WorldFish and the Government of Odisha, India have entered into an agreement to sustainably boost aquaculture in the state.
WorldFish will provide support to increase the productivity of aquaculture through improvements in seed, technology and farming systems. A long-term goal will be to foster a sustainable aquaculture sector in which the private sector will be more willing to invest.
The partnership will also focus on improving the value chain for aquaculture products in Odisha with a view to having an impact on human nutrition where over 25% of children under five in rural parts of the state suffer from acute malnutrition.
Michael Phillips, Program Leader, Aquaculture, WorldFish: “We have been working in neighboring Bangladesh for many years and have had great success is scaling-up production with new technologies and training. We are honored to be working with the State of Odisha look forward to bringing some of that expertise to bear in the state in the coming years.”
Bishnupada Sethi, IAS Commissioner-cum-Secretary, F & ARD Department: “Odisha offers vast scope for development in fisheries sector and we look forward to an integrated development in collaboration with WorldFish’’.
The collaboration will be for a period of five years commencing from July, 2016. Odisha State working with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a division of the World Bank Group, identified the fisheries sector as a potential area for future investment. The State drafted a comprehensive Fishery Policy and selected WorldFish as partner to assist in the realization of the aquaculture segment of that document.
An additional focus of the partnership will be on improving the planning and management of existing resources (particularly coastal areas, and inland wetlands) for aquaculture and fisheries, with due reference to maintaining or improving the social and ecological resilience of natural resources and the people dependent on this resources.
For more information or to request an interview contact:
Toby Johnson, Head of Communications
Mobile Tel: +60 (0) 175 124 606
Email: t.johnson@cgiar.org
Web: worldfishcenter.org
Photography: flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/
About WorldFish
WorldFish is an international, nonprofit research organization that harnesses the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce hunger and poverty. Globally, more than one billion poor people obtain most of their animal protein from fish and 800 million depend on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods. WorldFish is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
About CGIAR
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research Centers that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partners.