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JFPR Grant to Develop Alternative Livelihoods for Poor Fishers in Indonesia's Coastal Communities

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (22 June 2004) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$1.5 million grant, from its Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), funded by the Government of Japan, to help raise the income levels of the poorest and of women's groups in selected coastal and small island communities in Indonesia.

The project is designed to complement ADB's $33 million Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management project (COREMAP), which aims to enhance the income of coastal fishers through the development of alternative sources of livelihood.

Prepared through intensive consultation with stakeholders, the JFPR project will pilot and demonstrate innovative livelihood development activities, such as sea farming, cage culture, fish hatchery, fish processing, and land-based activities.

These activities will be made more viable by identifying, testing, financing, and implementing them through organized community groups, production assistance funds that provide access to microfinance schemes, and profit- and risk- sharing system agreed upon by the project participants.

It will also establish a production marketing system to provide access to market facilities, and a savings program to ensure the continuation and expansion of livelihood activities.

The project will be undertaken in 10 coastal villages in Nias and Tapanuli of North Sumatra and Mentawai of West Sumatra province, selected from the 35 covered by COREMAP. It will benefit around 1,000 very poor households, with women comprising at least half of the beneficiaries.

"The poor fishers in these coastal communities need alternative marine-based sources of income because those that build upon the further expansion of fish and aquatic activities are simply unsustainable," says Weidong Zhou, an ADB Senior Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Specialist.

A vicious cycle of unsustainable coastal resource use and poverty exists in coastal communities in Indonesia.

To increase their meager incomes, poor fishers often resort to destructive and illegal fishing methods, resulting in severe marine resource degradation. With no access to the scarce agricultural land resources available, the poor fishers' are forced to further deplete the already over-fished fishing grounds and damaged coral reefs for livelihood.

By the end of the project, the per capita income in the project areas is expected to increase by 30% in real terms.

The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries will execute the grant project.

The JFPR was set up in 2000 with an initial contribution of Y10 billion (about $90 million), followed by additional contributions of $155 million and a commitment of $50 million.

ADB is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 63 members - 45 from the region. In 2003, it approved loans and technical assistance amounting to US$6.1 billion and US$177 million, respectively.

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