§ Baroness Hilton of Eggardonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What funding they are providing for intensive shrimp production in Bangladesh. [HL3919]
§ Baroness AmosDFID has recently agreed to provide £9.76 million to support the Government of Bangladesh's Fourth Fisheries Project. The project will engage government, non-governmental and community based organisations in improving aquatic resource management of inland waters and coastal polders. Fourteen per cent, of the funding will support a component for improving the shrimp production system. DFID's contribution is 25 per cent, of the total project requirements, which will be parallel financed with the World Bank and the Bangladesh Government over five years.
As a major supporter of sustainable fisheries development in Bangladesh for many years, DFID shares local concerns about the environmental and social impact of past development of the shrimp industry. We have been able to influence development partners in this sector, using our expertise to provide strong environmental and social analyses in the design of the new project. This helped to put poverty elimination and environmental sustainability objectives at the centre of project design. For the shrimp component, DFID also helped to modify the focus of the project to the creation of more diverse and stable livelihoods in areas where shrimp are produced.
The project plans to promote the production of shrimp by smallholders, but this is conditional on the outcome of a feasibility study in the first year which will fully consider social and environmental dimensions in consultation with the communities concerned and NGOs. The project will also support a regional initiative to develop a code of conduct for responsible shrimp culture.