GIZ | Sustainable Aquaculture and Community Fish Refuge project (SAFR). Final Progress Report. Dec 2020 to Mar 2024

Abstract

The Sustainable Aquaculture and Community Fish Refuge (SAFR) project, which falls under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) Transformation of Agricultural and Food Systems initiative, aims to reduce poverty and hunger. Under the initiative, the BMZ launched its Global Programme Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture with the goal of improving the availability of fish products for food insecure people in Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia and increasing both employment and incomes. The program established projects in seven countries: Cambodia, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Uganda, and Zambia. One of the projects is the Cambodia SAFR Intervention, which has three components: (1) sustainable aquaculture, (2) community fish refuges and (3) policy support for aquaculture and fisheries in the country. As part of its efforts, SAFR helped the country’s Fisheries Administration (FiA) to achieve the establishment of 1200 CFRs. The aim was to increase fish production, create jobs and generate income from environmentally friendly rice fields for food insecure Cambodians. With more than EUR 1 million in funding from BMZ and the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), WorldFish implemented the CFR component of the project (SAFR-CFR component) to establish and improve 21 CFRs in the province of Kampong Thom. WorldFish partnered with the local nongovernmental organization (NGO) Akpivath Neary Khmer Organization (ANKO). Together, they implemented the SAFR-CFR component of the project using three approaches: (1) improve the CFR and its environment, (2) scale out best practices for CFR management and nutrition, and (3) build the capacity and raise awareness of CFR management among communities and local authorities. The project began in December 2020 and was set to conclude in March 2024. Goal: Cambodia’s food insecure population has improved access to more fish and fish products and has increased incomes from using resource friendly rice field fishery (RFF) systems. The project increased 42% of the quantity of fish and other aquatic animals (OAAs) from rice field fishing. CFR Zone of Influence (ZoI) provided fish and OAA from 89 kg to 104 kg per hectares in the baseline and endline, respectively. The total annual incomes of women and men working in these fish value chains rose 14%.