| Bangkok, 21 March 2005 – In the aftermath of the tsunami, Asian agricultural banks agree to direct credit support for strengthening fisheries and fish farmers associations and their involvement in community-based fisheries management and utilization, with due consideration to the role of women in fish processing and marketing, a joint APRACA/FAO statement said today.
Credit and microfinance support to the rehabilitation of tsunami-affected fisheries and marine aquaculture should encourage sustainable management of fish and aquatic resources, a conglomerate of agricultural banks in Asia resolved at the end of a meeting held in Bangkok last week.
This includes credit in support of livelihood diversification and micro-enterprise development in fishing and fish farming communities, granting special attention to fish processing and marketing activities carried out mostly by women.
During the meeting held in Bangkok from 14 to 18 March, high level representatives from agricultural banks discussed and identified strategies that should be adopted by rural credit organizations, banks, financial and micro-finance institutions for the long-term rehabilitation of fisheries and aquaculture. The workshop was organized by the Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) in association with FAO.
The strategy specifies the role rural financial institutions play in a collaborative framework with other agencies such as fisheries departments and other government agencies, insurance companies, NGOs and donors.
The meeting called on fisheries administrations to limit fishing capacity by types of vessels and areas and other means to ensure the economic viability and sustainability of credit supported investments in production assets.
Governments were also requested to closely liaise with non-governmental organizations involved in tsunami rehabilitation to ensure that the provision of production inputs through NGOs does not lead to over-capitalization and endanger the functioning of rural financial markets.
With a view to reduce and better manage risks, both on the side of fishers and financial institutions, insurance of fishing boats and crew need to be made mandatory and linked to the registration of fishing vessels. Government should introduce appropriate regulatory framework for this purpose if not already in existence.
Governments could play a role with regard to re-insurance and assisting small-scale fishers through contributions to their insurance premiums. Regional options for the re-insurance should be explored.
Governments were urged to strictly implement safety-at-sea measures also in the case of small fishing vessels, and provide and rehabilitate the necessary fisheries infrastructure such as ice plants and harbor access roads.
The representatives of APRACA member institutions reviewed policies for financial assistance to affected clients – fishers, fish farmers and other segments of coastal populations – such as debt relief or new loans at favorable conditions for acquiring assets and restarting income-generating activities; providing support to micro and small enterprises for the purchase of basic commodities such as clothing, food and household goods; loans for repair or reconstruction of houses as well as debt relief through conversion of short-term loans to long-term loans and rescheduling of loan repayments.
Weaknesses in finance-related coping mechanism with disasters were identified particularly with regard to the design of better damage assessment and risk mapping tools to ensure better preparedness and planning for disaster-related eventualities in the future.
A number of national and regional capacity building measures for rural financial institutions were identified for which donor assistance might be needed in the medium-and long-term.
“APRACA member institutions are strongly committed to actively participate in the rehabilitation of fisheries and aquaculture, both in the medium as well as in the long-term” said Benedicto Bayaua, secretary-general of APRACA.
U. Tietze, FAO senior fishery industry officer, noted that FAO was pleased to see credit and microfinance support provided by banks to the long term rehabilitation of the affected fisheries and aquaculture sectors, focusing specifically on rebuilding the livelihoods of fishers and fish farmers and on improving sectoral efficiency, sustainability and governance.
The workshop Designing effective disaster-related rural finance strategies with special emphasis on the rehabilitation of fisheries and aquaculture in tsunami-affected countries . was attended by 44 participants from Australia , Bangladesh , Cambodia , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Myanmar , Nepal , the Philippines , Sri Lanka and Thailand , together with resource persons from APRACA and FAO.
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