Second phase of AwF project in Nepal successfully begun

Second phase of AwF project in Nepal successfully begun

A report on the initiation of this project has been received from Drs. Ram Bhujel and Madhav Shretha. This can be read in full by clicking here.

We are gratified to read the words of one committed farmer, Khrishna Raj Pandey, who said – “Fish farming is 5 times more profitable than vegetable farming and at least 15 times more profitable than rice.”  Consequently, he has decided to stock more fish in other plots as well. He believes that if farmers know this fact then almost all the people will adopt fish farming in the village and other areas of the country.

Meeting with Farmers

AwF T-shirts now on sale to support ongoing projects in Nepal

T-shirts with the AwF logo are now available, courtesy of Dr Ram C. Bhujel at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). Your first opportunity to purchase one (or as many as you like!) will be at the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010 in Phuket, Thailand, in September.

Don’t fear, if you are not going to Phuket, they will be available at future conferences and fundraising events.

Or if you like, you can order and pay via PayPal using credit cards or debit card from anywhere in the world. The T-shirt costs US$30 each and has been added as an item of the Thai Store/Shop run by Ram’s wife; go to http://www.see-thailand.com/whcove.html.

The initial run of 100 T-shirts is going fast, and why not – it is for a good cause!  With the funds generated from T-shirt sales, Ram plans to expand the AwF project in Nepal to more locations on a continuous basis so that they do not need to worry about the long-term sustainability of the project. Please show your support for this initiative with a purchase today!

First trip report from AwF-UA farmer-to-farmer programme now available

The first trip report from the AwF-UA Farmer-to-Farmer Programme [see news item dated May 26 2010: AwF and University of Arizona receive farmer-to-farmer aquaculture niche award from US-AID for details of this programme] has been received. It can be read in full on the Projects page of this website, see THAILAND: AwF-UA Farmer-to-Farmer Programme (Trip report June 2010).

Marlow mothers support AwF again!

Having given Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) a donation of £500 in 2005, Third World Aid made a second donation to AwF (UK) of £750 recently, following an appeal by the AwF Founder. The Directors of AwF are most grateful for the continued interest and support that we have received from this group of mothers in Marlow (England) and wish them every success in the selfless work that they do for the poor in developing countries.

Third World Aid (TWA) began life as the Ethiopian Aid Project (EAP) in 1974. A small group of young mothers from St Peter’s Church in Marlow responded to a cry for help from Father Gerry Stones, a priest working with the poor and impoverished in Ethiopia. Most of the mothers had young children at Primary School in Marlow.

Aquaculture talk raises funds for AwF

AwF (UK) Director Scott Peddie (sitting, far right) with some of those who attended the presentation and donated to AwF

AwF (UK) director, Rev. Dr. Scott Peddie, gave a talk on aquaculture and the work of AwF to a number of interested individuals at Dromore First Presbyterian Church in County Down, Northern Ireland on Wednesday 9th June. Commenting on the event, Scott said that “at the outset, most of the audience admitted that they had only a vague idea of what aquaculture actually was, never mind its role in alleviating poverty in some of the poorest parts of the world. However, by the end of the presentation people were clearly very impressed by the projects undertaken by AwF and the potential to do more if the resources were available.” 

A collection taken at the end of the presentation amounted to £ 135. Not only that, some of those present at the meeting indicated that they would like to raise money for AwF projects in the future. For his part, Scott looks forward to giving more of these presentations in churches, schools and community groups in the near future.

AwF volunteer provides support to Novus-Heifer project in Vietnam

Novus International is a global leader in animal health and nutrition and has donated US$100 000 to Heifer International, Vietnam to implement a new project in Ben Tre province in the Mekong Delta. The project aims to improve the livelihoods of poor and disadvantaged households in rural communities through sustainable small scale agriculture. Novus has committed to assist in the training of local project partners who work closely with these communities.

Technical experts from the fields of ruminant, poultry and aquaculture were identified to be involved with this project. Reshad Alam is the aquaculture technical specialist from AwF who is providing the “Train the Trainers” (TOT) program for the Novus-Heifer project in Vietnam. In planning for the TOT session, the Technical experts were invited to visit the communities who will directly benefit from this project. The visit included a discussion session which gave the technical experts, project participants, project trainers and project coordinators an opportunity to provide inputs on the training needs and to plan the TOT.

AQUAMEDIT 2010 pledges donation to AwF

AQUAMEDIT 2010, the 5^th International Congress on Aquaculture, Fisheries Technology and Environmental Management, will be held at the Aquaculture & Fisheries Management Department of the Technological Education Institute (TEI), Mesolonghi , Greece , 25-27 November 2010. Its theme is Capture Based Aquaculture: Combining Fisheries and Aquaculture for Sustainable Development. As usual, the principal organiser of this conference is the Panhellenic Society of Technologists Ichthyologists (PA.S.T.I.).

AQUAMEDIT 2010 has pledged to donate one (1) Euro to AwF for every delegate that registers for the Congress, plus the amount from a collection box placed on the registration desk.

PASTI has contributed to AwF several times before in this way and we are most grateful to its President, Michael Chatziefstathiou, for his kind initiative.

Full details about the programme of AQUAMEDIT 2010 are available from http://homepages.pathfinder.gr/pasti/pages_UK.htm.

AwF issues complete financial summary since its founding date

For the first time, the accounts of AwF and AwF (UK) covering the period since their inception in 2003 until the end of May 2010 have been released (see Reports page: AwF Financial Summary 2003-2010. PDF). 

During this period AwF and AwF (UK) have received over US$135,000 in donations.

Total expenses have been $7,160 [mainly bank charges, filing fees and fund-raising costs incurred by AwF; fund-raising costs incurred by AwF (UK) do not appear in the accounts because only net income is recorded].

Total project funding utilising these donations has reached nearly $68,000. In addition, AwF and AwF (UK) have utilised over $174,000 in joint activities with other organisations.

Thus the total funds raised by AwF and AwF (UK) have reached almost $310,000 and the funds already used in our work are approaching $250,000.

New AwF website gets kudos

Since launching on Tuesday, May 18th (12 days ago), the new AwF website has been visited 2,111  times (avg. 176 visits/day). The Board of Directors has received numerous emails and phone calls of congratulations from colleagues and friends; the response has been extremely positive. Below are some examples:

From Peter Edwards, Bangkok, Thailand: The new website looks good and should help the cause.

From Narayanan Kutty, Kerala, India: Have seen the new website. It looks great – now the possibilities of its expansion as needed seem to be infinite. 

From Wagner Valenti, Brazil: I have visited the new webpage of AwF and liked it very much! Congratulations to you and other directors!”

AwF and University of Arizona receive farmer-to-farmer aquaculture niche award from US-AID

We are pleased to announce that the US-AID has awarded $97,528 in a one year grant to administer a Farmer-to-Farmer program sending volunteers to India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and New Caledonia to work with local aquaculture farmers to implement more sustainable farming techniques.  The original proposal can be seen on our projects page (current projects and field activities).