Save the Children_SUCHANA: Ending the Cycle of Under-nutrition in Bangladesh_QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT Nutrition sensitive aquaculture and horticultural activities of Suchana, WorldFish_October 2021 - December 2021

Abstract

As one of the technical partners of Suchana program, WorldFish is mainly promoting the nutrition sensitive aquaculture and fisheries including horticulture on the pond dyke, available homestead and surrounding lands to the Suchana beneficiary households. It comprises nutrition sensitive aquaculture and fisheries interventions along with the coverage of half (50%) of the beneficiary households for vegetable gardening to improve nutrition status of women of reproductive ages and children less than two years in Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts. WorldFish is committed to contribute through increasing production, consumption and income under HFP and IGA support of nutritious fish and vegetables using homestead ponds, land and through utilizing public and private water bodies/wetland potentials. Considering the topography, agro-ecological and social contexts of the targeted areas, different technologies have been adopted to promote the nutrition sensitive fish farming in the ponds, captured from accessible open water including fish drying and vegetable cultivation at the pond dykes along with homestead and surrounding lands. Entire these interventions are also addressing the climate resilient and adaptation techniques and practices. WorldFish is also emphasizing the access to nutrition specific activities from other consortium teams towards promoting the diversified diets. Except few exceptions, almost entire targeted activities of annual implementation plan were achieved within the timeframe through coping with the pandemic situations of COVID 19. During the reporting quarter, approximately 3,000 beneficiary households have received orange fleshed sweet potato vines as the propagating material. At least 8,348 neighboring households including male counterpart have visited demo pond operators of phase 3 and phase 4 working areas to learn technical information on improved fish production practices. In collaboration with implementing partners (IPs) and other technical partners (TPs), WorldFish team conducted 20 quarterly meetings with upazila level officials of the Department of Fisheries (DoF) and organized 39 joint monitoring visits at the beneficiaries’ ponds for better technical supports and enhancing the linkages between beneficiary households and DoF officials. Besides the major field activities, WorldFish team also collected at least 4 success stories, actively contributed to develop the program quality assessment tools, and participated and facilitated in number of meetings, trainings and workshop both in persons and virtually. Based on key findings from the third (Oct 2019), forth (Oct 2020) and fifth (Oct 2021) semi-annual surveys, average annual fish harvest per household was increased in more than doubled within two years of interventions compare to the pre-intervention harvest (Figure 1) at both the HFP-Aquaculture (64kg from 27kg) and IGA-Aquaculture (85kg from 31kg) of phase 3 intervention households. That was increased in triple at IGA-Aquaculture households (75kg from 26kg) of phase 4 areas after one year of intervention, and for HFP-Aquaculture households (53kg from 30kg) of phase 4, and that was almost doubled. Consumptions per households were also increased considerably except IGA-Aquaculture households of phase 3 working areas. They also sold fish from their harvest and gifted to the neighboring households and relatives. But that was higher at IGA-Aquaculture households compare to HFP-Aquaculture households.