2022 Seed Grant Award Problem Statements 

Agriculture / Food Security

Problem #3:  Microenterprises in Timor-Leste do not have Access to Locally Appropriate Technologies to Produce Low-cost Fish Feed for use in Smallholder Aquaculture

Country/Region of execution: Timor-Leste
Collaborating Organization: Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Founded in 1943, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been working in Timor-Leste since 1979. CRS partners with local organizations in the areas of health, nutrition, agricultural livelihoods, emergency relief and recovery, disaster risk reduction, and protection. CRS/Timor-Leste has multi-sectoral expertise and is backed by robust technical and administrative support structures at the regional and headquarters levels to ensure high-quality and cost-effective programming, reporting, monitoring, and evaluation. In Timor-Leste, CRS and its partners have extensive experience in promoting agricultural technologies and practices that benefit smallholder farmers and leverage established relationships with government extension agents to reach farmers in remote areas. CRS also works with local input/service providers to ensure rural farmers can access essential on-and off-farm technologies and inputs that increase productivity and ultimately benefit household income. CRS partners in Timor-Leste include agricultural research institutions, national and international NGOs, faith-based organizations, community groups, and government stakeholders.
Problem Statement Description: Stunting affects more than 50% of children in Timor-Leste¹, the highest rate of stunting in the Asia and Pacific Region. [1] Since 2018, CRS has worked with smallholder inland aquaculture farmers in Timor-Leste to increase access to affordable fish as a protein source through the DFAT-funded TOMAK project. CRS currently supports 109 farmers to implement a two-pond per household system for raising mono-sex tilapia fingerlings. The project also supports three community-level nurseries that supply fingerlings. As fingerlings grow, they can no longer meet their nutrient needs from plankton in household ponds, and they require supplementary feeding.  Households generally use cut-up vegetables and kitchen scraps for supplementary feeding, but CRS data shows that even with this strategy, fish require 6-9 months to mature.  The slow growth of fish translates to a longer period before fish can be consumed or sold to generate income, which constitutes a barrier to the adoption of aquaculture practice in rural communities. The imported commercial fish feed can be purchased in Timor-Leste, but the price of approximately US$7 per pond/month is too expensive for many farmers, and supply is often limited to a single seller at a district center, making it hard for smallholders in remote locations to access feed.  The national Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) lacks the capacity to develop affordable fish-feed options. Micro enterprises cannot afford the expensive machinery needed to produce commercial fish feed. The MAF has requested support from NGOs in developing affordable supplemental feed options. WorldFish is researching alternatives but has yet to complete the testing of a formula. Support is needed to co-create a low-cost feed manufacturing technology that uses locally available materials and equipment. Accelerating fish maturation rates would contribute to the Global SDGs of ending poverty (SDG 1) and ending hunger (SDG 2).