BANGLADESH - For the ethnic minority Adivasi communities of
Bangladesh, the enduring effects of the Adivasi Fisheries Project (AFP)
are still being felt, three years after the project ended, reports the
WorldFish Center. During
the project, fish production increased five-fold, fish consumption
nearly quadrupled and the average household income for members of this
vulnerable population improved significantly, far outstripping project
expectations. Many of the nearly 3600 households that participated in
the project are still using the aquaculture techniques that they
learned, and others in the community have also adopted the practices.
Despite
its fertile floodplains, numerous communities in Bangladesh are beset
by poverty and malnutrition. This is especially true for the Adivasi,
Bangladesh’s marginalized Indigenous population comprised of more than
45 distinct cultural groups. In 2007, the European Union funded
WorldFish, in collaboration with Caritas Bangladesh and the Bangladesh
Fisheries Research Forum (BFRF), to work with Adivasi communities in
five districts in the North and Northwest of the country. The aim was to
assist households in establishing fish ponds and other aquaculture
enterprises that would help them to meet the challenges of dwindling
native fish resources and limited landholding that threaten the health
and wellbeing of the Adivasi peoples.
Over two thirds of Adivasi
households in selected communities of Dinajpur, Rangpur, Joypurhat,
Sherpur and Netrokona districts participated in the project. Local
Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in 120 communities were established to
deliver training in a range of aquaculture and community-based fisheries
management practices to suit small-scale landholders as well as the
landless. Through regular FFS meetings, the Adivasi learned about
pond-fish culture, integrated rice-fish culture and cage fingerling
production. For the landless, especially women, training in fingerling
production, community-based fisheries management, and fish trading was
provided. Landless men learned about Teaching the Adivasi to fish for a
lifetime of benefit in Bangladesh providing fish harvesting services to
fish pond owners. The FFS approach enabled participants to take part in
planning, implementing and monitoring the aquaculture interventions in
their community.
A survey of participating households in 2009
found that one of the key benefits was an increase in household income,
from an average of USD 350 in 2007 to USD 570 in 2009. The flow-on
effects of greater income were substantial. Savings increased from 9% of
household income in 2007 to 25% in 2009, and ownership of land and
assets also increased. Improvements in household nutrition indicators
were also observed, with fish-based meals consumed per month increasing
to a range of 16–26 across groups in 2009, compared with just 8–12 per
month in 2007.
At the ‘National Fish Week’ celebrations in 2009,
two thirds of the aquaculture awards went to Adivasi households, a
tribute to the resounding success of the project. The participatory
approach used in AFP has also become a cornerstone of aquaculture
programs in the region, run by partner organizations Caritas and BFRF,
as well as the Bangladeshi Department of Fisheries (DoF).The Integrated
Community Development Project (ICDP), the Natural Resource Management
Project (NRMP-II), and the Women Empowerment through Livelihoods and
Right Promotion Project, have all incorporated aspects of AFP in their
design.
The Adivasi people are still reaping the rewards since
the project officially ended in 2009. A study on sustainability in 2012
found that the AFP had successfully improved the livelihoods for the
Adivasi. The majority of Adivasi visited were continuing with the
activities they had adopted during the project period, and some had even
expanded their operations. Others in the community had also adopted the
new aquaculture practices. In the case of the Adivasi, it seems that
the adage that teaching a community to fish will indeed feed the
community for a lifetime.
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