126. Aquaculture development potential varies in each country of the region according to geographic, political and economic differences and variations in social structure and projected development.
127. The following considerations refer to the overall regional situation and therefore cannot be applied specifically to any particular country. Exceptional cases such as shrimp culture in Ecuador and salmon farming in Chile should be excluded from the ambit of this analysis.
128. Aquaculture only plays a marginal role in the national economies of Latin America, despite its acknowledged production “potential”. It is clear also that public and private operators are becoming increasingly interested in this activity.
129. In the present situation, aquaculture does not offer sufficient economic viability to attract the financial resources needed for self-sustained growth and consolidation. Though the private sector is growing increasingly buoyant in Latin America, there are no indications of spontaneous and significant short-term growth in the specific field of aquaculture (except perhaps for certain high-value species). The reasons for this are as follows:
The political, economic and financial conditions in Latin America (i.e. institutional discontinuity, generally defective infrastructure, massive financial speculation), severely restrict production investment even in far better-known and more profitable sectors than aquaculture;
The domestic markets are poorly developed and difficult to control, though less so than the external markets;
The existing natural resources are not so overwhelmingly attractive that override the difficulties of points a) and b).
130. With regard to the social component of aquaculture, it does not seem to have been sufficient political consensus to grant this high priority status. Sufficient political consensus means enough to actually produce the resources and programmes of action that are needed for the sector to take off. The national institutions that administer and regulate aquaculture and generally the whole tertiary sector were established at a time of greater economic prosperity throughout the region, but now often find themselves struggling for survival, which makes them relatively ineffective. The attendant loss of credibility inevitably tarnishes the aquaculture sector as well.
131. During the period of prosperity the tertiary sector was given considerable institutional weight: a number of public and private associations were established; experimental stations were built; a large number of staff were provided with technical and advanced training; numerous meetings were held; and a large number of scientific and technical papers on aquaculture were published (almost all on bio-technological subjects). Most of these actions were supported by multi- or bilateral agencies, NGOs, etc., who provided technological and financial assistance. This produced a tertiary sector that was disproportionate to the modest production levels. With few exceptions, when the economic crisis began in the early 1980s, the primary sector was still too weak to sustain itself and the excessively developed tertiary sector was engaged in the difficult task of self support with little opportunity to contribute significantly towards aquaculture development.
132. The obstacles to development can be removed at lower cost and more easily and rapidly if the various national efforts of countries with the same physical, biological, technological, economic, cultural and political problems are grouped under a regional project.
133. Medium-term objectives of such a regional development strategy might be:
To balance the aquaculture sector by relating and adapting production to the tertiary sector through investments and by strengthening administrative capability;
To consolidate and increase existing know-how in the region through the dissemination of information on ongoing research and findings;
To achieve a more equal balance between the tertiary sector, administration and production by using external technical and financial assistance in line with the above orientations.
134. Part of the proposed strategy in fact constitutes a horizontal cooperation programme (TCDC), which will initially concentrate on technical actions. This will hopefully be followed by economic cooperation to advance the integration process which has now become a pressing political priority for the region.
135. There has been sporadic TCDC in recent years among a few countries of the region, but these have had little impact. Such an exchange system must be based on a set of collectively drawn-up and clearly-defined objectives, truly representative of each national aquaculture sector. If this process were left to peripheral agencies, the commitments undertaken would be unlikely to receive the necessary support and resources. If the proposed TCDC programme is to be effective, efficient and vital, its design must be based on objectives that can be constantly monitored: predominantly participatory operational mechanisms catering realistically to the mutual interests of the participants must also be introduced.
136. The external financial or technological inputs may be decisive in overcoming eventual programme success constraints. However, if these inputs are to be truly productive, they must be part of domestic initiatives; followed by the joint decisions considered most appropriate by the countries as a whole.
137. In this perspective, the proposed action essentially involves coordination. To be legitimate, and representative of government interests, it must be directly conducted by the beneficiaries themselves duly organized in a permanent regional intergovernmental structure. The immediate objectives of this structure could be:
to establish and operate an exchange mechanism for international cooperation among the countries of the region;
to support the national structures responsible for regulating, administering and developing the sector, thereby improving their performance;
to assist the governments with the identification, formulation and evaluation of technical cooperation and investment projects, and in seeking funding;
to coordinate the interventions of the various external agencies operating in the region, thereby enhancing their effectiveness. It would also be beneficial in this connection to increase the bargaining power of the potential recipients of technology, advice, etc., who would be represented on the regional level by the intergovernmental structure. Any subsequent benefits from this enhanced negotiation position would be to the advantage of the region as a whole.
138. These objectives could be achieved through the following activities:
a dynamic diagnostic of aquaculture in the region and the monitoring of its development trends;
the collection and processing of the above information using methods and procedures that provide for its effective use by the beneficiary countries and donor agencies;
the formulation, implementation and updating of a regional cooperation strategy on the basis of a permanent review of project objectives and of national and international linkages. This will require feedback of programme-generated information;
participation in the identification of agency programmes and in the evaluation of outputs;
identification of programmes and projects on the basis of projected financial requirements and sources;
the direct implementation of programmes and projects;
an assessment of operational impact and of consequences on the development of the sector and on the strategy itself, which will subsequently have to adapt to the new trends and conditions.
139. Maximum use will be made of existing regional technical capacities for the implementation of these activities through the mechanisms introduced, coordinated and directed by the regional structure. The above activities should enable this structure to provide permanent coverage of the three basic areas requiring attention: strategies, techniques and operations.
140. The financial resources needed for this regional structure could be procured from:
grants from external sources and multi- or bilateral cooperation organizations;
the payment of basic contributions by member countries;
remuneration for services provided to its users (member countries and external organizations).
141. The proportion covered by each of these contributions will vary as the sector develops. Once the regional structure has been firmly established it will be able to function with the overall sum provided by the three sources mentioned but particularly, and ideally, by the third.
142. Initially this plan will essentially be covered by the grant contributions referred to in point a), until operations manage to galvanize national interest, at which point mechanism b) can be activated.
143. The form of organization and operation adopted by this regional structure, together with the time frame for the implementation of its plans will have to be determined from a careful preliminary study that could serve as the basis for the necessary negotiations. As already mentioned, the use of an already-existing intergovernmental body would entail practically no extra cost. Any additional expense incurred from the proposed functions would in any case be considerably lower than the expense of setting up an ad hoc body.
144. Various organizations, each with its particular institutional characteristics, responsibilities and functions, operate in Latin America and the Caribbean with the common objective of contributing towards the development of aquaculture. These have been grouped according to their more prominent features:
Political structures such as: LAES, OAS, EEC and donor governments. These allocate sectoral priorities and determine cooperation procedures in the various geographical areas of the region in line with their respective approaches to this form of assistance.
Financial structures such as: UNDP, IDB, IBRD, EDF, IFAD and donor governments. These procure and channel financial resources which they allocate to selected economic sectors and geographical areas.
Executing agencies such as: FAO, IICA, OLDEPESCA, WFP, UNDP-OPS, UNDP-SU/TCDC and specific donor government agencies. These assist in formulating and coordinating the sectoral policies and executing their attendant activities.
145. Each of these bodies implements a strategy determined by its respective orientations and links (generally institutional, political and economic), which identify the available resources and their targets, the specific objectives of the technical cooperation or investment programmes or projects and their implementation procedures.
146. Excluding FAO, which is dealt with separately below, external cooperation for aquaculture in the region is as follows:
Multilateral cooperation:
The LAES/UNDP-TCDC horizontal cooperation programme, which is starting up, possibly with IDB funding;
The EEC is engaged in the following aquaculture activities:
Project for fisheries development in Central America and Panama;
PEC project for the development of fisheries in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia;
Fisheries and aquaculture regional programme of the Cartagena Agreement (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia);
Aquaculture component of the drug control project in Bolivia (UNDP-UNFDAC).
147. These projects generally operate independently and the information generated is not widely disseminated. It would appear superfluous to point out that the adoption of a regional strategy that was formulated and directed by the beneficiaries themselves would help to avert duplications and omissions, to the benefit of both parties: the recipients and the donors.
148. The adoption of this strategy would in no way limit the actions of the donors, who could continue to act according to their respective policies and procedures. On the contrary, the existence of a regional coordination system would broaden the intervention spectrum which would, in turn, could produce a greater impact due to the synergetic effect non dependent on individual projects considered in isolation.
149. Moreover, this regional coordination mechanism would provide each donor with accurate and updated baseline data which is an essential premise for the sound formulation and consequent success of development projects.
150. The Technical Conference on Aquaculture organized by FAO in Kyoto, Japan, in 1976 was the first to draw attention to the potential contribution of aquaculture towards meeting the needs and overcoming the problems of the developing world. A world strategy was formulated at this Conference concerning the development of aquaculture. It was based essentially on the establishment of a series of regional centres of excellence for the testing and development of culture technologies, the training of staff and the preparation and dissemination of information.
151. The UNDP provided the necessary financial resources; FAO was made responsible for administering these centres; and their coordination was entrusted to the FAO Inter-regional Aquaculture Development and Coordination Programme (ADCP).
152. The Kyoto Strategy, which was upheld by the World Conference on Fisheries in 1984, led to a significant increase in technical and financial assistance from the international donor community from the early 1980s. In Latin America, the Latin American Regional Aquaculture Centre (CERLA), played a very important role by training over 100 senior technicians and helping to spread aquaculture when it was still in its infancy, and by attracting bilateral cooperation actions inside and outside the Centre.
153. In 1986, the FAO Regional Office established the RLAC Network for Aquaculture and the Caribbean Technical Cooperation Network on Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. These were enthusiastically received by the participating countries, where operational effectiveness was seriously affected by a lack of funds.
154. FAO activity in the Region has mirrored its prescribed functions: i) to collect and examine agricultural, food and nutrition data; ii) to act as an international forum and source of advice for policy formulation; iii) to promote and supply technical assistance.
155. Other FAO contributions towards developing the sector in Latin America and the Caribbean have been channelled through the Rome based Regular Programme which is coordinated by the Fishery Resources and Environment Division (FIR), with the participation of other sections such as the Fishery Policy and Planning Division (FIP), the Fishery Industries Division (FII), the Operations Service (FIO) and the Investment Centre (DDC). Furthermore, FAO operates directly through field projects presented as national projects to overcome specific problems of varying magnitude and nature. These are financed through trust funds (GCP, etc.) or, for smaller sums, by its own funds (Technical Cooperation Programme, TCP).
156. In the mid-1980s, an aquaculture appraisal conducted by FAO/UNDP/NORAD, revealed the major limitations and problems of the Kyoto Strategy, which led the international development agencies to review their principles and methodologies. As a result, the Regional Centres gradually disappeared as did the ADCP (the Network of Aquaculture Centres in the Asia (NACA), was converted into an independent inter-governmental organization in 1989).
157. In Latin America the CERLA, now financed by the Italian Government, was changed into the “Project for the Support of Regional Aquaculture Activities in Latin America and the Caribbean” (AQUILA). The first phase of this project was implemented between 1987 and 1989, along the following lines:
The project activities were executed by national institutions throughout the region. All the countries were effectively included in the distribution of activities.
New cooperation methodologies with strong TCDC components were tested. The execution and management of the various activities (training, research and information) were entrusted to the national institutions which were actively involved in the identification, formulation, monitoring and evaluation processes. The AQUILA Project was directly responsible for these actions for which it provided external technical assistance and financial aid as part of a regionally coordinated plan.
A number of important goals were achieved with regard to staff training, research, publication of technical papers, a regional information system (SIRIAC) and above all a regional sectoral study with 19 country profiles which made it possible to draw up an updated and accurate report on aquaculture in the region.
158. With regard to the strategy reassessment process mentioned previously, certain changes have arisen within FAO that will alter the shape of aquaculture assistance in Latin America and the Caribbean: i) a new assignment of functions within the FIR as a result of the reconsideration of the Kyoto Strategy; ii) a trend towards decentralization, with the consequent strengthening of national and regional structures; iii) new UNDP orientations for its next funding period, with full responsibility being assigned to the recipient countries.
159. Naturally, these changes will take shape gradually. Meanwhile, the second phase of the AQUILA Project is about to begin and will consolidate the achievements of the first phase. The objectives of the second phase are:
To support the national structures responsible for aquaculture development and administration through training, research and information activities and, in particular, planning and management, thereby enhancing their performance;
To help the governments with the identification, formulation and evaluation of technical or economic cooperation projects and with the procurement of funds.;
To introduce a mechanism that will enable the countries to gradually play a greater and more independent role in the management of regional support activities and in the procurement of funds.
160 In addition to these objectives, which can be easily evaluated at the national level, at least in the more developed countries of the region, the second phase of the project will be considered successful if its four-year implementation period produces the following achievements:
The establishment of a regional communication and mediation mechanism which provides countries with a permanent channel for expression of their concerns and needs. This will also help to reorganize assistance functions within the various FAO units dealing with aquaculture;
The transmission of the information and experience gained during the first and second phases of the AQUILA Project to the regional structure which may in time follow up its activities. The ultimate objective would be to achieve regional coordination and the integration of S-S and N-S cooperation on the basis of the orientations outlined in this paper.
