Presentation on the experience of the Asian Institute of Technology in small-scale aquaculture development.

Aquaculture could be a solution to increase the nutrition available as well as to provide additional income source to local farmers, as it is known that the potential demand for small-scale aquaculture using paddy fields, canals and ponds is very high. However, many rural communities have little experience with fish culture. In addition, there are local shortages of the required raw materials for farmers to practice fish culture.

PROVAC aims to increase fish farmers in the target seven provinces of the Southern Benin by using the extension approach so-called “farmer-to-farmer” training. In this approach, the Project supports establishment of core farmers who can produce seeds and homemade feeds. The core farmers then offer technical training for ordinary farmers in cooperation with extension officers at the facilities of core farmers. PROVAC has achieved various technical improvements including in seed production.

An FAO project ignited a first practice of freshwater carp aquaculture in highlands of Madagascar in the late 1980’s. Since then, carp culture has been practiced in the area but the number of farms at present are only few. In terms of tilapia culture, the Rural Development Support Project in Madagascar financed by the World Bank promoted tilapia culture for small-scale farmers in the district of Marovoay from 2002 to 2004.

Fish is one of the most important foods for the Myanmar people since more than 70% of animal protein is taken from fishery products. It has been reported that people in the rural areas, particularly those who live far from the main river systems suffer from a deficiency of animal protein due to insufficient supply of fish. The majority of those are needy farmers and they depend only on crop cultivation for their livelihoods.