Aquaculture farmer organizations and cluster management: concepts and experiences

Better management practices
Better management practices (BMPs) for aquaculture production refer to a set of guidelines 
and science-based tools developed out of population-based risk factor studies in farming 
systems and evaluation of current production practices, in consultation with relevant 
stakeholders. The main objective of BMPs is not just to promote increased production but 
to promote responsible and sustainable aquaculture. Although most BMPs have similar 
objectives, there is a significant level of variation in BMPs for different commodities and 
locations, and developing location and context-specific BMPs is very important. BMPs are 
much broader than good aquaculture practices (GAPs), which are commonly used only 
to address food safety issues in aquaculture to minimize contamination of aquaculture 
products with pathogens, chemicals, etc.
Adoption of BMPs aims to improve production practices, reduce disease risk, improve yield 
and contribute to sustainability and economic viability. BMP guidelines are always evolving 
and open to improvement as aquaculture practices progress. Benefits of BMP adoption 
include: reducing and/or minimizing disease occurrence; decreasing the cost of farming; 
improving growth performance; improving environmental conditions and minimizing impact 
on the local environment; attaining food quality standards; improving relationships with 
local communities through perception of commitment to good environmental performance; 
improving marketability of the produce; and facilitating sustainability.
It is clear that adoption of BMPs has brought about very significant beneficial 
impacts to farming systems, best exemplified in the case of the revival and the continued 
sustenance of shrimp farming in India by farmer societies supported by the project 
of the Marine products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the Network 
of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) and now by the National Centre for 
Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA). In this case, not only have the BMPs been adopted 
by individual farmers, the farmer “clusters”, through formation of farmer societies, have 
had improved yields, nearly minimized disease occurrences and brought about increased 
profits, among other benefits. 
Experience from India and elsewhere shows that adoption of BMPs through FOs and 
farmer clusters is much more effective than individual adoption and enables additional 
benefits to complement those related to BMP adoption, including increased bargaining 
power to facilitate input supply and output marketing, increased environmental integrity 
and rational use of water resources, and provides one voice to the group, enabling access to 
government and policy-makers in a much more effective and coherent manner.
Source
: AusAID (2009). 

---

27
Structure, operation and management of farmers’ organizations
clusters and the self- regulation of production activities is undertaken within farmer 
societies and in turn within the clusters and is referred to as cluster management. This 
is necessary partly because farmers in the same locality or cluster usually rely on the 
same water source, and bad management practices of one farmer have the potential 
to affect not only other farmers within the same society but also those in the broader 
cluster as well. Cluster management thus seeks to achieve responsible aquaculture 
production by encouraging farmers to adhere to codes of practice or BMPs as a 
group and to monitor each other’s activities to ensure that the group complies with 
the principles of the particular scheme. Through cluster management, small-scale 
aquaculture farmers have increased chances of achieving priority market access, 
increased ability to join certification schemes, improved reliability of production and 
reduced risks such as disease. 
The establishment of FOs can be a key element in enabling effective cluster 
management and maximizing benefits. For example, in the case of NaCSA’s farmer 
societies in India (so far the best and most widely documented example of successful 
implementation of the cluster management concept), it is the farmer societies that are 
registered with the government and not the clusters. The clusters are an informal, 
unregistered grouping of societies used to enable the specific function of self-regulation 
and quality management within a specific location. As such all the farmers located 
within a cluster are not necessarily members of farmer societies, which can present 
problems when it comes to cluster management.