This study explored how climate-smart agricultural and aquaculture innovations may lead to more successful climate adaptation efforts and enhanced resilience for both men and women in households and across communities, as well as to improved and equitable outcomes in terms of income, nutrition and livelihood opportunities.
The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) is committed to improving the food security and wellbeing of poor people who depend on freshwater and coastal ecosystems for their livelihoods. AAS is particularly concerned with enhancing the equity of the social, economic and political structures that influence the livelihoods of poor households dependent on aquatic agricultural systems.
Aquatic agricultural systems (AAS) are systems in which the annual production dynamics of freshwater and/or coastal ecosystems contribute significantly to total household income.
The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) is increasingly using the language of transformation to describe its aims and approach to achieving lasting impact at scale. Clarity on what AAS means by 'transformation' is important to ensure that use of the term is intentional and meaningful. AAS wants to avoid the risk befalling a number of terms used in the development field-i.e., empowerment and participation-which are applied by such a wide range of actors with divergent intent and ideology that the terms lose meaning.
The scoping mission team was composed of 14 people representing research institutions (RUPP), government (FiA, IFReDI), NGOs (ANKO, ADIC) and CGIAR institutions (WorldFish and Bioversity). The scoping trip was carried out over a 7-day period from April 28 to May 4 within eight (8) communities in Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Battambang, Pursat and Kampong Chhnang. In addition, panel discussions were held with local government, fishery, agriculture and water management institutions, NGOs, the private sector and communities, and were convened in Siem Reap, Battambang and Pursat.
Women are active participants in aquaculture supply chains, but a dearth of gender-disaggregated information hampers accurate understanding of their contribution. Research results and FAO National Aquaculture Sector Overview (NASO) fact sheets show that female participation rates vary by type and scale of enterprise and country. Women are frequently active in hatcheries and dominate fish processing plant labourers. Women’s work in small-scale aquaculture frequently is unrecognized, under or unpaid.
Bangladesh is rich in aquatic resources with extensive seasonal and perennial water bodies throughout the country. In the past, the expansive floodplains, oxbow lakes, beels, and haors were home to a vast range of fish species. Of the 260 fishes found in the inland waters of Bangladesh, 150 grow to a small size (maximum length of about 25 cm), and these are found in the wetlands.
Rural households who fail to gain a voice in decisions over the management of shared forests, pasturelands, wetlands and fisheries face heightened risks to their livelihoods, particularly as competition increases between existing and new user groups. Exclusion from decision-making increases vulnerability of rural households, making it more difficult for them to move out of poverty and thwarting broader efforts to achieve sustainable resource management. Poor rural women in particular often face institutionalized barriers to effective participation in resource management.
Decades of scientific research related to agriculture and natural resource management have brought limited benefits to smallholder farmers, including crop farmers, fishers, livestock keepers and other resource users. Therefore, donors, policymakers and civil society organizations (CSOs), such as farmer organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), are urging the formal research sector to make its work more useful to smallholder farmers.
Community-based resource management (CBRM) forms an important component of the Solomon Islands Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) inshore fisheries strategy. The strategy recognises that community-based initiatives will be the engine of sustainable economic development in the inshore marine resource sector. Key activities in the strategy include developing and refining community-based management plans and testing livelihood diversification/supplementation strategies.
