Thinking beyond the pond - promoting livelihoods analysis and approaches for aquaculture development.
Abstract Traditionally, development professionals have considered 'lack of technical knowledge' to be a significant constraint to rural development through aquaculture (as well as through other technical disciplines). However, evidence increasingly shows the enormous store of 'indigenous technical knowledge' present in remote, rural communities, although this knowledge is still often undervalued or ignored by 'outside' developers. Gradually this is changing as approaches based on understanding and supporting the lives and livelihoods of people in communities are being increasingly adopted, but building capacity in technical line agencies to work in this way is an enormous undertaking. 'Thinking beyond the pond' is about a pilot project promoting approaches to development involving aquaculture that include learning about livelihoods approaches. With support from a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific-Support to Regional Aquatic Resources Management (NACA-STREAM) Initiative is training national livelihoods teams in a number of countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region and facilitating livelihoods analysis and approaches that aim to benefit poor and vulnerable aquatic resource users.