Aquaculture Crsp 21st Annual Technical Report

This project focuses on building a web-based information delivery system and decision-making capacity in Honduras for institutionalizing low-input-based tilapia systems for smalland medium-scale farmers. Appropriate information for the tilapia system was identified through searches of the literature, visits to farms, interviews with decision makers and experts, and input of stakeholders. Data for Honduras and information on the tilapia system was organized to make it compatible with the navigation scheme of the proposed website. The website developed in this project (www.acuacultura.org) includes information on all aspects of production, economics, marketing, and development and extension for tilapia systems. The website also includes information about stakeholders. A discussion board is designed to hold virtual meetings and exchange indigenous knowledge and experiences. Realizing that the Internet is not available to many smalland medium-scale farmers, we focused on training the trainers, that is, extension agents who work with farmers. From March 2001, 37 training courses provided exposure to the web-based system. Participants in five workshops had the opportunity to navigate the website. Those with some experience using the Internet were keen to use the website. We estimate that over 50% of the participants in our training courses in the last 12 months from Honduras, Nicaragua, and San Salvador regularly accessed the Internet. We provided a three-week technical training course on designing, building and maintaining of websites. Two Zamorano staff members were given additional advanced courses on content design, databases, and database driven websites. In the last 12 months, these staff updated the database and modified the website. Many training course participants were keen on developing a consortium of stakeholders for regular information exchange through the website. Zamorano is now positioned to engage local educational institutions, agencies, farmers and non-governmental personnel to lead in this effort. A multi-stakeholder, goal-based decision methodology was developed. In this approach, instead of thinking of what problems are to be overcome, one is asked to create a view of the future and then identify the obstacles that will prevent them from achieving the desired future conditions. A short-course with invited decision-makers from educational institutions, NGOs, agencies and representatives of “voiceless” (women and children) provided an overview and some hands-on experience in goal-based decision making. This is perhaps the first project in the development of low-income economic countries devoted to the use of the Internet, for creating an enabling environment. Honduras has undertaken a project, funded by the United National Development Program (UNDP), to install wireless Internet to connect rural municipalities throughout the country. TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL TECHNICAL REPORT 184 APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH 185