Description

Abstract: This report examines samples of farms from Honduras departments have and do not have tilapia ponds as part of their farming systems. Data were obtain through personal interviews with 128 farmers, including 64 tilapia producers, in five departments: Olancho, Intibuca, El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan, and Santa Barbara.

To obtain information about farms without tilapia, farmers were selected at random within the same community as the identified tilapia producers. Interviews were conducted in communities where the small-scale farmers with production of tilapia were located (Casley and Kumar 1988). The data are intended to constitute a representative sample of the population of the Honduran small aquaculture farmers in these departments. The analysis presents basic comparisons of landholding, farm, and personal characteristics of tilapia producers with the mirror sample of the farmers without tilapia. The analysis profiles basic

differences between the two categories of farms, the operators, and their households. Younger farmers were more likely to become involved with tilapia farming. Those farmers more dedicated to their work inside their farm from which they obtain all their income, and whose principal occupation is being a farmer, were more inclined to adopt farming of tilapia. Farmers that use of their land more intensively and who dedicate themselves more to the farming of basic grains were more likely to adopt the farming of tilapia. Since Honduran small farmers tend to be a depressed segment economically, they tend to satisfy first their subsistence necessities by maximizing the use of their resources. The financing for both tilapia growers and nongrowers tends to be a limiting factor because more than 80% of the population works without financing, a clear barrier to farm investments. Tilapia growers participated more in development projects.