Staff from FAO Headquarters (HQ), FAO Bangladesh, Department of Fisheries and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) visited Dumuria and Fakirhat Upazila under Khulna and Bagerhat district in Southern Bangladesh on 22-23 May 2015. The visit was linked with FAO/Department of Fisheries project “Building trade capacity of small-scale shrimp and prawn farmers in Bangladesh by investing in the bottom of the pyramid approach”, which is funded by the World Trade Organisation Standards and Trade Development Facility and is being implemented in association with World Fish and BSFF.

The visit across two upazillas included field trips to cluster groups of small holder shrimp farmers (at Baniakhali and Borodanga), and a fish auction market.  A consultation workshop included project staff along with district-level officials from Department of Fisheries (DoF), PKSF, Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF), Nobolok - a partner NGO to PKSF -and World Fish; farmers, depot owners, processors and exporters and fish storage and processing intermediaries and other stakeholders.

In the field – the team met shrimp farmers to understand their views on the project, experience to date, and what further assistance could help improve the functioning of the clusters. Shrimp farmers reported the needs for funds at the beginning of the season for pond preparation, stocking and feed – requiring micro-credit facility from local MFIs. Exchanges with local farmers particularly at Baniakhali revealed a keen interest in lessening dependence on local intermediaries, with a number of complaints about late payments, and payment terms.  In Borodanga, the discussion also included micro-credit financing, as well as interest in acquiring own salinity measuring meters and fish-feed grinding machines (to ensure quality of feed). 

In the workshop, Mr Abdul Rashed, Deputy Director, Quality control, DoF, in his opening remarks at the meeting, thanked FAOR and team for introducing the cluster initiative in the shrimp sector. He hoped that the implementation of cluster will be able to make its mark in significantly enhancing the output quality in coming times.

Mr Rohana Subasinghe, Chief, Aquaculture Branch, FAO-HQ said that the true spirit of cluster lies in making a perfect bridge between producers and exporter/processors. Ms Naher, National Operations Officer - FAO, explained the inclusive approach taken up the concerned project, which focuses on building better trade capacity of small scale prawn farmers – by linking them with broader market. Mr Fazlul Kader, DMD, PKSF, expressed his optimism for more intervention in this area – with a pivotal role in improving value chain along with financing facility, in association with relevant government departments.  

Mr Mike Robson, FAOR, stressed the need to disseminate further the key production improvements in areas such as ensuring optimum pond depth, use of PCR Tested seed and good nursery practices, to increase the quality of production and reduce mortality rates. For this, small scale investment will be needed, hence the invitation to PKSF to join the visit. He also emphasized the need for improved organization and partnership with processors to ensure better prices for the farmers.   This FAO-DoF project – due to complete in June 2016 - is currently working with around 1000  small-scale shrimp and prawn  farmers across 40 cluster groups in 5 upazilas (Satkhira sadar, Shymnagar, Debhata, Dumuria and Fakirhat) under 3 districts (Satkhira, Khulna and Bagherhat).