Key facts
Inshore capture fisheries represent the main source of income for coastal Vietnamese communities but are often insufficient for household expenditures. In an effort to contribute to the diversification of fishers’ livelihoods and improve the income of the local communities, a FAO project provided support to develop pig rearing techniques and use waste to produce methane for cooking in three provinces of the country. The project was part of a larger four -year Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme funded by the Kingdom of Spain which concluded in 2013.
Working women in coastal communities
In the coastal communes of Quang Nam, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces in VietNam, inshore capture fisheries using motorised boats with small engines (12-20 horse power) is the most important livelihood and source of income. Apart from marine capture fisheries, coastal households also rear pigs and chickens, dry and process fish and are involved in other related activities such as net making and repair.
Due to a lack in proper husbandry techniques, small-scale pig rearing would sometime lead to low net profit margins. More than that, the amount of waste from pig breeding can cause environmental pollution, contamination of groundwater and foul odours.
Working together with the provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development in the three provinces, a FAO project provided technical and financial support for improved pig rearing and the construction of biogas units. The units provide methane gas for cooking, while the processed waste is odourless and can be used as an organic fertilizer.
The selected beneficiary households included women - members of commune Fisheries Associations - with husbands involved in inshore capture fisheries. Most of these women are housewives with incomes ranging from US$ 20 to US$100 per month.
In the three provinces, most men carry out capture fisheries activities all year-round except when extreme weather prevents fishing. However, the income they generate is insufficient for household expenditures.
Through the project, five piglets or two adult breeding sows were delivered to each beneficiary. Moreover, a total of US$ 308 was given per household as partial payment for the construction of a biogas unit, which included the buying of equipment and other materials.
Apart from the financial assistance, study tours were organized for interested community members to learn from successful models in other communes. Participants were shown an operational biogas unit of similar design and a compensation tank that had not leaked or seeped in over two years of operation. Once the study tours were over, a one-day training course was conducted on pig rearing and biogas operations. Trainees learned techniques for building a biogas plant and the minimum requirements to ensure the production of sufficient biogas for domestic use.
Saving money while protecting the environment
The rearing of pigs combined with biogas plants has not only solved the problem of environmental pollution caused by waste but has also provided methane for household cooking.
The well constructed and efficiently operated biogas units have been helping households cut fuel costs as well as save time collecting and cutting wood. Since its implementationm, the model provided large enough profits and benefits for the beneficiaries to substabtially increase their livelihoods. The successful biogas models also served as demonstration sites for other fishers in the neighboring communes.
The bigger picture
The Regional Fisheries Livelihood Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP) set out to strengthen capacity among participating small-scale fishing communities and their supporting institutions in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. By doing so RFLP sought to improve the livelihoods of fishers and their families while fostering more sustainable fisheries resources management practices.
Over the course of RFLP some 35,500 fishers including 13,357 women (38%), members of fisher communities and government staff took part in over 1,150 capacity building activities. These took place at the national and regional level and encompassed a wide variety of areas ranging from fishery resource management planning to handicraft production and from chicken raising to the use of fish finders.
