Policy review workshop: Investigating improved policy on aquaculture service provision to poor people, 24-25 April 2003, Delhi, India

The Policy Review Workshop was held at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Noida, Delhi, from 24-25 April 2003. Participants (Appendix 1) included representatives of the Government of India; state governments of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal; Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT) and recipients (fishers, farmers and jankars) from the three states; DFID-NRSP; Rockefeller Foundation and NACA-STREAM. Fifteen members of a theatre troupe also participated.

The Policy Review Workshop was the final activity in the DFID-NRSP Research Project R8100 entitled “Investigating Improved Policy on Aquaculture Service Provision to Poor People”. The workshop followed:

• A Review of Lessons Learnt in Enabling People’s Participation in Policy-making Processes, published in April 2003.
• A Consensus-building Process which ran from February to March 2003.
• Six Case Studies carried out from mid-2002 to January 2003 in Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal.
• A Stakeholders Workshop in January 2003 in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
• Three State-level Workshops in Purulia, West Bengal; Ranchi, Jharkhand Bhubaneswar, Orissa in October 2002.
• An August 2002 Planning Visit.
• A Rural Aquaculture Service Recipients and Implementers Workshop held in May 2002 in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
• An Inception Visit in March 2002.

The aim of the Policy Review Workshop, as with all project activities, was “contributing to ‘giving people a voice’ in policy-making processes that have an impact on their livelihoods”. The workshop objectives were:

• Through six case studies, stakeholder statements and a street-play, understand the experiences of rural aquaculture services provision from the perspectives of representative recipient and provider groups.
• Review the process for transacting policy change and lessons learnt.
• Review progress towards policy change and lessons learnt, through “indicators of progress”.
• Make recommendations for policy change based on the outcomes of the project.
• Seek commitment from policy-makers on taking up the recommendations.
• Consider how the Government of India, NACA-STREAM and GVT may follow up the project.