A partnership to assist rural fishermen and smallholder aquaculture farmers was forged between two intergovernmental organizations whose reach extends over Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
This was formalized in the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) and the Bangkok-based Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA).
Searca Director Glenn Gregorio and NACA Director-General Jie Huang signed the agreement to cooperate on joint projects that are expected to contribute to the development of a strengthened aquaculture sector in the region.
Gregorio said Searca and NACA share the mandate for rural and smallholder farmers development, with NACA concentrating on aquaculture.
“Searca’s programs are geared toward accelerating transformation through agricultural innovation, also called Attain, to elevate the quality of life of agricultural families through sustainable livelihoods and access to modern networks and innovative markets,” Gregorio said, referring to the Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation framework of Searca.
Huang said NACA promotes rural development through sustainable aquaculture and aquatic resources management in 19 countries, including eight Association of Southeast Asia Nations members covered by Searca.
Huang also highlighted the vast linkages of NACA across Asia, including the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department based in the Philippines, as a resource for aquaculture innovation among rural communities.
Rico Ancog, Searca program lead for Emerging Innovation for Growth (EIG), said the EIG program will be exploring various technological interventions across the aquaculture value chains, particularly those that increase production and logistics efficiency, fish produce quality and safety, and various value-adding activities.
Ancog also emphasized “the power of academe, industry and government interconnectivity to generate innovative, life-transforming solutions for farmers and farming families. This is the goal of the Searca innovEIGhts model of open collaboration.”
He said Searca’s innovEIGhts model will support, facilitate and implement co-created and co-piloted agribusiness incubation, information and technology transfer projects, and impact- and action-driven extension and technical assistance engagement for Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, Eduardo Leaño, NACA Aquatic Animal Health Programme coordinator, noted the importance of continuing training and education outreach to farming and fishing communities using online communication modes necessitated by the pandemic.
“NACA’s large pool of experts will provide training on aquaculture and aquatic resources management,” Leaño said.
