US-based Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) with funding from the Walmart Foundation has launched aquaculture improvement projects in Indonesia, China and Thailand
According to the project, shrimp farmers in Indonesia and Thailand and tilapia farmers in China would receive training and knowledge to help them improve their livelihoods and increase collaboration to manage and improve water quality and reduce incidences of disease outbreaks.
Kathleen McLaughlin, president of Walmart Foundation, said, “We are proud to support SFP on this project, which combines environmental sustainability with preserving and sustaining important food sources.”
The aquaculture improvement projects are expected to create a zonal approach to form local management groups for greater sustainability in the fish farming environment, added McLaughlin.
She noted that aquaculture could help assist in the increasing demand for seafood while ensuring that existing fisheries remain sustainable and consistent. “With funding from the Walmart Foundation, SFP will scale up current efforts to reach more farming households through farm level training. This grant will significantly increase the scale of direct impact like improved practices on farms and in post-harvest handling, as well as indirect impacts like policy and industry practices,” revealed McLaughlin.
Anton Immink, aquaculture director at SFP, said that the Indonesian project would focus on the local shrimp farming industry. The project would reach 10,000 farmers in Indonesia, in close collaboration with suppliers and the government.
“The Thailand shrimp project will focus on local resource co-management and specifically target underserved women in farming families through the delivery of training around disease control, water quality monitoring and business management. The grant from the Walmart Foundation will help SFP target a wider area in Thailand to engage more stakeholders in the pursuit of safe and sustainable aquaculture,” added Immink.
China has been the world’s leading tilapia farming region for nearly two decades and the project would help assist the local tilapia industry to improve farming practices, noted McLaughlin.
