Information needs and accessibility by fish farmers in the southern highlands of Tanzania

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the information needs and accessibility for fish farmers in the Southern high lands of Tanzania. Design/methodology/approach – Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Semistructured interviews were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data from 240 fish farmers in six selected districts from three regions in Southern high lands of Tanzania. Focus groups and key informants’ interviews were also used to collect qualitative data from 54 fish farmers in the selected districts. Findings – Findings indicated that fish farmers highly needed information related to water treatment (management), spawning operations and fish preservation and processing. However, it was found that access to these categories of information was very low. In addition, findings indicated that age, education and income have a statistical significant and positive relationship with farmer’s information accessibility at p < 0.05. On the other hand, age, amount of fish harvested, education and farming experience had statistical significant and negative relationship with farmer’s information at p < 0.05. Originality/value – The study provides a deep understanding of information needs and accessibility for fish farmers in the in Southern high lands of Tanzania, which will be assisting in in designing focused, needbased and user-oriented information infrastructure in fish farming.