FAO support within Aquaculture Development in Pakistan

Efforts include three missions under the FAO/World Bank Cooperative Programme to backstop the formulation of a multimillion World Bank project on aquaculture development in Pakistan, including: (i) a scoping mission in March 2019 focusing on assessment of the status of aquaculture and fisheries in Sindh Province; (ii) a field mission in August 2019 to conduct the "assessment of market opportunities for an expanded Pakistani aquaculture sector", which includes an international market assessment of key aquaculture commodities (shrimp, tilapia and trout) to identify export market opportunities, and a value chain diagnosis of Pakistani aquaculture to identify potential public and private interventions and aquaculture growth potential in the country; and (iii) a field mission in Pakistan in October 2019 to develop economic and financial models to facilitate the formulation of the World Bank project. Built on three aquaculture development projects initially developed by the National Fisheries Development Board and approved by the national government, the World Bank project will be focusing on three areas: (i) shrimp farming (including hatchery operations) in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, with a focus on export earnings; (ii) cage aquaculture nationwide, with a focus on optimal utilization of natural water resources (reservoirs, lakes and rivers) and increased domestic fish consumption; and (iii) trout farming in northern regions for domestic niche markets (e.g. tourist consumption) and local economic development. In parallel, and in order to start immediate support to the development of an aquaculture sector in Pakistan, FAO assisted the Fisheries Development Board in the formulation of two Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) projects, which focus, respectively, on the development of a National Policy and Implementation Plan for the Fisheries and Aquaculture sector (TCP/PAK/3709-C6), and a feasibility study and piloting of the farming of shrimp, prawn and fish species in Punjab and Sindh Provinces (TCP/PAK/3710). [...]a formal request has been received by the Government of Punjab for technical support to develop the provincial fisheries and aquaculture policy to meet its Sustainable Development Goals targets.