RAP PUBLICATION 2003/04 The role of aquaculture and living aquatic resources Priorities for support and networking WorldFish C E N T E R Report of the regional donor consultation Manila, Philippines, 27-28 November 2002 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand RAP PUBLICATION 2003/04 The role of aquaculture and living aquatic resources Priorities for support and networking Report of regional donor consultation Manila, Philippines, 27-28 November 2002 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand RAP PUBLICATION 2003/04 Regional donor consultation on the role of aquaculture and living aquatic resources: priorities for support and networking Manila, Philippines 27-28 November 2002 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations or the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the WorldFish Center, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), or of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) concerning the legal or constitutional status of any country, territory or sea area, or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. 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No.: +662 6974149 Fax No.: +662 6974445 E-mail: [email protected] ii PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the WorldFish Center Regional Donor Consultation on the Role of aquaculture and living aquatic resources: priorities for support and networking convened in Manila, Philippines, 27-28 November 2002. This Regional Donor Consultation was initiated by FAO as a collaborative activity with partner regional institutions (NACA/SEAFDEC/MRC/WorldFish Center) as a way to inform the donor representatives of the role aquaculture and aquatic resources management (meaning all forms of interaction with fisheries and aquaculture) play in rural development, water management, environment, poverty alleviation, food security, livelihood, trade, gender and household nutrition. It was also a forum to discuss with donors the types of appropriate intervention needed in sustainable aquaculture development and mechanisms for their implementation. The thirty participants in the Consultation came from four regional countries while one participant travelled from Europe (see Annex 6). Nine donors and five regional organizations were represented. The consultation was organised to share experiences and produce recommendations under the broad thematic headings of: I. The role, potential and needs of aquaculture and aquatic resource management in the Asia-Pacific region. II. Donor development priorities relevant to rural development, living aquatic resource management and aquaculture. III. Priority areas and opportunities for action and support. The conclusions of the Regional Donor Consultation are targeted at donor agencies, international and regional institutions related to the fishery sectors and also national policy-makers. iii FAO/RAP, 2003. Report of the regional donor consultation on the role of aquaculture and living aquatic resources: priorities for support and networking. FAO Regional Office Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok Thailand. RAP Publication No. 2003/04, 90 p. ABSTRACT The lack of sensitization of policy-makers to the role and opportunities of aquatic resource management and aquaculture is not necessarily a result of inadequate information but rather inadequate channelling of the information to the right decision-makers, in a form that is useful to them. There are currently few opportunities for dialogue and mutual learning and sometimes poorly coordinated efforts to inform policy- makers of the important role of aquaculture and aquatic resource management. As a result, awareness among policy-makers is low and this is reflected in the lack of donor intervention in the sub-sector. Therefore, a Regional Donor Consultation was convened on the Role of aquaculture and living aquatic resources: priorities for support and networking to discuss with donors the role that aquaculture and aquatic resources management play in rural and coastal livelihoods and the regional development requirements for this sub-sector. Each of the organizations promoting aquaculture and aquatic resources management presented an overview of its aims, perceived role in the development process and main activities. Four major themes emerged from these presentations. Donor agencies outlined their guiding policies, main approaches and services. All the donors presenting are supporting the fisheries sector through initiatives such as knowledge dissemination, community-based coastal resources management or marine fisheries. Donors agreed that small-scale fisheries and aquaculture are valuable tools for poverty alleviation and rural development and are prepared to fund these activities provided that proposals can be shown to meet the donors’ policy goals. A pressing need was identified for aquatic resource management and aquaculture to become part of the global discourse on poverty alleviation and to demonstrate that aquaculture and aquatic resources management play a significant role. A number of practical and immediate actions can be taken to make aquaculture and aquatic resources management a larger part of the discourse on rural development and poverty alleviation. Donors are constrained by their own national policies and the policies and priorities of the countries with which they wish to engage. It was also stated that donors often talk to national planners and staff at the various Ministries of Agriculture, which may not always be aware of the importance of the fisheries sector. To assist, regional institutions offered to analyze the range of sectoral strategy papers the various donors are using (trends on development support, inclusion of current issues) and draw up a common document that would be provided to donors. This would include recommendations regarding adaptation and/or revision to current regional and national needs. Additionally, the regional institutions could assess project impact against selected poverty indicators; possibly in a manner of an overall review. The meeting agreed that follow-up consultations between the regional institutions and donors would be fruitful if held at least once every two years. Distribution: Participants at the Consultation FAO Fisheries Department Fisheries Officers in FAO Regional Offices Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) Mekong River Commission (MRC) The WorldFish Center Relevant international/regional fisheries organizations iv Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 DISCUSSION SUMMARY 4 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO) 9 NETWORK OF AQUACULTURE CENTRES IN ASIA-PACIFIC (NACA) 16 THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SEAFDEC) 23 WORLDFISH CENTER 31 MEKONG RIVER COMMISSION (MRC) 38 EUROPEAN UNION (EU) 44 DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR TECHNISCHE ZUSAMMENARBEIT (GTZ) 47 DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (DGCI) OF BELGIUM 52 UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID) 55 UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP) 57 AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (ACIAR) 61 JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY (JICA) 64 NORWEGIAN TRADE COUNCIL-ROYAL NORWEGIAN EMBASSY 68 AUSTRALIAN AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (AUSAID) 69 ANNEX 1: AGENDA 71 ANNEX 2: OPENING STATEMENTS OF THE CONSULTATION 73 ANNEX 3: MULTIPLIER EFFECTS OF NACA’S COORDINATING ROLE 78 ANNEX 4: PROGRAMS/PROJECTS WITH NACA AS MAJOR PARTICIPANT 1990-2002 79 ANNEX 5: PARTICIPATING MEMBERS OF NACA 83 ANNEX 6: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 84 v ABBREVIATIONS AAHRI Aquatic Animal Health Research Institute AAPQIS Aquatic Animal Pathogen and Quarantine Information System ACIAR Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research ADB Asian Development Bank ADSEA Aquaculture Development in Southeast Asia AIT Asian Institute of Technology APARRI Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ARM Aquactic Resource Management ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations AUSAID Australian Agency for International Development BADC Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation