Aquaculture Development in Sistan-Baluchestan
|
Why is it important? The Province of Sistan and Baluchestan is located in southeast Iran, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east, and the Gulf of Oman in the south. The province is Iran’s poorest and most underdeveloped and has for years been struggling with a high rate of unemployment and criminality, in addition to poor living conditions because of this. The geographical location and climatic condition of the province provide excellent opportunities to promote aquaculture as a field of economic growth. Sustainable production of fish and shrimp is expected to significantly contribute to poverty reduction and human development in the province. This project is dedicated to developments of aquaculture in two sites, one in saltwater close to Chabahar on the southern coast, and one in freshwater close to Zabol on the border to Afghanistan.
An independent evaluation carried out in November 2008 pointed out that within the poorest province, an aquaculture development project was the ‘right thing’ for UNDP Iran to do.
The project’s main objective is to strengthen and expand aquaculture activities in terms of production and technology in order to improve the socio-economic welfare of targeted groups and local communities on the two project sites. In general, the goal is to contribute to the income level of local population through aquaculture practices and reinforcement and dissemination of technical know-how in the province. The project aims to also address gender mainstreaming and helps to:
How will we reach it?
The project will provide technical assistance to identify two aquaculture production plans: shrimp rearing for export and freshwater fish rearing in rural areas. The technological packages for establishing the production models in the two pilot sites, training of Shilat technicians for cooperation between public and private actors toward new professional capacity and technical assistance for an economic and technical approach in rearing new aquaculture species will be provided. What we have achieved?
Up until now, general capacity development has taken place, including trainings on shrimp culture in India and Thailand. These have enhanced the practical and scientific level of experts and technicians acquainting new skills and methods. As a result of project activities, technical problems previously encountered in the fish breeding and culture have been eliminated. The Guater project site in Chabahar was highly active and shrimp production had picked up until the tropical cyclone Gonu struck the area in the beginning of June 2007. The cyclone resulted in the sea completely covering the project site, destroying shrimp culture ponds and equipment. In the aftermath of this natural disaster, there have been visits to the site to evaluate the damage and to take the initiative for re-starting of project activities. The Zabol site has been facing problems due to drought and shortage of water in the Hamoun Lake and Hirmand River. In 2008 Zabol laboratories were equipped and plans are underway to provide these laboratories with more technical equipment in 2009. Additional plans are underway to develop the infrastructure of a laboratory in Chabahar. The Shilat is also planning a formal inauguration of project laboratories in Zabol. The activities for production of Schizotrax, an endemic freshwater fish species, in Zabol project site have resulted in the release of 350,000 fingerlings in Hamoun Lake. Again in 2009, a batch of 100,000 fish fry was bred and released into the water bodies. One of the main achievements of the project was the attainment of Bio-techniques for the breeding and culture of Schizothorax indigenous fish. Furthermore, the production of shrimp, which was suspended due to infection of ponds by White Spot virus, is planned to be restarted in 2009. More technical equipment for the project laboratories are also part of the 2009 plan along with a series of study tours for Government and private sector beneficiaries. Establishment and equipment of laboratories for water analyses as well as aquaculture disease diagnosis will help measure and control the chemical and physical factors of water and soil in the culture centres, breeding farms and lakes in the region. These will also provide laboratory services to 600 small farms of private sector in the region. New job opportunities have been created as a result of the project. About 50 women have been engaged in fish marketing according to Shilat reports. The aforementioned assessment also observed that the project would serve two categories of direct and indirect beneficiaries. Direct beneficiaries include: Shilat technicians, private farmers using technical services of Shilat, 600 licensed small private breeding farms, private investors needing water safety testing, universities and research centres in the province and veterinary networks of Zahak and Zabol using advanced laboratory equipment. Among the indirect beneficiaries are: Hamoun Lake fishermen, shrimp processing factories, regional investors and downstream or related businesses. The project has contributed to improved access by local communities to electricity, water and road networks. Financial Delivery The following is the breakdown of expenditures per year since the inception of project activities.
|
NATIONAL MDG FOCUS
PROJECT AT A GLANCE Project Title: Aquaculture Development in Sistan and Baluchestan Location: Guatar (Chabahar) and Lake Hamoun (Zabol) in the Province of Sistan-Baluchestan Duration: Start Date End Date 25.02.04 30.12.2011 Budget: Italy €3,034,000 Total €3,034,000 Main Partners: Ministry of Agriculture Jihad Iranian Fisheries Organization
Project Status: Ongoing UNDP Program Staff: Saeid Ferdowsi/Karineh Dror National Project Director: Mr. Mehdi Shakouri Project Document: Aquaculture Development in Sistan-Baluchistan Project Website:
|
Develop a Global Partnership for Development
About UNDP Iran
Millennium Development Goals
