IFAD_Managing Aquatic Agricultural Systems to Improve Nutrition and Livelihoods in Selected Asian and African Countries: Scaling Learning from IFAD-WorldFish Collaboration in Bangladesh_Annual Report January 2017 - January 2018

Abstract

In 2017, the project in Cambodia supported 65 households for homestead pond nutrition sensitive aquaculture and selected 9 additional households to test intervention in seasonally flooded rice field ponds. Of the 65 households supported by the project, all received training on nutrition sensitive aquaculture techniques, 23 started a series of training modules on hygiene and nutrition and 31 received training on homestead vegetable production. 29 households developed and committed to a ‘family vision’ to support gender equity in the household. The remaining beneficiaries will be trained in 2018. Three local partners NGOs and Fisheries Administration cantonment officers received training on: - Nutrition-sensitive aquaculture, led by an expert from the Fisheries Administration (18 trainees); - gender transformative approaches and ‘family visioning’ (8 trainees) Baseline surveys and monitoring systems for nutrition and fish and horticulture production, were developed and deployed in 2017. The monitoring system has been designed to include gender empowerment and equity indicators. In Zambia, the following principal activities were planned for the year: a) Recruitment and conditioning of indigenous fish species for pond poly-culture trials in Nsombo, Luwingu, including nutrient-rich small fish. b) Set up and implementation of pond poly-culture trials c) Set up of ‘fingerponds’ d) Baseline data collection to assess: a. Household’s involvement in aquaculture, agriculture and fisheries, including workload among household members; identification of household access, availability to, and utilization of key commodities produced by the household, with particular focus on fish. b. Assessment of Household Dietary Score through 24-hour recall and food sourcing to complement the access, availability, and utilization tools from a consumption perspective. This includes the assessment of the ‘Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS)’ to measure the impacts of ‘development food aid programs’ on the access component of household food insecurity. c. Assessment of household dietary patterns over a 4-week period (recall) for evaluating usual food intake at the household level. e) Qualitative data collection: a. In-depth assessment and exploration of particularities in food procurement, preparation, preferences and perceived barriers (including cultural perceptions) to selected foods and intra-household food allocation.