A case study of fish farming impacts on malaria prevalence in - lumes

The reasons the respondents provided for the perceived increasing malaria prevalence
in the area are: <strong>fish</strong> <strong>farming</strong>; brick-laying, sand mining and stone quarrying;
compromised immunity; negligence; problems with the healthcare system and changing
climatic conditions. Those indicating the decline based their claim on increased
sanitation and sensitization, availability and increased use <strong>of</strong> mosquito nets and
increased availability <strong>of</strong> health centres.
Figure 6: Current malaria status in Kabale
Majority <strong>of</strong> the respondents had a perception that <strong>fish</strong> <strong>farming</strong> is one <strong>of</strong> the main factors
contributing to increasing malaria prevalence in Kabale. They attributed their reasoning
to the claim that the <strong>fish</strong> ponds potentially provide mosquito breeding grounds since
they contain stagnant water. However, there were a smaller proportion <strong>of</strong> respondents
who had a feeling that <strong>fish</strong> <strong>farming</strong> has not played any particular role in malaria
prevalence in Kabale. Despite <strong>of</strong> their claim this latter group did not have specific
reasons in support <strong>of</strong> it - majority <strong>of</strong> them were <strong>fish</strong> farmers so they might have claimed
so to protect the practice.
Brick-laying, sand mining and stone quarrying are common land uses practices in some
parts <strong>of</strong> Kabale (Figure 7). These kind <strong>of</strong> land uses, leave ditches on the ground from
where rain water collects either temporary or permanently. It is this stagnant water
that respondents claimed to accelerate mosquito vector proliferation and consequently
leading to increased malaria prevalence in the <strong>study</strong> area.
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