In Mpulungu, a small town on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in northern Zambia, nearly half of the smallholder tilapia farmers are now women — 44 percent, to be exact. It is a striking number in a sector that, until recently, was run almost entirely by men. And it is not an accident. Behind it sits a cooperative of women who started with two ponds in 2022 and have turned fish farming into income, food security and a seat at the table.
The story was reported on 9 November 2026 by the Global Seafood Alliance’s Responsible Seafood Advocate, and it lands in a year the United Nations has declared the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026) — a year meant to spotlight exactly this kind of work: women feeding their communities while going largely unrecognised. Zambia’s tilapia ponds are a small, vivid proof of what happens when that work finally gets support.
The number that tells the story
Zambia’s aquaculture sector was historically dominated by men, and women faced real barriers to entry. That is changing fast. In Mpulungu, women now make up 44 percent of smallholder tilapia farmers — building ponds, stocking fingerlings, selling the catch and keeping the books. Tilapia is Zambia’s most widely farmed fish and a cornerstone of food security in the region, so a shift of this size in who farms it is a shift in who controls food and income.
The change is part of a much bigger boom. FAO data puts Zambia’s aquaculture production at 88,950 tonnes in 2024 — the highest figure on record, up 9.1 percent on the 81,550 tonnes of 2023. The sector has roughly tripled since 2016, driven by cage farming on Lake Kariba and favourable policy. Women are not arriving at a stagnant industry; they are taking their place in one of Africa’s fastest-growing food sectors.
| Zambia’s women-led tilapia story at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Women’s share of smallholder tilapia farmers, Mpulungu | 44% |
| Zambia aquaculture production, 2024 (FAO) | 88,950 tonnes — highest on record |
| Growth over 2023 | +9.1% (81,550 tonnes in 2023) |
| Cooperative at the centre | Sianyongo Fish Farming Cooperative (SFFC), Nyawa Chiefdom, Kazungula district |
| Ponds | 2 in 2022, 2 more in 2023 |
| Total harvests by 2025 | 1,279 kg across all ponds |
| Backing | EU-funded Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme |
| Global context | 2026 is the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer |
One cooperative, four ponds, a new model
The change is exemplified by the Sianyongo Fish Farming Cooperative (SFFC), in Nyawa Chiefdom in Zambia’s Kazungula district. Supported by the EU-funded Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme — an international initiative that works to improve the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in forest, savannah and wetland ecosystems — the cooperative has been pioneering a model of inclusive aquaculture since 2022.
It began with two tilapia ponds. Two more followed in 2023. By 2025, total harvests across all ponds had reached 1,279 kilograms, giving the community a steady source of protein and a booming local economy. The numbers are modest in absolute terms — a little over a tonne of fish — but for a rural community the effect is outsized: fish on the table, cash in hand, and a reason for young people to stay.
Central to the success is the active involvement of women, who are evolving from fish farmers into entrepreneurs, community leaders and advocates for development. The cooperative’s approach is deliberate: women are engaged at every stage of production, from feeding and monitoring fish to managing ponds, weighing and selling stock, and ensuring water quality.
What the women actually do
This is not a story of women handed a token role. At SFFC, women do the full job — and the training to go with it. As tilapia farmer Beatrice Dobe told the Advocate: “We have been taught to work together, men and women alike. We have learned how to construct ponds, feed the fish, the different types of feed to use, and the appropriate feeding times. We have also learned how to monitor water quality and recognize when the water needs to be changed so that the fish remain healthy.”
The daily routine is hands-on: monitoring fish growth and health, making sure food is always available, protecting the stock from predators such as birds, and taking turns supervising the ponds each day. Dobe also plays a key role in fostering group cohesion — mediating conflicts, encouraging other women to participate, and helping the cooperative make collective decisions.
That matters because the skills go beyond the pond. Women in the cooperative gain knowledge of production, marketing and pricing — and with it, confidence, independence and a sense of purpose. Regular meetings, quick conflict resolution and listening to every voice are, in Dobe’s words, what keep the group united and efficient.
More than fish: food, fees and a voice
Why did women join in such numbers? Dobe’s answer is practical: “I was motivated to join the SFFC because I could see the benefits that it brings. By joining, we would have the opportunity to increase household incomes, provide nutritious food for our families and even save some money for our children’s school fees. Women here are primarily responsible for ensuring that there is food for our families, especially our children.”
That last line is the key to the whole story. In most fishing and farming households, women carry the responsibility for feeding the family — yet their work is rarely counted, funded or led by them. When a cooperative puts women in charge of the ponds, the income does what income in women’s hands reliably does: it goes to food, to school fees, to the household first.
The cooperative also benefits from strong partnerships with men in the community, who respect the women’s contributions — including in physically demanding tasks like pond construction. Bylaws that prevent intimidation and ensure inclusivity keep the culture collaborative rather than competitive. “We have learned to work together, men and women alike,” Dobe said, and the model works precisely because it is not women-only; it is women-led, with men as partners.
The conservation twist
There is a second reason the SWM Programme backs fish ponds: by offering a viable alternative to wild meat — which is often hunted illegally — the cooperative is reducing pressure on local wildlife. “One of the most important aspects of the SWM Programme is that it combines livelihood development with conservation objectives,” Andreas Muhwanga, communications assistant at CIFOR-ICRAF Zambia, told the Advocate. “By supporting sustainable fish farming, communities can improve nutrition and incomes while reducing pressure on wildlife resources. The growing participation of women is making these interventions even more impactful at household and community level.”
The SWM Programme is a major international initiative, funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment and the French Development Agency, and implemented by a consortium of FAO, CIFOR-ICRAF, CIRAD and the Wildlife Conservation Society across 16 countries. Zambia’s ponds are one small field site in that programme — and a demonstration that conservation works best when it pays the people who live next to the wildlife.
The global picture: women already carry the sector
Zambia’s story is part of a much larger pattern that official statistics are only now catching up with. The FAO’s own figures show how heavily fisheries and aquaculture depend on women — and how invisible that work has been in the data:
| Women in fisheries and aquaculture — the global numbers (FAO) | |
|---|---|
| People in primary fisheries/aquaculture production | ~62 million |
| Women among fishers and fish farmers | 24% |
| Women in the post-harvest sector (processing, trade) | 62% |
| Women’s share of everyone in the aquatic value chain | 40% |
| Women in the small-scale fisheries workforce | ~40% (39.6% per Illuminating Hidden Harvests analysis, 2025) |
| People relying on small-scale fisheries for livelihoods | ~500 million |
The pattern is consistent: women are a minority in the boats and ponds, a majority in processing and trade — and systematically undercounted in both. Zambia’s 44 percent is remarkable precisely because it is a production figure, in a part of the value chain where women are usually rarest.
What India can learn from Zambia
The parallels with India are direct. India has its own women-led fisheries story gathering pace: Andhra Pradesh alone has 213 women-led fisheries cooperatives with 27,447 women members, formed under PMMSY, and the lesson from both countries is the same — organise women into registered cooperatives and the work they already do becomes bankable, trainable and insurable. Zambia adds a second lesson: pair the cooperative with a conservation goal, and the funding follows.
Africa is also moving at continental scale. A $100 million African plan aims to create 242,000 fish-sector jobs for women, while Ghana’s government has backed women in fisheries science and the UN has warned that the ocean crisis is a women’s crisis. Zambia’s ponds show what that rhetoric looks like on the ground: four ponds, one cooperative, and women who now run the show.
Looking ahead, Dobe hopes to see more women join the programme and more ponds established. Her message to other women is simple: “Unite with us. Unity is power. It brings support, opportunities and the power to achieve our goals.” For a sector that has undercounted women for decades, that is not a slogan — it is a business plan.
Frequently asked questions
Where in Zambia are women leading tilapia farming?
In Mpulungu, in northern Zambia, women now comprise 44 percent of smallholder tilapia farmers. The Sianyongo Fish Farming Cooperative in Nyawa Chiefdom, Kazungula district, is the model case.
How big is the Sianyongo cooperative’s harvest?
The cooperative started with two ponds in 2022, added two more in 2023, and by 2025 total harvests across all ponds had reached 1,279 kilograms.
Who funds the programme?
The EU-funded Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, co-funded by the French Facility for Global Environment and the French Development Agency, and implemented by FAO, CIFOR-ICRAF, CIRAD and the Wildlife Conservation Society in 16 countries.
Why does 2026 matter for women farmers?
The United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer, spotlighting women’s roles across agrifood systems and the gender gaps that still hold them back.
What share of the global fisheries workforce are women?
About 24 percent of fishers and fish farmers, 62 percent of post-harvest workers, and around 40 percent of everyone engaged in the aquatic value chain, according to FAO — with about 500 million people relying on small-scale fisheries for their livelihoods.
Sources: Global Seafood Alliance, Responsible Seafood Advocate, “Championing gender equality in Zambia through fish farming”, 9 November 2026; FAO, Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme; FAO, Gender in fisheries and aquaculture; FAO aquaculture production data for Zambia (88,950 tonnes, 2024); Illuminating Hidden Harvests gender analysis (Ambio, September 2025). All figures verified against the cited sources on 13 November 2026.