Background

Small-scale aquaculture farmers dominate aquaculture production in ASEAN nations, contributing around of 80% of total production by volume. While they are innovative and productive, they tend to be poorly organised and suffer many disadvantages in the marketplace due to lack of economies of scale. Issues include:

• Physical access to markets particularly for small volumes of product.
• Asymmetry of market structures with inequitable distribution of market power between farmers and buyers or input suppliers.
• Increasingly strict food safety requirements for market access.
• The lack of effective servicing of small-scale producers by extension, credit, insurance and other service providers.

Globalisation is both an opportunity and a threat to small-scale farmers. New market opportunities are emerging but international competition is intensifying and market access requirements are becoming more stringent. There is a danger that these pressures, particularly the costs of complying with food safety and environmental requirements, may exclude small-scale producers from the marketplace. There is a need to assist small holders to adapt to these changes and to increase their competitive position and the sustainability of both their production base and thereby their livelihoods. Through a collaborative approach, groups of small-scale producers can cooperate to achieve the economies of scale, improved market leverage and resource use efficiencies required to remain competitive, and to facilitate more effective servicing of the sector.

Objectives

The objective is to assist small-scale aquaculture producers in ASEAN to access markets and to remain competitive in the face of globalisation and industrial consolidation. Raising awareness of market access issues and better management practices to improve farm performance will assist small-scale producers to sustain their livelihoods while delivering quality, sustainable produce in line with the ASEAN vision. This will be accomplished by building both the capacity of farmers and of the institutions and networks that service them, from NGOs working in the field to policy fora including the ASEAN Fisheries Working Group. The project will undertake a study of the production chains of five important commodities: Brackishwater shrimp aquaculture in Vietnam; indigenous freshwater fish in Cambodia; tilapia farming in cages, Thailand; marine finfish aquaculture, Indonesia; and seaweed culture in the Philippines. The issues, needs, constraints and opportunities identified will serve as the basis for developing appropriate training materials and programmes in support of small-scale farmers, trainers and service providers.

Expected outputs

• Publication of a capacity-building needs assessment report with regard to small-scale aquaculture competitiveness, focussing around five key commodities of regional importance. This will include assessment of training needs, opportunities for gaining market access, application of food and quality standards along market chains.
• Publication of training materials on better management practices targeting small-scale farmers of five key aquaculture commodities.
• Establishment of a 'train the trainers' network as a means to disseminate the BMPs and other project outputs and increase the capacity of service organisations.
• Direct training of small-scale farmers in better management practices for five key aquaculture commodities; the training materials will be translated into six ASEAN languages.
• A regional policy workshop on 'Small-holder aquaculture in ASEAN' that will review the findings of the project and raise the profile of small-scale producers and the contribution of aquaculture to rural livelihoods, with the recommendations reviewed by the ASEAN Fisheries Working Group.

Progress

• The project commenced in March 2008 and is scheduled to run for approximately 18 months.
• An inception workshop was held on 5-6 August 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. The workshop produced a workplan for the project, a training needs assessment guide, a draft market analysis guide, a list of project sites in each participating country, and set a field travel programme and schedules. The project will also reviewed arrangements for the project web page and developed a communication protocol for the project.
• The national teams in the five target countries completed training needs assessments for the five target commodities in August 2009. The assessments identify production issues associated with each commodity and practical measures that farmers can adopt to increase their efficiency and sustainability.
• A Train the Trainer programme was convened from 3-7 August 2009 at the NACA Secretariat in Bangkok. The training covered a wide range of social, technical and extension issues, practical experiences in the adoption of BMPs amongst small scale farmer groups in the region and the findings of the national teams. Participants also discussed approaches to facilitate the dissemination and adoption of BMPs with reference to the target commodities. Presentation materials are available to download.

Publications

• Training of Trainers manual
• Training of Trainers report
• TOT presentation materials
• Technical progress report
• Training specialist report
• Capacity building needs for aquaculture farmers report
• Inception workshop report

Collaborating Agencies

• The ASEAN Foundation.
• Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific.

Funding Agency

The project is supported by the ASEAN Foundation via the ASEAN-Japan Solidarity Fund. The ultimate aim of the ASEAN Foundation is to help bring about shared prosperity and a sustainable future for the peoples of all ASEAN countries, which include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Contacts

• Participants to the training of trainers (TOT) programme; 3-7 August 2009.
• Participants to the Smallholder farmer capacity building workshop; 5-6 August 2008.