Aquaculture - Recycling Nutrients on Smallholders Plots

Fish provides a very high percentage of the animal protein intake for people living in coastal areas of southern Asia. In Bangladesh, it is as high as 70%. However there are considerable disparities in fish consumption between rich households and the poor and the landless. Capture-fishing in rivers, lakes and in coastal areas is in decline in all developing regions of the world. Aquaculture presents a valuable alternative source of fish for the poor.

The 3-D model displayed below depicts a typical southern Asian farm household that has adopted aquaculture technology. By integrating fish into its farm and by recycling its on-farm resources, this farm family was able to:

grow 100% more vegetables

provide better nutrition for its members through increased crops and fish;

earn extra income from fish sales to buy glass windows for the house; and

use compost instead of packaged fertilizers, saving on input costs and reducing water and air pollutants.

Capital-intensive aquaculture technologies are not suitable for adoption by resource-poor farmers. IFAD is supporting the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) in developing integrated aquaculture-based farming systems that:

• are adapted to local conditions;
• are developed through participatory interaction with farmers;
• minimize the use of expensive purchased inputs; and
• maximize the farm's input-output relationship by recycling natural resources.

  Such systems not only produce more food without damaging the environment, but they also give small-scale farms a greater chance of becoming economically viable.

  Artisanal Fishery

  Artisanal fishermen are among the poorest in the world. Their livelihood is vulnerable to many factors: with increased pressure on the world’s marine resources and inland waters as a result of pollution and higher commercial activities, their economic base is shrinking rapidly. They are marginalized and pushed out of the sector, with little alternative but to join the masses of the urban poor.

  IFAD-financed fisheries projects in coastal areas all over the developing world demonstrate that artisanal fishermen can be assisted effectively. These projects not only aim at an increased catch, better processing and improved marketing, but contribute to the conservation of the natural resource base.

  The means:

  improved equipment: better designed and more robust boats equipped with outboard motors (extending the fishing area open to artisanal fishermen, giving them access to deep-water resources), appropriate nets, fishing gear and simple but better processing facilities for drying and smoking;

  technical training and capacity-building for both men and women;

  promotion of self-help groups and improved organization, building on traditional social systems;

  market intelligence and hence a better negotiating position in the market; and

  access to rural financing through credit and savings facilities;

  A pirogue, locally-made using indigenous skills and material with improved design, increases the catch. It is also safer. Medium-term credit enables fishermen to buy the pirogue and associated equipment.

  Simple innovations often bring significant results. The fish concentration device (FCD) used near the steep continental shelf, attracts large schools of fish. Without it the fish bypass the Sao Tome and Principe coast to the loss of local artisanal fishermen, although benefiting the large trawlers and international fishing fleets. FCD consists of a heavy block of cement chained to a large floating tank and immersed as deep as 200m below sea level.

  This simple device, consisting of a container on the sea bottom and a floating marker roped to the container, is used in Tunisia to trap octopus at night. This technique supplements catch income with relatively little incremental labour.

  Promotion of the use of nets that conform to appropriate standards is a key component of fisheries projects. However it is more simply said than done: free-riders not respecting the rule render the project ineffective. To address this problem, conventional extension systems need to be combined with efforts to establish self-regulatory community-based organzations. Organizations such as the Isuzu in an IFAD-financed fisheries project in Nigeria significantly facilitate input supply, credit and savings activities.

  Tangol- Basket for catching fish

  Taothum- Trap for catching fish

  Taijep- Trap for catching fish

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