Rice-fish culture: Integrating rice and fish farming systems

Rice-Fish System Boosts Profits, Enhances Lowland Land Use for Food Security and Prosperity

Rice-fish co-culture ensures food and nutrition security by synergistically cultivating rice and fish. This sustainable method boosts small farmers' income through rice and fish sales while maintaining environmental safety by eliminating agrochemical use. Overall, it's an innovative and efficient approach to enhance food security, economic stability, and environmental sustainability.

This technology is pre-validated.

9•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 7/9

Project adoption1

Technology integrated in the ERAVCDP project.

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
ERAVCDP Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	Angola	Direct: 1,200,000 Indirect: 1,000,000	211.4 million 2026–2031	2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated 400 km rural roads constructed 9 markets and warehouses established 360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

ERAVCDP
Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project

Angola

Direct: 1,200,000
Indirect: 1,000,000

211.4 million

2026–2031

2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated
400 km rural roads constructed
9 markets and warehouses established
360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive high

Under 18: Positive high

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: More water used

Problem

Food and Nutrition Insecurity: Smallholder farming households face food and nutrition insecurity where production systems provide limited diversity of foods.
Limited Livelihood Diversification: Dependence on sole rice cropping limits opportunities for smallholder farmers to diversify production and income.
Vulnerability to Market Shocks: Limited diversification leaves rice farmers more vulnerable to changes in market demand and reduces their ability to respond through alternative farm products.
Environmental Pollution: Excessive agrochemical use in conventional rice production contributes to environmental pollution.

Solution

Diversified Smallholder Production: Integrating fish into rice farming enables smallholders to produce two food and market products within the same farming system.
Improved Food and Nutrition Security: Rice contributes to household food supply while fish consumption contributes to nutrition security.
Diversified Income and Market Resilience: Farmers can generate income from both rice and fish and choose which product to sell according to market demand, reducing vulnerability to market shocks.
Reduced Agrochemical Pollution: The system operates without agrochemicals, reducing environmental pollution associated with excessive agrochemical use.

Key points to design your program

Rice-Fish Farming Systems improve food security, diversify farmer incomes, and promote sustainable agricultural production by integrating rice cultivation with fish farming in the same field. The technology can be integrated into food security, climate resilience, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and rural livelihood programs to strengthen farm productivity and resource-use efficiency. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 13 (Climate Action).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess rice production systems, water availability, aquaculture potential, and market opportunities in target farming communities.
Establish partnerships with AfricaRice, research institutes, aquaculture services, irrigation agencies, farmer cooperatives, extension services, and private sector actors to support technology dissemination and scaling.
Facilitate access to quality rice seed, fish fingerlings, water management infrastructure, and fish protection materials adapted to local agroecological conditions.
Implement demonstration sites and training for farmers, cooperatives, extension agents, women's groups, and youth enterprises on rice-fish production techniques, water management, fish husbandry, pond refuge construction, and integrated farm management practices.
Support extension and dissemination activities to promote the adoption of integrated rice-fish farming systems.
Promote the participation of women, youth, and smallholder farmers in rice-fish enterprises and technology adoption activities.
Implement monitoring, learning, and inclusion activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Track key indicators such as rice yields, fish production, household dietary diversity, farmer incomes, agrochemical use, and adoption of integrated rice-fish systems.

3,016 USD

Operating Cost

18,188 USD/ha

Benefit

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 7 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
ERAVCDP Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	Angola	Direct: 1,200,000 Indirect: 1,000,000	211.4 million 2026–2031	2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated 400 km rural roads constructed 9 markets and warehouses established 360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

ERAVCDP
Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project

Angola

Direct: 1,200,000
Indirect: 1,000,000

211.4 million

2026–2031

2,500 ha irrigation systems rehabilitated
400 km rural roads constructed
9 markets and warehouses established
360,000 tons of fertilizers distributed

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Ghana	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Liberia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Mali	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Sierra Leone	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Tropic - warm
Arid	–	–
Semiarid	–	–
Subhumid	–	–
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 1: no poverty

Field Preparation:
- Ploughing and leveling the rice field while constructing bunds for water retention.
Pond Refuge Construction:
- Building a pond refuge across the field's width to provide water for fish during reduced water levels.
Predator Protection:
- Installing a welded wire mesh fence around the field to safeguard fish from predators like snakes.
Rice Transplanting:
- Transplanting rice seedlings into the prepared field.
Irrigation:
- Providing irrigation to maintain optimal water levels in the field.
Fish Stocking:
- Introducing fingerlings into the field for the establishment of the fish component.
Bird Protection:
- Covering the entire field with nets to prevent predatory birds from affecting fish and rice crops.