CIFA to lead aqua-livelihood project in five SAARC countries

CENTRAL Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA), Bhubaneswar, will lead the first aqua-livelihood project for upliftment of smallholder fish farmers and improve nutrition security in five SAARC countries.

- HEMANT KUMAR ROUT @ Bhubaneswar

The USD 3.97 million project being implemented in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka apart from India was launched in Colombo on Wednesday. The project will directly benefit over 1.2 lakh rural households, 30 per cent (pc) of which are led by women.

As part of the project, strategic components including use of technology, mapping aquaculture inputs, feed, seed and promoting inclusive practices, establishing pilot-scale feed mills and fish hatcheries to enhance local production along with capacity-building and knowledge-sharing will be key focus areas.