Aquaculture CRSP
SECTION A: NEW WORK PLANS
HONDURAS RESEARCH
Production Strategies Characterizing Small- and Medium-Scale Tilapia Farms:
Approaches, Barriers, and Needs
Adoption/Diffusion Research 8 (9ADR8)/Study
Objective
Conduct analysis of Honduras tilapia producer perceptions of production processes, limitations, constraints, and possibilities.
Significance
Rural people in Honduras constitute almost 61 percent of the total population (Stonich, 1992; Barham and Childress, 1992). They have little access to basic development goods—food, shelter, potable water, sanitation systems, education, communications, roads, and markets. Eighty percent of all rural people live in poverty. Sixty-six percent of farmers who produce basic grains, the country's staple food, have access to only eight percent of all cultivable land. This 66 percent has, on average, slightly more than one hectare of land to secure a year's supply of basic grains to feed a family with approximately six children and to produce a surplus for the nation.1 Given the high levels of poverty in Honduras, it will be particularly important to attend to the problems that small- and medium-scale farmers have in realizing the cash potential of their tilapia crop.
To illustrate the problems farmers face in rural Honduras, we cite a description of one particular locality. CIAT researchers' account of Yoro, in Central Honduras, is illustrative. The principal commercial distribution channel is the intermediary or coyote. Such persons generally do not live in the community, instead traveling from San Pedro Sula, Morazán, El Progreso, El Negrito, Comayagua, Siguatepeque, or El Salvador. Sometimes the intermediary provides equipment services at high prices and finance at high interest rates.2 Although there are ponds and aquaculture activities in Yoro, this activity is not described in the CIAT account. The most important distribution problems of rural producers center on price followed by the availability of opportunities to sell their product on a regular basis (Abbot, 1993; Molnar et al., 1996). Rural producers in Honduras face particular difficulties due to the difficult terrain, poor road system, and fragmentation in the rural sector.
In the survey data they examined, Molnar et al. (1996) found that almost half the Honduran farmers said that middlemen purchased some or all of their fish. A higher proportion of farmers that sold tilapia to restaurants in Honduras than in the other PD/A CRSP country samples. Honduran farmers were the most confident about being able to sell their tilapia at some price, even if it was not what they originally asked. The most common distribution method for farmers in all countries was pond bank sales to neighbors and others coming to the ponds at harvest. Word-of-mouth knowledge about prospective harvests or the willingness to partial harvest for immediate sale remain primary means for marketing tilapia for most small- and medium-scale farmers.
Most research on the tilapia in Latin America deals with high-volume exports and the potential to increase sales of fresh and frozen tilapia fillets in the US (Engle, 1997; Nelson et al., 1983). Little work has focused on understanding the problems and prospects of domestic sales for small- and medium-scale tilapia producers. Wholesalers, distributors, and urban restaurant buyers typically rely on connections tolarge-scale producers who can provide a regular supply of uniform product. The target audience for this project has many barriers to participation in these distribution channels associated with distance, cost of transportation, and knowledge of the workings of these opportunities. Thus, we hypothesize that small- and medium-scale farmers rely largely on a diverse set of local strategies for realizing cash from their tilapia crops.
Although tilapia can be a source of steady income, the enterprise is not likely to generate rapid or large profits. Producers holding exaggerated expectations tend to define normal results as disappointment or failure. Thus, some of the negative sentiment about tilapia in Honduras stems from unrealistic views of the rate of adoption and impacts of tilapia production (Molnar and Lovshin, 1995). Small- and medium-scale farmers may more profitably rely on strategies such as pond bank sales, partial harvesting for local delivery to restaurants or markets, or other niche arrangements that reflect situational opportunities.
Anticipated Benefits
Enhanced understanding of production barriers, distribution difficulties, and disincentives to participation in tilapia culture are important ingredients in effort to assist farmers in increasing their production. The project must understand and anticipate those factors that make farmers anxious about the benefits they will receive from new or reactivated fish ponds.
Identification of Beneficiaries
Tilapia producers and technical advisors will be the primary beneficiaries of this study.
Collaborative Arrangements
Auburn and Zamorano will work together to develop a survey instrument assessing the distribution and production problems of tilapia producers. It is intended that this study be conducted in collaboration with the Zamorano principal investigator and the socioeconomist to be employed by Zamorano.
Experimental Design/Methods
The socioeconomist employed by Zamorano will conduct interviews with approximately 20 tilapia farmers at each of five regionally representative fingerling supplier sites throughout Honduras (Casley and Kumar, 1988). As many women producers as possible will be interviewed so that the study results can identify their special problems and needs. An interview instrument will be collaboratively developed and pretested by the researchers. This instrument will be used in personal interviews with tilapia farmers to obtain experiences and perceptions of the distribution process.
Identification of Deliverables
A report entitled "Perceptions, Experiences, and Production Problems Encountered by Tilapia Farmers in Honduras" will be issued. This report will describe the distribution strategies and frequently encountered difficulties of small- and medium-scale tilapia farmers in Honduras.
Schedule/Time Line
An interview schedule used previously in 1992 will be developed and adapted to reflect current farm-level conditions in Honduras. Data collection will be completed by November 2000. A preliminary version of the results will be presented at the second planning conference to be held in Tegucigalpa in October 2000. The final conference will be in March 2001. A final report will be available by 30 April 2001.
References
Abbot, J.C., 1993. Marketing, the rural poor, and sustainability. Chapter 6 in J. Abbot (Ed.) Agricultural and Food Marketing in Developing Countries. Rome: CAB International.
Barham, B.L. and M. Childress, 1992. Membership desertion as an adjustment process on Honduran agrarian reform enterprises. Economic Development and Cultural Change 40:587–613.
Casley, D.J. and K. Kumar, 1988. The Collection, Analysis, and Use of Monitoring and Evaluation Data. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Engle, C.R., 1997. Marketing of the tilapias. In: B. Costa-Pierce, and J. Rakocy (Eds.), Tilapia Aquaculture in the Americas, Volume I. World Aquaculture Society, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Molnar, J.J. and L. Lovshin, 1995. Prospects for the Sustained Practice of Tilapia Culture in Honduras: Factors Inhibiting Full Realization of the Enterprise. Mimeo. International Center for Aquaculture and Aquatic Environments, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.
Molnar, J., T. Hanson, and L. Lovshin, 1996. Impacts of Aquacultural Research on tilapia: The Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP in Rwanda, Honduras, The Philippines, and Thailand. Research and Development Series 40. International Center for Aquaculture and Aquatic Environments, Auburn University, Alabama.
Nelson, R.G., L. Behrends, P. Galbreath, and T. Barnes, 1983. Estimating relative sales potential of tilapia in supermarkets. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 37:314-326.
Stonich, S.C., 1992. I Am Destroying the Land: The Political Economy of Poverty and Environmental Destruction in Honduras. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.
1Rural women's educational level is equivalent to men's, but both are deficient. Illiteracy is concentrated in rural areas where, according to 1988 statistics, 51 percent of the population is illiterate. The historical trend that discriminated against young girls' education has been rectified in Honduras, according to recent census data. Comparing women to men, slightly more women are literate than men. The poverty of the rural population is manifested by chronic malnutrition. Multiple births without adequate spacing and nearly continuous breast feeding have even greater negative consequences for women's health. Depending on the region, illiterate women in rural Honduras have an average of between 6.7 and 8.2 children in their lifetimes, averages that are among the highest in Latin America. Seventy percent of all breast-feeding mothers suffer from Vitamin A deficiency, and iron intake is estimated at 40 percent of the recommended level. The rural population suffers from both caloric and protein deficiencies that limit mental and physical growth as well as the capacity for continuous physical activity.
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PD/A CRSP
