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| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
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$ 5.6 million grant to develop14 model fishing communities by Elmo Leonard The development of 14 model coastal communities in the districts of Hambantota, Ampara and Batticaloa involving a budget of $5.6 million for two years gets under way with the facilitation of international experts. The key players are the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Italian Cooperation. FAO's objective is to restore and enhance fisheries and agricultural based livelihoods, reduce vulnerability and increase self-reliance among fishermen who suffered from the tsunami, FAO emergency and rehabilitation coordinator, Mona Chaya said. As a prelude, a workshop was concluded with 15 experts from six countries, including relief agencies, FAO, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, University of Peradeniya, STREAM Network of Aquaculture Centre and Asia Pacific (Thailand), National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka and A P Remote Sensing Application Centre (India). Three field teams composed of livelihood analysis experts will spend at least ten days in each of the selected communities. Through this exercise the project will gain better knowledge on the capacity and strength of people to take up livelihoods activities. Based on the outcome of this constellation, the project will fund activities dealing with a special focus on Livelihood Diversification and Small Enterprise Development (LDED), head of the Coordination and Technical Assistance Unit of Italian Cooperation in Sri Lanka, Paolo Bononi said. The project will also fund pilot aquaculture plans for the selected villages. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) experts will identify locations suitable to develop saltwater aquaculture. The same data will be used for the development of an Integrated Natural Resource Information System (INRIS) for sustainable coastal zone management. The INRIS will provide authorities with a tool which will facilitate natural resource management in the project area. The project provides excellent tools for ensuring that future interventions in the sector are sustainable, players said. Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources G Piyasena hoped the process of development of model coastal communities would soon be employed in other coastal areas. |
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