Your search found 5 records
1 Rahman, M. C.; Miah, T. H.; Rashid, M. H. 2015. Effects of controlling saline water intrusion in an empoldered area of Bangladesh. In Humphreys, E.; Tuong, T. P.; Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Pukinskis, I.; Phillips, M. (Eds.). Proceedings of the CPWF, GBDC, WLE Conference on Revitalizing the Ganges Coastal Zone: Turning Science into Policy and Practices, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 21-23 October 2014. Colombo, Sri Lanka: CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). pp.89-96.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H047197)
(0.45 MB) (11.9 MB)
2 Dubois, M. J.; Akester, M.; Leemans, K.; Teoh, S. J.; Stuart, A.; Thant, A. M.; San, S. S.; Shein, N.; Leh, Mansoor; Moet, Palal Moet; Radanielson, A. M. 2019. Integrating fish into irrigation infrastructure projects in Myanmar: rice-fish what if…? Marine and Freshwater Research, 70(9):1229-1240. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1071/MF19182]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049430)
(0.89 MB)
With rapidly increasing investment in water control infrastructure (WCI) and a recently ratified agriculture development strategy that promotes integrated farming of high-value products such as fish, agricultural production, already fundamental to Myanmar’s economy, will be central to driving the countries’ socioeconomic transformation. Water planners and managers have a unique opportunity to design and manage WCI to incorporate fish and, in so doing, reduce conflicts and optimise the benefits to both people and the ecosystem services upon which they depend. Results from rice–fish culture experimental trials in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta are providing an evidence base for the importance of integrating fish into WCI, highlighting a range of both environmental and social benefits. By using less than 13% of paddy land area and through best management practices, existing rice productivity is sustained, alongside a 25% increase in economic returns for the same land area from fish. In addition, there are considerably more protein and micronutrients available from the fish produced in the system. Should these farming system innovations be adopted at scale, Myanmar stands to benefit from increased employment, incomes and nutritional value of farm plots (alongside associated reductions in pesticide pollution) and water use benefits.
3 Freed, S.; Barman, B.; Dubois, M.; Flor, R. J.; Funge-Smith, S.; Gregory, R.; Hadi, B. A. R.; Halwart, M.; Haque, M.; Jagadish, S. V. K.; Joffre, O. M.; Karim, M.; Kura, Y.; McCartney, Matthew; Mondal, M.; Nguyen, V. K.; Sinclair, F.; Stuart, A. M.; Tezzo, X.; Yadav, S.; Cohen, P. J. 2020. Maintaining diversity of integrated rice and fish production confers adaptability of food systems to global change. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 4:576179. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.576179]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050055)
(1.92 MB) (1.92 MB)
Rice and fish are preferred foods, critical for healthy and nutritious diets, and provide the foundations of local and national economies across Asia. Although transformations, or “revolutions,” in agriculture and aquaculture over the past half-century have primarily relied upon intensified monoculture to increase rice and fish production, agroecological approaches that support biodiversity and utilize natural processes are particularly relevant for achieving a transformation toward food systems with more inclusive, nutrition-sensitive, and ecologically sound outcomes. Rice and fish production are frequently integrated within the same physical, temporal, and social spaces, with substantial variation amongst the types of production practice and their extent. In Cambodia, rice field fisheries that strongly rely upon natural processes persist in up to 80% of rice farmland, whereas more input and infrastructure dependent rice-shrimp culture is expanding within the rice farmland of Vietnam. We demonstrate how a diverse suite of integrated production practices contribute to sustainable and nutrition-sensitive food systems policy, research, and practice. We first develop a typology of integrated production practices illustrating the nature and degree of: (a) fish stocking, (b) water management, (c) use of synthetic inputs, and (d) institutions that control access to fish. Second, we summarize recent research and innovations that have improved the performance of each type of practice. Third, we synthesize data on the prevalence, outcomes, and trajectories of these practices in four South and Southeast Asian countries that rely heavily on fish and rice for food and nutrition security. Focusing on changes since the food systems transformation brought about by the Green Revolution, we illustrate how integrated production practices continue to serve a variety of objectives to varying degrees: food and nutrition security, rural livelihood diversification and income improvement, and biodiversity conservation. Five shifts to support contemporary food system transformations [i.e., disaggregating (1) production practices and (2) objectives, (3) utilizing diverse metrics, (4) valuing emergent, place-based innovation, (5) building adaptive capacity] would accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 2, specifically through ensuring ecosystem maintenance, sustainable food production, and resilient agricultural practices with the capacity to adapt to global change.
4 Duncan, N.; de Silva, Sanjiv; Conallin, J.; Freed, S.; Akester, M.; Baumgartner, L.; McCartney, Matthew; Dubois, M.; Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali. 2021. Fish for whom?: Integrating the management of social complexities into technical investments for inclusive, multi-functional irrigation. World Development Perspectives, 22:100318. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100318]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050440)
(8.73 MB) (8.73 MB)
Irrigation represents a long-standing water sector investment in South East Asia. However, despite the undeniable benefits of food production, an irrigation/rice-centric strategy is insufficient in a multi-dimensional conceptualisation of development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenge us to re-think traditional ways of achieving food security. Central to this challenge is how we can retain multi-functionality within landscapes. We explore the often negatively correlated relationship between irrigation and inland fisheries through a literature review and interviews with key informants, focusing on examples from Myanmar and Cambodia. We found that whilst technical options exist for minimizing irrigation impacts on fisheries, there is a fundamental disconnect between the technical application of such ‘solutions’, and distribution of benefits to the marginal groups that SDGs 1, 2, 3 and more target. We found that insufficient recognition of the social contexts in which solutions are applied underpins this disconnect. This means that technical infrastructure design needs to be organised around the question, ‘Who do we want to benefit?’, if investments are to go beyond rice/fish production and deliver more on socially inclusive food security and livelihood opportunities. This paper is a call to extend the framing and financing of irrigation investments beyond technical parameters to include investing in the social processes that enable both multi-functionality and inclusive growth, to enhance the role of irrigation in adapting to a changing climate, while maintaining landscape integrity and multi-functionality so necessary for a sustainable future.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H053000)
(761 KB)
This report outlines policies and recommended policy engagements to promote agroecology practices in food production systems in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Literature reviews and field consultation visits were used to collect data on factors and challenges influencing the integrated rice-fish farming practices by farmer households and policy engagements to enhance their local potential and address challenges that may prevent further expansion and sustainable practices.
The study found ‘good progress’ in terms of policy and institutional framework, facilitating a gradual transition from conventional farming practice to agroecology into food production systems, although there are some implementation gaps. To facilitate the transition toward improved agricultural practices, the following policy engagements are recommended:
Conduct regular recognition programs and knowledge dissemination events such as farmer-to-farmer peer learning support households in influencing uptake or scaling and farmer-led hatchery learning.
Use evidence-based costs and benefits of the rice-fish farmer field trials in policy research.
Conduct policy research to identify factors enabling integrated fish production in rice fields during dry seasons when many households experience lower production. Some incentives were outlined in the National Policy on the Promotion of Livestock and Aquatic Animal Production.
Continuing to involve policymakers from sectors in the CGIAR Agroecology Initiative to maintain policy support for agroecological farming practices in the community and further expansions across the country.
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