Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

APFIC (2010). Best practices to support and improve livelihoods of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture households. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. RAP Publication 2010/21,140 pp.

At its 30th Session in Manado (2008), the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) committed itself to identify areas of best practice and policies to support coastal community livelihood and also review those aspects that are to be avoided or which negatively impact coastal livelihoods. As part of this commitment, APFIC convened a Regional Consultative workshop “Best practices to support and improve the livelihoods of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture households”, 13–15 October 2009, Manila, Philippines, to develop guidance applicable to the local context of the region, to bring to the attention of policy-makers, government, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations. This guidance covered approaches and practices which offer the best opportunity for really improving livelihoods and building resilience in communities. This document contains three reviews covering some key aspects related to policy support to livelihoods resilience and diversification.

“The impact of sectoral and non-sectoral policies on fisheries and aquaculture dependent livelihoods in Asia” by Gayathri Sriskanthan

“Facilitating access to rural finance/microfinance services for small-scale fisheries & aquaculture in Southeast Asian countries” by Jocelyn Badiola

“Microfinance services for coastal small scale fisheries and aquaculture for South Asia countries with special attention to women” by K.G. Karmakar, G.S. Mehta, S.K. Ghosh and P. Selvaraj

APFIC (2009). APFIC/FAO Regional consultative workshop Best practices to support and improve the livelihoods of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture households, 13-15 October 2009, Manila, Philippines. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. RAP Publication 2009/01,50 pp.

For resource background materials and presentations:
http://www.apfic.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=372

Ensuring that fisheries and aquaculture are undertaken sustainably and equitably lies at the heart of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF). Although the CCRF offers some suggestions as to the major areas where this should be applied, it does not offer specific guidance on best practice. It is the function of working arrangements such as the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) to develop this sort of guidance, applicable to the local context of the region and, as part of a greater advocacy role of the Commission, to bring to the attention of policy makers, governments, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations, those approaches and practices which offer the best opportunity for really improving livelihoods and building resilience in communities. Too often, well intentioned policies are implemented that result in unintended outcomes such as environmental degradation, marginalization of small-scale producers and their families or see benefits captured by other interest groups or elites. It is through taking stock of such lessons of success and failure that we can offer guidance on future efforts and draw attention to those policies or interventions that may not be achieving their intended outcomes or are even creating more problems than they solve. This report contains a set of recommendations developed from an APFIC Regional Consultative workshop that indicate those areas of best practice and policies that support coastal community livelihoods. It also contains advice on practices and policies that are to be avoided. The purpose of this workshop was to generate a greater sense of where Asia-Pacific countries and organizations should be directing their efforts to improve livelihoods and the resilience of communities dependent on fisheries and aquaculture and it is hoped that these best practices will form the basis for future dialogue on policy planning and development in the region.

This ad hoc publication contains the country case studies on supporting livelihoods diversification, increasing resilience , conflict reduction and alternative forms of income generation, presented at the APFIC/FAO Regional consultative workshop “Best practices for supporting and improving livelihoods of small scale fisheries and aquaculture households”, 13 - 15 October, 2009, Manila, Philippines.