The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Myanmar is implementing the project “FishAdapt: Strengthening the adaptive capacity and resilience of fisheries and aquaculture-dependent livelihoods in Myanmar” with funding from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The COVID-19 pandemic and other events in Myanmar have had a major impact on the project’s capacity to communicate and disseminate information.

In response, the FishAdapt project has developed the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) knowledge-sharing platform (android mobile application-beta version) that is designed to facilitate tele-training and capacity building opportunities through the sharing of reliable technical information, good practices and lessons learned. Two local companies, Global New Wave Technology Ltd and Lamb Productions Ltd provided technical expertise on the development of the P2P Platform and video materials hosted by the Platform.  Updating of the Platform continues with features that will allow users to access market information, and receive and share Early Warning Early Actions (EWEAs) notifications.

While developing the P2P platform, the FishAdapt team found that 70 percent of mobile phone users in the target communities were using smart phones, and 50 percent of users had a memory (SD) card slot in their devices. Internet coverage and average connection status was fairly good despite some challenges such as variations in connection status by mobile operators, the impact of armed conflicts and variable weather conditions.  

The P2P Platform facilitates communication of information and knowledge gathered from the FishAdapt Project areas to 120 communities in Rakhine State, Ayeyarwaddy and Yangon Regions. 240 focal points for training and communications have been selected in the communities, including local young men and women who are familiar with android technology. Android tablets and other materials are provided to facilitate the training of target beneficiaries through the platform. SD cards, with the training videos already installed, can also work offline and used by target beneficiaries to attend the trainings, even if they cannot get online.  All materials hosted by the platform are in Burmese.

FAO in Myanmar launched the P2P Mobile Application (beta version) virtually on 26 August 2021. The online event was attended by more than 100 participants from different partners NGOs/INGOs.  Dr. Yuka Makino, FAO Representative to Myanmar delivered opening remarks and stated that “In future, this P2P platform will aim to continue improving the users’ capacity to access and use virtual information related to climate change impacts on the fisheries sector in Myanmar, through a variety of new innovations including an interactive social platform and market information sharing mechanism”.  

The P2P Platform is available to any Google Play Store users who have an android smartphone or tablet (android version 4.4 and above) connected via Wi-Fi or mobile data, and who may be interested in fisheries and aquaculture in coastal communities in Myanmar.  You can download the P2P mobile application on your android devices, by scanning the QR code on below image or from the Google Play Store;   https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nwt.fishadapt, and learn more about the Peer-to-Peer Platform at: http://fishadapt.org/en/update-news/fao-myanmar-fishadapt-project-launches-peer-peer-p2p-knowledge-sharing-platform-beta