Year of publication 2000

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 31

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) The Provincial Aquaculture Development Project (LAO/97/007) is funded as part of a UNDP country programme for rural development. The project is government executed through the Department of Livestock and Fisheries, with technical and management assistance provided by FAO. The project duration is three years (November 1997 – December 2000). LAO/97/007 follows on from previous UNDP/FAO aquaculture development projects that had started aquaculture activities and established feasibility. D uring these previous projects it was emphasised that the capacity of the government Livestock and Fisheries service to extend aquaculture on a wider scale was extremely weak. This has been due to a variety of reasons: • Poor accessibility of rural areas, lack of roads and government vehicles. • Difficulty in co-ordinating and managing national scale initiatives due to provincial autonomy. • Previous restrictions on inter-province travel • Lack of government funding for rural livestoc k and fisheries extension • Insufficient staff at Provincial and district level • Lack of capacity and poor incentivisation/management of district livestock officers. • Shortage of fish fingerlings and lack of distribution network during peak seasonal demand. LAO/97/007 is working in five provinces: Oudomxay, Sayaboury, Xieng Khouang, Savannakhet and Sekong Provinces. Within these provinces, there are 14 districts involved with a total of 37 farmer groups (total number of families 44 0). The target provinces are distributed along the length of the country and incorporate both lowland and upland environments (see Figure 1). Additional technical assistance and training is also provided to Government Livestock and Fisheries staff in other provinces. The project objectives are to: • Improve fish fry production from government hatcheries through structural improvements and training • Encourage fish fry production by farmers/entrepreneurs through extension of simple techniques and farmer training. • Develop the capacity of Department of Livestock and Fisheries staff to plan and conduct extension of fish culture techniques to farmers. • Form farmers groups and introduce them to fish culture as part of Department of Livestock and Fisheries extension process. • Assist farmers and hatchery entrepreneurs in their activities through provision of fish fry, broodstock and access to credit facilities.

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