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Change and Diversity in Smallholder Rice–fish Systems Recent Evidence from Bangladesh

Madan M. Dey
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Professor, Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries

David J. Spielman
International Food Policy Research Institute Senior Research Fellow, Environment and Production Technology Division

A.B.M. Mahfuzul Haque
The WorldFish Center Bangladesh Office

Md. Saidur Rahman
Bangladesh Agricultural University Department of Agricultural Economics

Rowena A. Valmonte-Santos
International Food Policy Research Institute Senior Research Analyst, Environment and Production Technology Division

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Efforts to unlock the genetic potential of both rice and fish, when combined with efforts to improve the management of rice–fish systems, have considerable proven potential for increasing agricultural productivity and food security. In Bangladesh, estimates suggest that the country’s potential rice–fish production system encompasses between two and three million hectares of land. Despite three decades of research on biophysical and technical aspects of rice–fish systems, this potential has not been realized fully due to insufficient attention given to the social, economic, and policy dimensions of system improvement. This paper provides a characterization of the diverse and changing nature of rice–fish systems in Bangladesh by combining data from a novel upazilla-level (sub-district-level) survey of fishery officers with household surveys, focus group discussions, and a meta-review of the literature on aquaculture in the country. The resulting analysis sheds new light on the economic viability of different rice–fish systems and recommends policy and investment options to further improve the development and delivery of rice–fish technologies. Findings indicate that in addition to concurrent rice–fish systems, alternating rice–fish systems and collectively managed systems offer considerable potential for increasing productivity and farm incomes in Bangladesh. Findings also suggest that although the emergent innovation system around these rice–fish systems is fairly dynamic, there is a need for more supportive policies and investments—and analysis of the intended and unintended impacts of these policies and investments.

Keywords: Rice–fish systems; Productivity; Income; Policies; Bangladesh

Location: Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Conservation and Biodiversity

Commodity: Fish, Rice

Objectives:

In effect, the paper marries the farming systems and innovation systems literature to capture a snapshot of the complex dynamics within Bangladesh’s rice– fish systems

Methodology:

This paper draws on a study of rice–fish systems conducted in 2010/11 in Bangladesh. The study was a joint undertaking of DOF, Bangladesh, BAU, and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The study’s research questions and priorities were identified at a meeting held at the DOF headquarters in Dhaka on December 19–20, 2010, at which 28 experts from 11 national and international agencies were in attendance. Draft results were discussed in a meeting held at BAU in Mymensingh on July 5–6, 2011, and again at a policy conference held in Dhaka on October 4–5, 2011. Data for this study were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The main source of primary data is a nationwide upazilla-level survey conducted in 2011 jointly by DOF, BAU, and IFPRI (referred to hereafter as the 2011 DOF/BAU/IFPRI Survey). The aim of this survey was to better understand exactly which types of rice–fish culturing systems were being practiced across Bangladesh. The 2011 DOF/BAU/IFPRI Survey queried DOF officers in 475 upazillas across the country about the primary crop cultivation and fish culturing practices by farmers in their respective upazillas. No other survey or statistical gazette provides this information at a national level, making the survey a unique contribution to our understanding of farming practices in Bangladesh. As part of this survey, primary data were also collected from a series of focus group discussions and household surveys conducted in two key freshwater rice–fish producing districts, Mymensingh and Comilla. The former district was chosen due to the prevalence and growth of fish culturing in permanent fishponds and anecdotal reports of disadoption and disinvestment in these ponds by poorer households due to high input costs, credit constraints, and risks associated with both production and markets. The latter district was chosen because of the well-documented interventions of Shishuk, a nongovernmental organization, in promoting collectively managed aquaculture in seasonal floodplain areas (see Belton et al. 2011; Toufique and Gregory 2008). For household surveys, we first interviewed local DOF officials and nongovernmental organization representatives to collect information on the nature and extent of fish and rice–fish culture in the respective areas and to develop sampling frames. We found that there were 108 community-based fish culture operations in Comilla district from which we selected 30 community-based operations from two upazillas (Daudknadi and Titas) using stratified random sampling. Based on the concentration of fish culture in various villages, we purposively selected four sample villages of Muktagacha Upazilla (Mymensingh district) and then randomly selected 30 sample households from the four villages. The interviews were conducted by trained enumerators, with help from local DOF and nongovernmental organization officials, from March to November 2011 based on two location-specific questionnaires. Secondary data were garnered from various sources. First, data on rice and fish prices, rice–fish research efforts, and agricultural and fisheries policies were collected from various government organizations in Bangladesh. Second, data on the economics of rice–fish systems in Bangladesh— profitability, sustainability, and other measures—were extracted from an extensive literature review exercise. In this exercise, a total of 29 published articles and unpublished reports from across the academic and nonacademic grey literature were examined (see Appendix Table A.1 for details about these studies).

Source of Information: IFPRI Discussion Paper 01220 October 2012

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

This paper attempts to provide a snapshot of those changes by combining a meta-level assessment of the existing literature on rice–fish systems with data from a recent survey of aquaculture across Bangladesh. The paper characterizes the diverse and changing rice–fish systems in freshwater areas of Bangladesh, examines the economic viability of alternative systems, and explores policy and investment options to further improve the development and delivery of rice–fish technologies. Findings indicate that in addition to concurrent rice–fish systems, alternating rice–fish systems and collectively managed alternating systems offer considerable potential for increasing the overall agricultural productivity and farm incomes in Bangladesh. The potential embodied in these farming systems—along with the interactions between farmers, market agents, researchers, and policymakers that underlie them—suggests scope for further encouraging the already emergent properties of Bangladesh’s rice–fish innovation system. These findings are particularly relevant to the country’s freshwater ecosystems and indicate the need for greater research on the design and execution of pro-poor policies and investments and greater inquiry into the intended and unintended impacts of these policies and investments.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings