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Institutional Arrangements in Seasonal Floodplain Management Under Community-based Aquaculture in Bangladesh

A.B.M. Mahfuzul Haque
WorldFish Center, Bangladesh and South Asia, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Leontine E. Visser
Wageningen University, the Netherlands

Madan M. Dey
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, USA

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Seasonal floodplains under private and public ownership in the Indo-Ganges river basin provide food and income for millions of people in Bangladesh. Floodplain ownership regimes are diverse, covering the whole spectrum from public to private ownership. The paper compares community-based fish culture projects in these floodplains and analyzes the institutional arrangements of three different Floodplain Management Committees (FMC). The paper aimed to understand the complex institutional relations that govern ownership, access, and control of the floodplains under community-based fish culture (CBFC) to increase fish production and the livelihoods of the poor. It followed the stakeholders representing the various institutions and organizations such as the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Department of Land (DoL), and FMC. Other important stakeholders were the lease-holders of public water bodies in the floodplains, private landowners, seasonal, and professional fishers. The analysis demonstrates a significant increase of benefits to all stakeholders, including the poor, through the sharing of benefits derived from their involvement in the project. The willingness of different social classes to work together, the adoption of new technologies, and the societal embedded ness of local government institutions appear to be important inputs for policy making.

Keywords: Institutional arrangements, Seasonal floodplain management, Community-based aquaculture

Location: WorldFish Center, Bangladesh and South Asia, Dhaka

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Resource Development and Management

Commodity: Fish

Objectives:

This paper intends to improve our understanding of the complex institutional relationships governing community-based fish culture in seasonal floodplains in Bangladesh. The purpose of the study is to identify appropriate institutional options for the sustainable use of floodplains and maximize their benefit to different classes of beneficiaries, including the landless poor.

Methodology:

A Community-based Fish Culture Approach Community can be defined geographically by political or resource boundaries, or socially as a community of individuals with common were installed at the mouth of the inlets and outlets of water bodies to permit the entry of larvae and hatchling of small indigenous species, but preventing the stocked fish from escaping. The peripheral dikes of the water bodies were also raised to hold the water and prevent the escape of stocked fishes. Several ring culverts were installed at the bottom of the floodplain. The upper sides of the culverts were covered with soil to maintain the water level and prolong the water retention time. The existing sluice gates constructed by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) were subject to regulation for retaining water throughout the culture period, and draining out water for final harvesting of fish. The water regulation also facilitated the planting of winter-rice. Earthwork was necessary to raise the embankment of the floodplains. The professionals from DoF and WorldFish determined species combinations, ratios, and stocking densities of fish fingerlings for stocking in the floodplains, based on factors such as local availability of fingerlings, the growth rates of the fish species, and the local people’s experiential knowledge. The fingerlings were procured either from nursery farms of the beneficiaries or from nearby commercial farms. Indian major carps and Chinese carps were selected and stocked in the assigned seasonal floodplain area at varying ratios and stocking densities. The Design of the Study: The conceptual framework used for this paper is based on the institutional approach to natural resource management, adapted from the frameworks for CPR analysis of Oakerson (1992) and Ostrom (1994) to understand how floodplain resources are managed under the different governance structures. In Bangladesh, the community-based fish culture model is self-governed by local communities and organizations, but in some cases government authorities act as advisor. Selection of the Case Studies: In the Indo-Gangetic river basins of Bangladesh, both public and privately-owned floodplains were selected as the basis for an action-research project under the Challenge Program (CP35) of the WorldFish Center, Penang, Malaysia, and implemented by the Bangladesh Department of Fisheries (DoF) in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Council and the Fisheries Research Institute in Dhaka, from 2005 to 2010. For this paper, three cases have been selected to discuss the results of the community-based fish Institutions and Their Roles: Formal institutional linkages between DoF, WorldFish Center, and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) played a key role in ensuring success. DoF is a government institution with establishments at different administrative levels. Through its linkages with other institutions and collaboration with the research team, DoF ensured technical management support (Rahman et al. 2008) and played an active and strong role in resolving many of the acute social problems. Moreover, DoF played a major role in the selection of floodplains, beneficiaries, and the formation of FMCs and PICs. It also took necessary measures to protect fish from uncontrolled harvest, ensure benefits to the poor, and securing a five-year lease from the DoL for the Mail beel floodplain. This significantly empowered the fishers, as they were no longer facing the loss of their lease through a public auction. Government institutions also provided the necessary monitoring and support, culture and the development of the Floodplain Management Committees (FMC) in the Padma river basin (Case 1), the Teesta river basin (Case 2), and the Brahamaputra river basin (Case 3). These cases were selected because of their markedly different social and institutional arrangements among the government, fishers’ cooperatives, local stakeholders, and classes of beneficiaries.

Source of Information: Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Vol. 8, No. 1

Article Link (Online Journal): http://searca.org/ajad/files/070314143507_AJAD_2011_8_1_1Haque.pdf

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The three cases presented in this paper show that there is a marked difference between community-based fish culture in public and privately-owned floodplains. The DoFWorldFish project on fish culture has proven that it is technologically and socially feasible to successfully integrate large floodplains into community-based fish culture, irrespective of whether they are subject to public or private ownership. Institutional embedding of the DoF through the FMCs as implementing institutions appeared highly instrumental. Large numbers of people, including landless poor seasonal fishers, professional landowning fishers, and non-fishing landowners, benefited from the successful implementation of the CBFC activities in the floodplains. The outcomes demonstrate a significant increase in income among all classes of beneficiaries through the income derived from their involvement in the fisheries cooperative and fish culture. Despite the conflicts that arose, an environment with a win-win situation was created for large numbers of people, with active and strategic participation of the DoF in the implementation of the project. The outcomes of the present study support and expand the data from similar studies carried out in privately owned seasonal floodplains (Dey et al. 2005) and demonstrate that community-based fish culture can also be successfully implemented in large publicly-owned floodplains, if supported by effective institutional arrangements.

Knowledge Management: Journal