Teaching the Adivasi to fish for a lifetime of benefit 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 research in Bangladesh on aquaculture techniques for smallholders and community fisheries management and targeted disadvantaged rural miniorities called Adivasi. The enduring effects of the Adivasi Fisheries Project (AFP) are still being felt, three years after the project ended. During the project, fish production increased five-fold, fish consumption nearly quadrupled and the average household income for members of this vulnerable population improved significantly, far outstripping project expectations. Many of the nearly 3600 households that participated in the project are still using the aquaculture techniques that they learned, and others in the community have also adopted the practices.