Small-scale fish farming is not like that. Solutions are selected and tailored by the farmers themselves to match their particular needs and conditions. Usually they start small and then build on their experiences, their own successes. That research produced some surprising results. Contrary to the belief in the research community that income and cash flow were the dominant pressures in farm decision-making, the team found that many other factors played greater roles.
Farmers are, by nature, conservative.
Radical new technologies, even those that promise more income, represent a level of risk that most farmers are reluctant to take. This is especially true for small-scale farmers in much of the developing world. In southern Malawi, where the average land holding is just 0.9 hectares, change is difficult to contemplate. Existing conditions may not be the best, but at least the farmers on these tiny parcels of land know how to cope with them. The strategies they use are more for survival than the increase of wealth.