Aquaculture farmer organizations and cluster management: concepts and experiences

NACSA SUPPORT TO FARMER SOCIETIES
NaCSA not only facilitates the formation of farmer societies but builds their capacity 
and supports their activities to maximize their chances of success in achieving 
sustainable and profitable shrimp farming. Key activities of NaCSA include: village 
meetings; assistance with registration of society farmers with the CAA using a 
group registration approach, and demonstration programmes where adoption of risk 
management measures is promoted, BMPs are disseminated and awareness is raised 
about the benefits of collective action and farmer organization; farmer field days where 
farmers’ success stories are shared with other farmers who are encouraged to form 
societies; daily field visits by field staff to support farmers’ production activities and 
maintain their commitment and confidence (each NaCSA field manager coordinates 
and manages the activities of ten farmer societies); organization of exchange visits by 
key farmers from successful farmer societies to new villages to share their experiences; 
development of extension materials on BMP adoption, including ten brochures on key 
thematic areas; and training of society coordinators in society management, BMPs, and 
extension techniques (NaCSA, 2009).
PROGRESS
The project has made significant progress, with the number of farmers adopting 
the cluster management approach growing exponentially from 5 in 2002 (covering 
7 hectares in one state) to 7 402 farmers in 312 societies (covering 8 616 hectares in 
four coastal states) to date. The majority of these societies are in the state of Andhra 
Pradesh, which produces half of the farmed shrimp in India. The production of BMP 
shrimp through the project increased from 4 tonnes in 2001 to 4 160 tonnes for the 
first crop of 2009.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The NaCSA model has often been described as a success story of collective action 
and cluster management for sustainable small-scale aquaculture development. This is 
understandable given the numerous achievements of the project, which started with 
the collaboration of MPEDA and NACA and was then institutionalized and scaled 
up through the establishment of NaCSA. The achievements of the project are outlined 
below.