India - Feasibility study on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture successfully concluded

Like in many emerging countries growth of production is the main target so also in India’s inland fisheries and aquaculture sector. Central, as well as state own funding programmes, are primarily aiming at “boosting” fish production and consumption throughout the country, a Herculean task for a population of 1.38 billion people (with many of them below or close to the poverty line). The one-sided orientation on production growth explains why environmental and social aspects - although partly included in the national funding programmes - are of minor importance. Most of the aquaculture-related stakeholders in research or governmental institutions are influenced by this mind-set. The KfW programme with its holistic approach including the orientation along the 10 FAO agroecology principles as well as the foreseen multi-level interactions could have the potential to influence this one-sided orientation. Read more