Description

This report looks at small-scale freshwater rural aquaculture from the viewpoint of poverty reduction:

• What are the main factors that enable fish farming to generate livelihoods and reduce poverty?
• What steps can be taken to overcome constraints and optimize these factors?

Based on case studies, the first part of the report highlights the importance of access to capital assets—human, social, natural, physical and financial—and to a range of transforming processes, such as markets, institutions, facilities, infrastructure, and services. The roles of the legal framework and development policies, resource management, biosafety, and aquatic health are also discussed.

The case studies in the second part of the report concern three countries in which the sector is of vital importance—Bangladesh, Philippines, and Thailand. These studies probed various aspects of freshwater aquaculture in different and diverse settings. Together, the case studies provide a representative selection of freshwater aquaculture practices and the factors that influence production and profitability. The individual studies provide many lessons that are useful for researchers and development practitioners working toward poverty reduction in developing countries of Asia.

Contents

• The Evaluation
  • Introduction
  • Rational Purpose and Method of Evaluation
  • Understanding Poverty and Vulnerability
  • Analyzing Capital Assets and Transforming Processes
  • Summary of Key Findings from Case Studies
  • Lessons from ADB Operations in Freshwater Aquaculture
  • Recommendations
• The Case Studies
  • Overview of Small-scale Freshwater Aquaculture in Bangladesh
  • Farming Carps in Leased Ponds by Groups in Chandpur, Bangladesh
  • Livelihood Profiles of Fish Farmers in Kishoreganj, Bangladesh
  • Overview of Freshwater Aquaculture of Tilapia in the Philippines
  • Farming Tilapia in Ponds in Central Luzon, Philippines
  • Tilapia Cage Farming in Lake Taal, Batangas, Philippines
  • Overview of Small-scale Freshwater Aquaculture in Thailand
  • Development of Technology and Extension for Small-scale Fish Farms in Northeastern Thailand
• Appendixes