FISH FARMING

West Bengal imports more than 100,000 tonnes of fish from other neighbouring states of India to cater to the demand of the consumers. Implementing a fish farming livelihood project in West Bengal, in the eastern coast of India where fish is a daily food item for every Bengali, could offer significant benefits to small and marginal farmers in Bengal, one of the poorest states of India, addressing economic, nutritional, environmental and social aspects of their lives especially for the women of the house participate in training and daily caretaking of the ponds and fishes and therefore generate additional income in the family to lift themselves out of poverty.

The project is operating in two districts of West Bengal in the eastern part of India, across two locations Sundia and Kolaghat in the districts of South 24 Parganas and East Medinipore respectively, which are rich with several pockets of small ponds belonging to marginal farmers mostly taken on lease for a period of 2-3 years and can be renewed if profits can be generated from the project.

Our Fish Farming programme aims to create a positive ripple effect, improving the livelihoods of poor and marginal farmers (especially women), boosting local economies and promoting sustainable practices. We made a significant difference in the social and economic status of the household members who live below poverty line in this part of India through the fish programme which is also sustainable and profit making in the long term. These two districts where Sundia and Kolaghat are, are rich with natural ponds but there is hardly any scope for improvement and setting up livelihoods, several local constraining factors and huge inequality in income opportunities across different castes and communities of the village setup.

Specific outputs of the programme:

  • Support 200 small and marginal fish producers at Sundia and provide them with a permanent source of income from Fish Farming in the first two years
  • Expand the pilot to 50 farmers at Kolaghat location to show the scalability of the programme across West Bengal in the second year
  • Scale and help a total of 450 farmers at Sundia and Kolaghat location from the third year to show the scalability of the programme across West Bengal
  • Increase production for farmers by at least 30%
  • Reduction in fish mortality rate by at least 20%
  • Increase income of the fish farmers

Expected Outcomes are the following:

  • Improve farmers’ knowledge from traditional to more modern farming techniques
  • Provide awareness and training on sustainable aquaculture and introduce sustainable techniques for the future without the assistance of Shivia/Nirdhan
  • Teach farmers to clean up and care for their backyard ponds: environmental and nutritional benefits of cleaner ponds
  • Access quality seed stock through better distribution channels
  • Assist with better marketing opportunities
  • Diagnose diseases of their cultured fishes
  • Provide long-term links with government institutions such as the Fisheries Department
  • Motivate other farmers in the community by seeing the success of farmers on the programme as with our Agri-management Services Programme
  • Have our fish-farming Programme operating in two districts of West Bengal