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Social-ecological analysis of integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems in Dedza, Malawi

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Abstract

Through the case of integrated agriculture-aquaculture in rural Malawi, this paper argues that hybrid research can reveal new interactions in social-ecological systems not evident when studies by social or natural methods independently. While recent research acknowledges the social and natural dimensions of aquaculture systems, studies often create an artificial divide by attempting to address each aspect in isolation. Social science research has overlooked the biophysical aspects of aquaculture, while scientific research has uncritically accepted orthodox explanations of environmental outcomes without addressing the social contexts of such systems. The social component of this research reveals that fish farmers in Malawi are rejecting practices which do not work in the local context (fertilization with pond mud) and adopting strategies that do work (irrigation with pond water). The physical component of this research compliments the social by elucidating that irrigation with pond water resulted in higher soil nutrient and moisture content. The paper concludes that small-scale aquaculture can make significant contributions to rural household food and income security in Africa and that hybrid research methods can improve our abilities to investigate the complex, connected nature of social-ecological systems.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the research participants from Dedza, Malawi, for sharing their time, ideas and experiences with me. I gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Margaret Anderson, Taly Drezner, Emmanuel Kaunda, Jackson Langat, Timothy Njovu, Kylee Pawluk, Robin Roth and Ben Stewart. I would like to thank Bunda College of Agriculture and York University for support during field and laboratory work. Finally, this paper benefitted from the comments of three anonymous reviewers.

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Correspondence to Jessica L. Blythe.

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Blythe, J.L. Social-ecological analysis of integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems in Dedza, Malawi. Environ Dev Sustain 15, 1143–1155 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-012-9429-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-012-9429-6

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