Canadian University Projects in International Development Database (CUPID)

Southern oceans education and development

Other partners
Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária e Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina (Brazil)
Instituto Nacional de Desenvolvimento da Pesca de Pequeno Escala (IDPPE) (Mozambique)
Instituto Nacional de Investigação Pesqueira (IIP) (Mozambique)
Ministério das Pescas, Departamento de Aquicultura (Mozambique)

Link to Brazil and Mozambique's national development priorities
The Government of Mozambique's Plan of Action to Reduce Absolute Poverty emphasizes the need to promote a science culture at all levels of education to increase knowledge, build capacity in professors and develop technology applicable to the public and private sector. The project will directly address this priority by building capacity at the School of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Eduardo Mondlane University, increasing teaching capability and augmenting curricula in the areas of coastal zone management, marine sciences and aquaculture. The Plan also recognizes that rural development is key to the nation's social and economic advancement. The project will directly address this priority through the development of extension programs in rural coastal areas of the provinces of Inhambane and Nampula.

Project purpose
The project, in partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries (INAQUA), aims at improving productivity, competitiveness, efficiency and the quality of human capital in rural areas. INAQUA's personnel will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to manage efficiently and in an environmentally responsible manner the new commercial shrimp production industry. Furthermore, extension programs will be developed to promote the establishment of small scale marine aquaculture micro-enterprises in rural coastal areas, thus augmenting employment opportunities and food security.

Expected outcomes
Expected results include producing skilled professors, researchers, decision makers and technical staff and developing technical and professional training programs to meet the needs of government and private sectors. The project will lead to an increase in food security and poverty reduction as communities embrace new small scale aquaculture based livelihoods. The capacity to monitor and manage small scale and commercial aquaculture by the government at the national level will be increased. This effort will have immediate and long-term impacts at both the vocational and professional levels.

Beneficiaries
Rural and coastal communities are the primary beneficiaries of the project in the long term. In addition, the project targets teachers and students from the School of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Eduardo Mondlane University, the business community and civil servants.

Key activities
The main activities include short-term training and graduate studies, workshops, the development of course materials and extension modules, field research, the improvement of libraries and laboratories, as well as the creation of a website in both Portuguese and English.

Key results to date
The new master¿s program in Sustainable Aquaculture started in July 2010 and has been a great asset to the school. Two faculty members and one Inaqua employee have completed graduate training at UFSC. Two courses at the school have been upgraded and an intensive training in aquaculture has been coordinated by newly trained faculty. Two additional faculty started their master¿s program at UFSC in 2011 and one employee from Inaqua is finishing his master¿s program at University Victoria. Four tilapia ponds have been built at ESCMC for trainings, workshops and classes and one marine lab is under development. The library was improved by the addition of 110 volumes of marine sciences and aquaculture books and a new facility was built to better accommodate books and students. The library is accessed daily by 75 percent of the students. Several collaborations with international institutions have been established and lectures are given by national lecturers as well as visiting professors from universities in Norway, Tanzania, Canada and Brazil. The first two projects for community-based pilot aquaculture operations have been launched and more farmers have requested projects. Workshops and short-term trainings have increased the capacity of extension workers to train village personnel in shrimp culture, environment and program design. Several trainings and workshops on aquaculture and environment, tilapia culture, shrimp culture, project development, sustainable aquaculture, experimental design in aquaculture and HIV/AIDS gender issues have also been offered at the school and at Inaqua.

CIDA priorities addressed

Official development assistance area(s):
Food and nutrition (primary)
Environmental conservation (secondary)

Sector(s):
Fishery development (primary)
Environmental research (secondary)

Policy priorities:
Food security (primary)
Environment (secondary)

Project value
Original CIDA commitment: $965,632
Partners' commitments: $1,127,237

Project duration
March 2007 - May 2013