Aquaculture options for alternative livelihoods: the experience of the Adivasi Fisheries Project in Bangladesh

Abstract

The Adivasi Fisheries Project (AFP) set out in 2007 to help Adivasis in the north and northwest of Bangladesh find new and more sustainable livelihoods. It is based on 2 decades of WorldFish Center research in Bangladesh on aquaculture techniques for smallholders and community fisheries management and targeted disadvantaged rural miniorities called Adivasi. The project significantly improved Adivasi households’ livelihoods. Monitoring survey results found all of the fishery-related livelihood options profitable. As farmers were able to improve their livelihoods after a single year of AFP intervention, it is expected that they will not only sustain this improvement but build on it as their experience grows and with continued technical support from the AFP in 2009.