3.1 General Considerations
3.2 Policy and Strategies
International assistance to aquaculture development has been responsible for much of its 'modernization' within the last decade. It is an appropriate time for such assistance to be redirected as the evaluation conducted by UNDP, FAO and the Government of Norway indicates evidence of imbalances between the aquaculture sectors from region to region and from country to country, and also within the aquaculture sectors between its many components. Assistance must therefore be more selective in its considerations for the next decade.
On a regional basis, Asia (all sub-regions) continues to be the vanguard of aquaculture development, although some countries remain weak. The private sector is well-established and growing in strength. Assistance continues to be required to underpin sectoral components which lag behind production, specifically national sector management and national infrastructure. Of particular importance are inter-governmental and governmental planning; applied research on certain marine species, such as crustaceans, molluscs and algae; the introduction of some selected new culture systems but with appropriate concerns for their impact; all aspects of marketing aquaculture products; legal provisions and regulations; and interactions with other competing or impacting activities. With increased attention to these sectoral components, Asia will have the capacity to provide TCDC support throughout the sector. TCDC is already active in biotechnology training to low-level managers (researchers) and extension workers.
Latin America (South and Central America) remains weak in aquaculture development, but the potential is considerable. The traditions for consumption of cultured products are not strong and will continue to compete with meat and fish from natural resources. Consequently, priority will be with the higher-value products and therefore semi-intensive systems. The private sector is willing to underwrite production. Production priorities for assistance will be fisheries enhancement projects in lakes and reservoirs. Support of the individual owner/operator farmers is constrained by the inability of these individuals to obtain land and water rights. Assistance to Latin America has to be increased at all levels within the sector, with priority for policy making and planning, and training and extension services. Research and development priorities must be production-oriented and confined to a few locations to maximize investment in facilities. Consumer marketing is of high priority. Opportunities for TCDC remain limited to biotechnical exchanges, but significant advances can be made through active regional programmes (Latin American regions and the Caribbean) and inter-regional cooperation.
Africa (West and Central, East, and South regions) requires continuous assistance at all levels. Priorities are policy making and planning, and the needs of producers and marketing, although attention to all components cannot be neglected. The inland fisheries merit the greatest support, and this includes both fisheries enhancement in lakes, reservoirs and the temporary water barrages, and fish pond production. Opportunities exist for integrated farming but with careful selection of producers and proximity to markets. Research and development are important but must be restricted to low technology applications, and efforts confined to a few well-supported centres participating in networks. Development with brackishwater and marine farming, most of which require costly inputs, must be at private sector expense with support from governments limited to removing administrative constraints and providing incentives.
The Mediterranean and the Near East regions, if they can sustain strong regional cooperation between the North African, European and Arabic countries, require only selective support. The greatest contribution from assistance could in fact be to sustain regional management thus encouraging further regional cooperation. Policy making and planning are high priorities for the North African countries, and infrastructure at both national and local levels is important in all, particularly training and extension services, and supplies of inputs. Marketing is a primary concern as all countries produce the same species and target export markets in Western Europe are limited. National markets must be given priority, thus attention must focus on developing appropriate national production systems which are economic. Priority species are the prime Mediterranean fishes and certain shellfish, all of which can be developed by the private sectors. Opportunities exist for increased fish production from the many coastal lagoons by improving lagoon management, and in the inland freshwaters, and by improving local infrastructure in the support of existing pond farmers.
The island communities (Caribbean and Oceania) require assistance but based on specific needs. Island communities cannot compete in international markets for aquaculture products, with the exception of some very specialized and high-priced products. Production is therefore for national consumption, including the tourist trade. In the larger populated islands of the Caribbean the priority remains freshwater fishes. In Oceania the most profitable investment is improved reef management with enhancement through aquaculture where necessary. Priority is for improved policy making and planning to identify needs and opportunities and to limit investment to a rational level. The private sector must carry production in Oceania with conducive conditions provided by government. The public sector will carry the burden in populated Caribbean islands but limiting support to freshwater fisheries. All island communities are in need of infrastructure in training and extension services, and for developing inputs from local resources. Research and development are not a priority except for local application of introduced techniques. The island communities will benefit from regional cooperation, particularly at the levels of upper and mid-level management.
As a general policy, UNDP and other assistance agencies must direct (and coordinate) their efforts towards regional and national capacity building. This requires conscious support of projects which advance the aquaculture sector on a broad front, or correct existing imbalances in the sector.
The assistance agencies must recognize individual levels within the sector, and their respective sub-components which may require support.
3.2.1 At the level of primary beneficiaries, attention must be given to the consumers. The marketing of aquaculture products (including post-harvest handling, processing, packaging, etc.) has been totally neglected and requires immediate support together with associated marketing components of transportation, storage, and public health. These are government responsibilities which need assistance to develop, but professional input from the private sector must be involved. More emphasis must be given to projects which involve producers, where results are measured in product sold on local markets. Projects must be limited in scope in order to monitor production and consumption, rather than quantifying ponds and farmers. Encouragement must be given to the 'private' sector for production. This includes the one-pond owner/operator entrepreneur in rural areas: cooperatives: multi-pond owner/operators; and producers integrating farming with agricultural practices. Owner/non-operators, who can develop large volumes of product, must not be overlooked. The public sector should not be active in production projects at the farm level, with certain exceptions (in countries with centrally planned economies). On the other hand, the public sector needs assistance to be actively involved in producing cheap seed resources (fry and fingerlings) for enhancement projects stocking lakes, reservoirs and seasonal barrages, and this is a high priority.
It is not necessary for assistance agencies to have absolute preferences for some aquaculture animals/plants, or for certain types of production systems for their support, although freshwater fish and extensive systems have high priority. Firm evidence of markets and real indications of economic feasibility based on existing technology are good justifications for project support.
Assistance agencies must avoid projects which 'blanket' target groups, such as lake fishermen or women, or rural communities. It is necessary to be specific about identifying individual entrepreneurs within such groups.
3.2.2 More attention from assistance is required at the level of local infrastructure, namely field-level organization behind producers. High priority must be given to projects which produce direct inputs required by farmers, specifically resources of cheap seed from hatcheries or government production stations: resources of cheap feed preferably made from locally available materials; and resources of cheap inorganic fertilizers together with alternative options for using organic fertilizers from integrated agricultural wastes or from composting.
Extension projects continue to have priority for assistance, both training new extension workers and renewing skills of existing ones. Simpler and better extension materials for the farmers are required to reverse the trend towards production publications which become status symbols; and more use should be made of model farms. Greater attention is needed to monitor their cost-effectiveness.
Assistance agencies must avoid all-purpose projects which attempt to service the entire sector - as has happened. Assistance projects, for example, cannot be expected to meet the needs of the country. Projects which are supplying inputs should be limited in scope so that monitoring will produce information which can be extrapolated for sector support and growth. For example, information on numbers of farmers supplied with seed from a station, and the ratio of extension workers to farmers and their cost-effectiveness.
Credit for farmers at the present time does not appear to be a constraint although monitoring is necessary so that a future lack of credit does not restrain growth.
3.2.3 Support for national infrastructure, which has received considerable attention in the past, requires more carefully selected and justified support. Training remains the highest priority but short-term training courses are more useful now than long-term academic-oriented courses. International short-term training courses are useful (but costly) and in certain regions still necessary, but the direction must be towards international training courses for individuals who will become trainers in their own countries. They will be able to support the national short-term training courses which must be emphasized in all projects in order to increase trained manpower quickly and cheaply. Emphasis must also be placed on non-biotechnical courses to increase the number and capabilities of mid-level managers.
Assistance is necessary to help transfer the responsibilities of long-term academic training to national universities. This includes preparation of course materials and teacher training.
Research and development are always important but priority must be given to the support of production-oriented projects where results can be measured in product sold on local markets. Less emphasis is required for biotechnical projects which yield little in the way of reliable and repeatable results.
Because of the lack of suitable research facilities in most countries, support is better limited to a few selected tasks which will make significant advances in the sector. Where fundamental biotechnical research is justified, the support must be long-term. When research results are produced which are applicable to further development of technology, attention must be given to the logical progression through pilot and demonstration phases.
The need for assistance providing credit and credit management is not clear. At present there appears to be no shortage of credit, but this may be because the sectors in each country are small. The situation must be monitored continually.
3.2.4 Assistance to strengthen national sector management has high priority. Neglect in providing governments and institutions with technical information and financial help to develop national policies and prepare national plans has been a major omission. As a result, the organization and management of the aquaculture sector in most countries has been weak and results of investment in the sector by all concerned, including assistance agencies themselves, have not been as profitable as they might have been. Greater attention to organization and management will also solve other constraints at this level; for example, cooperation and coordination between all investors (including government agencies, the assistance agencies, the international and national development banks, and the entrepreneurs) is of paramount importance. Unfortunately, human resources for strengthening organization and management through assistance are not readily available, but attention has to be given to this component of the sector.
3.2.5 Support for global and regional management of aquaculture requires further policy consideration by assistance agencies. Global and regional programmes serve useful functions for governments and top-level management. However, for maximum effectiveness and efficiency, global programmes require long-term support to merit acceptability and to establish authority to lead and guide global issues. Regional programmes assist both regional and national capacity building, but the long-term purpose of regional programmes and the need for self-supporting organization and management has to be resolved, especially by UNDP. Already there is evidence of duplication of effort among regional programmes (new and old), as well as among international organizations which both finance and execute projects in aquaculture.
