WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2014 37 restoration with Mercy Corps representatives. Later, in conjunction with several other organizations, a manual on best management practices for tambaks was produced in Bahasa and English (ADB et al. 2007). Recently a retired government official in Indonesia noted that a substantial benefit of the pioneering ‘cash for work’ intervention of AwF was that it provided assistance within a few days of the tsunami, long before aid from major international organizations arrived4. Through subsequent capacity building provided by AwF volunteers, brackishwater aquaculture in the area has become more diversified than before, when it was only shrimp; the farming of milkfish, groupers and red seaweeds now generates income for many families. Farmer-to-Farmer programs In conjunction with and administered by the University of Arizona (UoA), AwF conducted two Farmer-to-Farmer programs funded by USAID through the auspices of former AwF Chairman Kevin Fitzsimmons. Support for the first program provided travel funding for 20 AwF volunteer missions to work with farmer collaborators to implement more sustainable farming techniques in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Mexico, New Caledonia and Trinidad & Tobago between March 2010 and February 2011 (AwF 2013g). Host farmers provided housing and local transportation. The goal was to improve food safety and environmental protection for small-scale farmers growing fish, shrimp, crabs, bivalves and seaweeds. Improving the quality and marketability of their seafood products were also goals of the program. An example of the work conducted within this program in Thailand (Fig. 11) is given by Fitzsimmons (2011), whose final comments illustrate the difficulties as well as the achievements of this AwF program: Overall the trip (was) very successful. The farmers in Ranong have reported an increase in survival of soft shell crabs and an increase in income. However, the lack of any written records frustrated the ability to collect any hard data. Production of seaweeds has generated some sales, which are completely new. The seaweeds have also been eaten by some of the farming families as a new vegetable, which should improve household nutrition. Many of the farmers are still surviving on incomes of 150-300 baht (US$5 to $10) per day. Based on the success of the first program, further support was obtained from USAID for a second Farmer-to-Farmer program in Kenya and Mexico. The second program began in the fall of 2012 and was on-going at the end of the period covered by this article. In Tabasco and Oaxaca, Mexico, AwF is providing an evaluation of progress from a previous Farmer-to-Farmer Aquaculture niche project5. Aquaculture without Frontiers volunteers are providing missing technical expertise and working with the Kenyan government, Moi University, and other NGOs to support the government’s intention to build 18,000 small-scale fish ponds. Specifically AwF is building upon a currently supported AwF fishfarming project in the Kisumu and Eldoret areas. Training for all three locations in this second program includes the: • Manufacture of simple on-farm compounded diets from local ingredients; • Selection of high-quality fingerlings for stocking; (CONTINUED ON PAGE 38) laboratory materials and field equipment to the Ladong Fisheries College and the Ujong Battee Aquaculture Research and Extension Center; and • Visited the Tibang village restoration site supported by Mercy Corps to discuss future options for aquaculture pond TOP, FIGURE 8. A shrimp hatchery in Aceh destroyed by the tsunami of 2004 (Photo: Kevin Fitzsimmons). MIDDLE, FIGURE 9. Shrimp farmers in Aceh restoring ponds and canals through the AwF-NACA cash-for-work program (Photo: Kevin Fitzsimmons). BOTTOM, FIGURE 10. Diversification into seaweed farming in Aceh as a result of AwF tsunami relief work. (Photo: Kevin Fitzsimmons).
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