Although the experiences discussed above are valid also for ALCOM, the Programme is discussed in some detail, to provide a background for proposals on the future of ALCOM.
ALCOM was designed as an inter-regional programme for small-scale aquaculture with emphasis on social and economic aspects. It is executed by FAO. The first field activities were planned for Zambia. The programme was initiated with desk studies commissioned by FAO headquarters in October 1986, covering socio-economic, socio-cultural, bio-environmental, and bio-technical aspects of small-scale aquaculture development. The first pilot project was designed to field-test the findings of the studies.
Field work was initiated in March 1987 in Eastern Province, Zambia. To further study factors influencing adoption of aquaculture, socio-economic surveys were started in Zambia the same year.
A Technical Consultation on Aquaculture in Rural Development, organized in October 1987, recommended that ALCOM should address a set of target areas; aquaculture and farming systems, utilization of small water bodies, extension and training, women and youth in aquaculture development, environmental aspects, and information needs for planning and project design.
An Advisory Committee, with SADC countries, the donor and FAO as members, was established and held its first meeting in November 1987. The first meeting endorsed the Programme's orientation and its target areas. The Committee has met annually to advise the Programme on orientation and work plans and to review progress. After three meetings, it became a Steering Committee with decision-making functions on orientation and work plans.
ALCOM became a SADC project when endorsed by the Council of Ministers in August 1989.
National Coordinators/Liaison Officers were appointed gradually in the SADC countries for day-to-day contacts with the Programme. They were also responsible for implementing activities. Counterparts were appointed by the collaborating authorities to implement the activities.
The Programme has operated from a headquarters in the region with a multidisciplinary team of international and national experts. Staff members have been outstationed to pilot projects for which Governments have requested such inputs.
ALCOM's role has been to assist member countries investigate issues pertaining to aquaculture development, and test and demonstrate methods and approaches that are socially and economically viable besides being technically feasible. This role has been carried out through small pilot projects. Once methods and approaches have been tested and demonstrated with positive results, they are intended to be applied on a larger scale, through governments' own efforts or within externally funded development projects.
Sweden provided funding for a preparatory phase October 1986 – September 1989. This was followed by an interim phase October 1989 – September 1990. The first phase started in October 1990 and was intended for five years. However, Sweden committed funding for two years. A second phase started in October 1992 with funding from Sweden for three years (later revised to two years and three months) and funds from Belgium for five years.
For the preparatory phase, the objectives were formulated as follows. The overall objective was to “…elaborate effective strategies, policies and methodologies for assisting rural peoples in improving their quality of life through the development of aquaculture, either in conjunction with land-based farming, or as an alternative to fishing.”
The Plan of Operation listed four immediate tasks:
For the interim, first and second phases the stated objectives are:
The overall (development) objective of the region is an increase in cash income and/or animal protein component in the diet of rural communities, achieved through increased production of fish from small-scale aquaculture integrated with mixed farming systems or as a complement or alternative to traditional small-scale fishing.
The intermediate objective is the adoption in such communities of appropriate fish culture practices, introduced and promoted and supported through other nationally or internationally funded projects concerned with rural development and integrated into local farming systems.
The immediate objective is the provision of fish culture methods and systems which have been tested and demonstrated in pilot projects to be technically, economically and socially appropriate for the target communities identified.
The preparatory phase had a set of clear outputs, which were expected to be achieved. However, the links between these and the overall development objective and ALCOM's role were not well defined.
The description of objectives for the subsequent phases clarifies ALCOM's role to test and demonstrate methods, techniques and approaches and to promote their application on a larger scale if found feasible. The hierarchy of objectives also show the linkages between project outputs and overall development efforts and the role of governments in application.
The six initial “target areas” as endorsed by the first Advisory Committee Meeting were later complemented by three more, and ALCOM had nine “target areas” up to October 1992:
The main activities and the results under each target area are briefly described below. Further details are given in ALCOM's progress reports, technical reports, and field documents.
Information needs and design of surveys. Methods used have included large-scale socio-economic surveys using questionnaires for a sample of the population, focused questionnaire surveys (fishing activities and fish eating habits for example), studies combining questionnaire surveys with semi-structured interviews with key informants, RRAs (rapid rural appraisals) and creel surveys.
Guidelines on the use of survey methods are being prepared for publication during 1994.
Extension and training. Participatory extension approaches have been tested in Zambia, with positive results (an increase of farmers with fish ponds from 11 to 500 with 400 more who have requested extension services in Eastern Province alone). Formal training for aquaculture technicians has been conducted in Angola and Mozambique.
Guidelines for the extension approach are in print.
Aquaculture and farming systems. Activities were initiated during 1989 with studies and field work in Luapula Province of Zambia in 1990. The initial work focused on methods to increase productivity by efficient use of on-farm products and recycling. In 1992 it was concluded that there were no technical problems for fish farming in the province and the project concentrated on extension until it wound up early 1993. On-station trials on intermittent harvesting strategies failed because of drought and predation/theft. A feasibility study on the use of Chinese carps in polyculture and weed control in irrigation systems was initiated in Mozambique.
This target area has not as yet yielded conclusive results. More emphasis needs to be given to economic aspects in the project areas.
Utilization of small water bodies for fisheries and aquaculture.
Trials with test-fishing methods to assess species composition and relative abundance were
initiated in 1989 in Zambia and later also in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Lesotho. Test
fishing was combined with socio-economic studies on communities around small water bodies,
creel surveys to determine fishing effort and catches, and small-scale trials with community
management of reservoir fisheries. A technical consultation held early 1993 reviewed existing
knowledge and recommended strategies for assessment, enhancement of production, and
management. These recommendations are now being prepared for interventions by the ALCOM
project funded by Belgium since September 1992.
Experiences have been gained on assessment methods. Reports on these are being prepared for publication early 1994. Further work is required for enhancement and management.
The role of women and youth. Increased involvement of women in aquaculture has been promoted in pilot projects in two provinces of Zambia, with positive results in one (Luapula Province where some 40 women have taken up fish farming). An inter-regional workshop was held in 1990. The workshop concluded that “women” should not be treated separately in interventions. Instead, gender issues should be considered during the planning and implementation of all projects. Japan allocated funds for a project to implement some of the workshop's recommendations. The project produced guidelines for gathering gender-related data and information for planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of projects. These guidelines are being field-tested during 1993 and 1994.
Environmental impact. Water conservation, water quality, waterborne human diseases and bio-diversity were identified as areas for investigation. Work has been done on waterborne human diseases. A paper was presented to the technical consultation on small water bodies in 1993 and pamphlets for use by extension workers have been prepared. Protocols for control of bilharzia-carrying snails were proposed. Preparations for a technical consultation on bio-diversity (planned for 1994) were initiated.
Information service. ALCOM has established a small computerized library, at present containing close to 4000 documents. The data base has been distributed to selected counterpart institutions and the library is open for use by staff of counterpart organizations and research institutions. The library is increasingly being referred to by institutions in the region. A quarterly newsletter, ALCOM News, serves as a forum for information dissemination, mainly in the region. Technical reports and field documents are published on ALCOM-supported activities.
Aquaculture and human nutrition. Following a technical consultation on aquaculture and human nutrition in 1989, collaboration was established with a global Norway/FAO project. A two year investigation was carried out in Luapula Province, Zambia, on the role of aquaculture in household food security. With the methods used, links could not be established between aquaculture in the province and household food security.
Development support. Assistance was given to governments for identifying and preparing projects. It was concluded that development support needed to focus more on support to institutions than on assistance in individual cases to generate impact.
A review of progress was done in 1992 and a proposal was tabled with the Sixth Steering Committee in 1993 to reorganize ALCOM for the remainder of the phase, up to September 1995 (later revised to December 1994). It was concluded that the target areas “Information need for planning and project design”, “extension and training”, “the role of women and youth”, “environmental impact”, and “human nutrition” had been satisfactory investigated and that the outputs should be applied in other projects. “Aquaculture and farming systems” and “small water bodies” had not yet yielded conclusive results and continued experimental work was needed. The Steering Committee endorsed the proposal that ALCOM be organized into four action programmes. Two of these should continue test and demonstration of methods and approaches:
Diversification of rural economies through aquaculture. This programme continues work started under aquaculture and farming systems, but broadens the area to include more of economic considerations for aquaculture development.
Utilization of small water bodies for fisheries and aquaculture. The programme continues work on assessment methods but will for the remainder of the project period concentrate more on enhancement and management.
Two action programmes serve to strengthen institutions:
Institutions for aquaculture extension, applying results from earlier extension projects.
Institutions for planning, communications, and information.
Details of the action programmes are given in ALCOM Report No 10 (Report from the Sixth Steering Committee Meeting).
In an experimental programme like ALCOM, “failures” can be useful; they demonstrate that a particular approach or method does not work. These results, if widely disseminated, may make other institutions modify their approach. Further, the Programme does not have any definite production targets (see objectives). Instead, the yardstick of impact relates to adoption of methods, techniques and approaches by governments, NGOs and the private sector in their development interventions.
Since application of results and approaches is time-consuming, the Working Group has, at this stage, restricted itself to a few general comments on ALCOM's results:
Some results are being applied on a larger scale. This refers mainly to the extension approaches, now used widely in Zambia and being introduced in Mozambique. The methods will also be used in a sub-project in Tanzania starting 1993.
Other results, such as methods for studies and surveys, gender issues, and environmental aspects, are being used by ALCOM and other projects.
ALCOM-supported surveys and studies have increased the awareness of issues concerning aquaculture development, assisted by the Information Service.
Activities related to farming systems have not produced any conclusive results. Further work with new approaches, to include overall economic conditions, is needed.
The results from activities on small water bodies are scanty and not yet well-documented. A more focused approach to enhancement and management is required to achieve conclusive results.
The technical consultations, and regional and national workshops are a valuable forum for dissemination of information on results and experiences from development interventions, also from outside the region.
ALCOM's institutional set-up with the Steering Committee and National Coordinators-Liaison Officers enables member countries to genuinely influence the Programme's orientation and its activities.
