destination of fish production (kg) x # ponds
3
self-consumption (kg)
2
gift (kg)
sold (kg)
1
0 100 200 300 400 500
Significative differences
n harvested
ponds self-consumption (kg) gift (kg) sold (kg) farms ponds
mean SD mean SD Mean SD
1 84,87 19,12 12,10 8,67 37,24 47,04 38 38
2 73 19,23 9 7,42 208 24,90 5 10
3 72,5 17,68 35 14,14 337,5 53,03 2 6

18. Discussion
The role of aquaculture as a source
of income generation is determined
by the pond area (or the # of
ponds).
The amount of ponds per farm is
directly related to the type of
program from which the farmer got
help to introduce aquaculture.
Only in 3 farms (4%) ponds were
built without the financial help of a
publicly-funded program.

19. Discussion
Public-funded programs
n = 65 Proyecto Manos a la obra Municipio APTM
Piscícola (n = 18) (n=2) (n=11)
(n = 34)
Funding National Ministry of Social Province of Cigarette
source Development Misiones sales tax
Pond 1 3 1-2 1
construction
Fingerling Yes Yes No No
supply
Payment US$ 400 in With harvested US$500 Discounted
conditions 12 fish at tobacco
installments harvest

20. Some questions and challenges…
Who is benefiting the most from aquaculture
development?
State-supported aquaculture programs:
segmented or not?
How can we distribute fish so it can be
accessed by the poor?

21. Conclusions
The role of aquaculture as an income
generation activity depends on the kind of
support from the state
The main effect of aquaculture is the supply of
fish for farm households
Fish is not available for the poorest of the
poor (landless)

22. Thank
You!
Ariel Zajdband
zajdband@agro.uba.ar