One-stop Aqua Shops (OAS)

(4pp.)

Encouraging them to come to us: changing the way that information is made available to farmers

Recommendations for changes to service provision and fisheries policy in support of poverty alleviation emerged recently in India from a process know as facilitated advocacy (see Case Study SI 2) that helped to negotiate and support a role for poor people and their service providers, to contribute to changes in services and policies. Two of the key recommendations to emerge from farmers and fishers, which were prioritized by Fisheries Departments, were to change the way that information is made available and to simplify procedures for accessing government schemes and bank loans. This case which identifies the origin of these recommendations to change the way that information is made available, shows how different models of the concept have emerged, and follows the development of the One-stop Aqua Shops (OAS) in the eastern Indian states of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, that represent a new and vital tier in communications in aquaculture. (12 p.)

STREAM Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp 1-19. July-September 2005

CONTENTS: One-stop Aqua Shops: an emerging phenomenon in Eastern India, by Graham Haylor, Rubu Mukerjee and S.D. Tripathi. Ranchi One-stop Aqua Shop, by Ashish Kumar. Kaipara One-stop Aqua Shop, by Kuddus Ansary. Bilenjore One-stop Aqua Shop, by Bhawani Sankar Panda. Patnagarh One-stop Aqua Shop, by Dipti Behera and Lingraj Otta. Using bar-coding in a One-stop Aqua Shop, by Christopher Keating.