Overview The beneficiaries of Katalyst activities in the freshwater prawn sector are small farmers cultivating prawn. There are approximately 120,000 prawn farmers in Bangladesh, about 50% of whom are classified as small (Katalyst field observation, 2008). The potential pro-poor impact of the prawn sector has four dimensions. First, in certain areas during certain periods of the year farmers have no source of income other than aquaculture.

The climate only allows one cycle of rice a year, and with a pond or gher they can cultivate prawn and fish during the rest of the year, and grow vegetables on the gher embankments. Second, prawn is a high value cash crop, providing larger profits than from mixed carp or agricultural crops. Third, unlike brackish water species, freshwater prawn is more suitable for small ponds and ghers of one acre or less, which makes it suitable even for farmers with a very small landholding. Fourth, prawn cultivation is relatively labor-intensive: the feeding, maintenance of the gher and water quality control provides a range of work for poor laborers.

Katalyst's Strategy

Katalyst envisions that by 2013 the prawn sector will have better availability of knowledge regarding prawn production and post-harvest handling techniques, and improved access to good quality inputs such as commercial feed and hatchery postlarvae (HPL). There will also be greater compliance with international standards and potentially a more diversified export market, plus better access to finance for value chain actors. With these changes in place, small farmers will employ improved cultivation methods that increase their yields, the market for their product will be less vulnerable, and their incomes will be higher.

Intervention Areas

• Making quality inputs and better cultivation techniques available

This intervention area addresses two significant constraints within the prawn sector: access to knowledge, and inputs. Improving market mechanisms to provide these goods and services should allow small farmers to raise their productivity. In terms of extending the use of HPL, a national awareness campaign is planned to promote this, with Katalyst partnering with the Golda Hatcheries Association of Bangladesh to encompass virtually all hatcheries and achieve scale. The project will work with feed companies to supply not only feed but also appropriate farming knowledge and feed management techniques, while at the same time building their capacity to increase the production of quality, graded feed with a simultaneous reduction in costs. Katalyst also concentrates on developing ‘resource pools’ for hatcheries, a one-stop shop of consultants who can offer hatcheries both technical and business support to improve the quality and quantity of HPL overall.

Improving brood management to raise the quality and reliability of HPL is another intervention under this strategic area. To facilitate this, Katalyst links the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) and the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Foundation (BFRF) with hatcheries, and the prawn hatchery association with brood suppliers, to ensure better management of broods, leading to an increase in the supply of quality broods for hatcheries. Finally, Katalyst has started working with large processing companies (Gemini Sea Food, for example) to establish an efficient procurement system to collect quality prawn from farmers as a raw material. This will ensure training for depot staff in post-harvest handling and good aquaculture practices and such knowledge, passed on to farmers, will help secure improvements in production.

• Ensuring compliance with international standards

It is essential to protect the industry from shocks, particularly export bans arising from health standards failing to comply with international regulations, as these affect all members of the value chain, particularly small farmers. To do this, Katalyst will identify possible sources of contamination and disseminate the results. This engages the industry and is a pre-condition for subsequent interventions. In addition, the development of a code of conduct for the industry will form the basis of a future compliance system.

• Expanding prawn farming into new areas

This intervention area targets locations where prawn cultivation is not yet practiced and seeks to encourage new farmers to enter the sector. New as well as existing farmers struggle to find the right information and inputs to fully exploit the potential offered by prawn farming, and these constraints need to be addressed, along with that of the lack of access to finance. In this expansion process, Katalyst will be assisting prawn processors, local hatcheries, the hatchery association, community-based organizations and other relevant stakeholders in untapped areas to develop suitable models to expand prawn farming. One such model might offer farmers inputs and information on how to develop a prawn farm in their cultivable water bodies, or include a credit stream to help farmers make the necessary investments. The next step will be for the media, ICT and BEEG teams to work to raise the profile of the successful model in other uncultivated areas.

Co-facilitators and Partners

Katalyst works with Winrock International in this initiative, along with the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF).

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