Aquaculture for rural development
Irrespective of the economic or other benefits of large-scale
aquaculture operations, greater emphasis is laid on small-scale farming in
developing countries. This is largely because of the opportunities it offers
for part- and full-time employment, which help in sustaining peasants and
fishermen in rural areas, reducing the drift of populations to urban centres.
If aquaculture has to be developed for socio-economic benefits, it has
to be planned for that purpose. In view of the importance given to this
subject, it will be useful to consider it in some detail.
The small size of a farm cannot alone be expected to yield the desired
social benefits. The most important factor is that in this type of aquaculture
the focus of development has to be the farmer or the community, and not the
aquaculture product per se. So,
development has to be designed on the basis of the social, economic and
behavioural patterns of the community involved.
In the vast majority of people-oriented aquaculture projects, the
immediate target groups are likely to be the poorest of the poor, including
landless labourers and marginalized peasants. It is generally accepted that, if
these groups are really to benefit, the project should be based on an adequate
understanding of the needs, desires, behaviour and capacities of the people and
their indigenous institutions. The basic needs of the community are considered
to be food, clothing, primary housing, household equipment, sanitation, water
supply, cheap mass transport, elementary education and extension services,
basic medicine, simple health services, etc. It should be obvious that an
aquaculture development programme by itself cannot provide these needs
directly, or in most cases even indirectly. It has to be integrated with, or
complemented by, other development activities. Hence the need for integrated
community development programmes aimed at the required production and
consumption in terms of essential goods and services, where aquaculture could
play a major role.
While the ideal people-oriented aquaculture programme is an integrated
one, it should be recognized that sectoral programmes can also yield major
socio-economic benefits, such as improvement in the availability of protein
food, enhanced income contributing to improved purchasing power of the
population and better standards of living. Employment opportunities generated
through aquaculture development, including production, processing, transport
and marketing, can be expected to control, to some extent, the drift of rural
people to urban areas. Large-scale development of aquaculture can also
eventually lead to better communications in rural areas, as they are needed
also for proper management of aquaculture production and distribution.
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