The Actual Valuation Of Fish Ponds: The Case Of Selected Villages In Morogoro And Dar Es Salaam Regions, Tanzania

The actual value of resources is a key element in designing policies that aim at sustainable management of those resources. Often, however, the valuation has been based on market benefits. This approach to resource valuation is inadequate and represents the "tip of the iceberg," necessitating need for actual valuation. Fish ponds are one of the resources that require the actual value of their benefits. This can lead to sustainable management so that the community can enjoy their long-term benefits. This study was conducted in Morogoro and Dar es Salaam Regions, Tanzania to identify the actual benefits of fish ponds, taking into consideration the use and non-use benefits. A survey design was adopted to collect data from 410 respondents randomly sampled from selected villages. Instruments used for data collection were: a questionnaire, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and secondary sources. Data were analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results indicate that fish ponds have a variety of benefits ranging from direct and indirect to intrinsic benefits. Traditionally, however, valuation has been based on direct monetary statistics, which represent a meagre value of fish ponds. The reason why most of the indirect and intrinsic benefits have not been incorporated in the valuation is because some of the benefits were unknown and, if known, were difficult to be assigned a value. This result suggests that the first step in actual valuation should be to identify benefits accruing to fish ponds and then to devise an adequate mean of pricing the non-marketed benefits. Knowing these will enable planners and decision-makers to accord fish ponds the importance they deserve. Similarly, efforts should be directed toward: (a) improving fish production through the reduction of the risk of losing fish, shortening the culture cycle to target market size fish, use of low cost inputs and integrating fish farming within the farming system, (b) increasing the market for farmed fish through improving roads, providing information on fish prices and the nutritional value of fish, and forming marketing groups to lower transport and transaction costs, and (c) identifying "farmer-friendly" harvesting strategies which will make farmed fish readily available. All these together would increase the value of fish ponds.