According to the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), the workshop discussed and agreed on implementation approaches and methodology, developed work plan for country case studies, identified and agreed on roles and responsibilities, developed monitoring and reporting schemes, decided on future project meetings, and developed strategies for dissemination of project findings to a wider audience in the region.
The project is in line with the advocacy to strengthen adaptation capacities of relevant economic sectors, communities and households to climate change impacts, reported NACA. The project focuses on the small-scale aquaculture and the related sectors that consist largely of poor people who depend on aquatic resources for their livelihoods.
The project will assess the impacts of climate change on small scale aquaculture sector (environmental, socio-economic and institutional) in selected study areas in five countries. The focus will be on specific farming sectors in the south and south-eastern Asian region, and mapping the farmers’ perceptions and attitudes towards climate change impacts and their adaptive capacities to address these impacts.
According to NACA, the project will also develop future scenarios based on the current trends, assess the potential adaptive measures for different aquatic farming systems and prioritize better practices, suggest Codes of Practices and improved methodologies for such systems.
It aims to establish guidelines, frameworks and tools for policy and action programmes of governments, development assistance agencies, non government organizations, and farming communities that will increase the resilience and enhance adaptive capacities of resource-poor, small-scale aquaculture farmers and those dependent on aquatic resource for livelihoods, to the impacts of climatic changes.
It will also provide information for investments in research, technology development and transfer, public education, training, infrastructure and systems, markets, financial and other support services for the small-scale aquaculture farmers and aquatic resource users who are poor, most of all provide strategies to small scale farmers to maintain their resilience in the wake of climatic change impacts.
The three-year project will be coordinated by NACA.
Climate and Aquaculture Discussed in Bangkok
BANGKOK, THAILAND - The inception workshop of the NORAD funded project Strengthening Adaptive Capacities to the Impacts of Climate Change in Resource-poor Small-scale Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources-dependent Sectors in the South and South-east Asian Region was held at the NACA Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand from 19-20 March 2009.
