Interview with Richard China, Rome-based co-ordinator for FAO's response to the tsunami disaster.

What is FAO's role in tsunami rehabilitation?

The most important aspect of FAO's role is in providing coordination and technical assistance- particularly in the fisheries and agriculture sectors.

Initially we thought that replacement and repair of assets would be FAO's main priority. But it is now obvious that FAO needs resources to assist the governments to plan recovery, to coordinate donor and NGO interventions and monitor implementation.

The issue of careful management of resources and coordination of assistance is particularly critical in Indonesia and Sri Lanka where the needs are so much greater. In Indonesia alone, the losses and damage caused by the tsunami and earthquake to fisheries and agriculture and to the associated infrastructure and enterprises amounts to around 1.2 billion dollars. Sri Lanka was less severely affected in absolute terms, yet the impact on the country as a whole was perhaps greater, with up to 80 percent of the fishing boats lost or damaged along the affected coastline.

Whilst the unprecedented response to this disaster from the private and international community is an excellent thing, so much money can also be a mixed blessing.

Mismanagement of resources can lead to oversupply, duplication or inappropriate assistance - with the wrong type of planting materials or boats being donated for example. Misguided assistance can at best be ineffective; at worst do more harm than good.

What do you mean by coordination?

In an emergency like this coordination means building consensus very quickly on what are the priorities that need to be addressed, who is doing what - where - and how. And the 'how' is a question of good practices; there are certain technical standards that FAO has an important role in articulating and trying to ensure that everyone follows, almost like a code of conduct. A little money for coordination can help influence the wider envelope of resources that is available from all sources, not just those channelled through FAO.

How has FAO responded to the crisis?

FAO has deployed 35 international experts and an equivalent number of national experts across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand and Myanmar. These include fisheries and rice specialists, agronomists, experts in salinity issues, in horticulture, and in irrigation and water management.

Some of these experts are providing advice on the repair of boats and nets, specifications for building new boats and reconstruction of processing facilities - for instance the ice plants and cold rooms that were destroyed.

On the agricultural side, experts are addressing complex issues such as salinity contamination. It is now a matter of urgency that these are fully understood so that crops can be planted and harvests reaped as soon as possible.

In the next months the people of the affected region will resume fishing and farming. They will be able reap their first harvest of fish, rice and vegetables.

What is the link between rehabilitation and poverty eradication?

There is a direct link. We hope that the assistance provided will improve livelihoods and will empower people to have more diverse livelihoods, with greater productivity, more income and less stress to the environment.

New strategies should help to avoid the reconstruction of poverty and create more stable livelihoods.

Let me give you one example. New boats should be better than the ones they had before, having some kind of insulation to keep the fish fresh, so it can travel over longer distances and sell for better prices.

What is more, we aim to avoid mistakes made in the past. Many of these affected areas were over-fished pre-tsunami - so we need to get the balance right - without exacerbating an already existing situation. This is one positive aspect of the work we are doing towards rehabilitation. We have to exploit this opportunity to make sure that people come out of this better off.