Integrated rice-fish farming to fight schistosomiasis, improve food security, and promote economic growth in Africa
Biological solutions cohort
Integrating fish aquaculture in rice farms establishes scalable strategies for human health, agricultural productivity, and economic development. Schistosomiasis, a widespread vector-borne disease that relies on freshwater snails that thrive in rice paddies, creates cycles of poverty and disease among farmers.
The team will leverage the natural predators and competitors of snail vectors in rice paddies by integrating the aquaculture of nutritionally and economically valuable fish into small-scale rice farming. This approach aims to improve nutrition, combat schistosomiasis, support economic development, and reduce environmental degradation by minimizing carbon-intensive fertilizers and pesticides.
Schistosomiasis infects millions of people each year. Researchers at Stanford and in Senegal are working to reduce disease transmission in rice paddies, make food systems more productive and sustainable, and boost local economies – with the help of fish.