| Author | Nguyen Thi Quy Linh |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RD-07-10 |
| Subject(s) | Aquaculture--Vietnam--Nghe An
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Regional and Rural Development Planning |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The research examined farmers' participation in a community-based aquaculture project in Quynh Loe commune in the center of Vietnam. The main objectives of the research were to describe the institutional framework for farmers' participation in the key project stages including the decision-making, implementation and M&E; to examine aspects and intensity of famers' participation in various development stages of the project; to assess social, economic, institutional and environmental benefits and feedback of farmers from their participation; to analyze factors associating with farmers' participation in the various stages and identify their problems, potential and needs; and to suggest recommendations to strengthen participatory planning in aquaculture development and provide planning implications for the future. The research was conducted with the use of a survey questionnaire at the household level with a total of 66 households participating in the aquaculture development project as the members of four farmers' groups. The research was focused on quantitative analysis with the support of qualitative statements. Main findings of this research showed that the farmers participated in all the key development stages of the project including decision-making stage, implementation and M&E with quite high intensity. The farmers participated from moderately to frequently in the decision-making stage, while from occasionally to frequently in the implementation and M&E stages. Farmers' participation intensity was varied among the four groups in different project activities. Eventually, the beneficial households perceived to get different degrees of benefits from their participation. In general, they perceived a high level of degree of benefits on the institutional and social aspects, followed by those on the economic and environmental aspects. The intensity of the farmers' participation in the project stages associated significantly with their perception on institutional benefits and their own socio-economic characteristics. The key common factors associating with the farmer's participation obtained from various stakeholders and other sources were membership in local organizations, role of leadership, satisfaction from participation, household income, institutional capacity to organize meetings and conflict resolution. Certain problems were identified in relation to farmers' participation both during and after the project duration. These were lack of experience in participatory activities and implementation challenges in aquaculture production, inadequate leadership skills to sustain the participatory aquaculture development at a commune level. Potentials were envisaged mainly due to the existing strengths of institutional set-up and arrangements designed by the project. Specific needs of the farmers were identified primarily related to several aspects of aquaculture production. Certain recommendations were given in this research to solicit farmers' participation in various key stages of aquaculture development project, strengthen capacity of members of CAA, local leaders and community facilitators in organizing participatory aquaculture development activities more effectively and improve a participatory monitoring and evaluation system of the project. |
| Year | 2007 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Soparth Pongquan; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Thapa, Gopal Bahadur;Shivakoti, Ganesh P; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | AIT Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007 |