This paper is an impact study of key short- and long-run effects of the Danida supported Mymensingh Aquaculture Extension Project (MAEP) in Bangladesh, applying different matching and double difference estimators. Results are mixed. First, the paper finds a positive short-run impact on pond productivity and the value of fish production per capita among participants. However, in the long run no similar well-determined effect emerges. Second, MAEP appears to have had no significant impact on socioeconomic status as measured by consumption expenditure of participating households. The authors argue that these results are closely linked to non-favourable developments in the output price and the fact that agricultural production, including rearing of livestock and service sector employment (self or wage employment), are much larger sources of income than fish pond production.

A rapid increase in aquaculture production in Bangladesh has lowered fish prices, increased protein consumption, and reduced poverty. The Making of a Blue Revolution in Bangladesh offers a valuable case study of how this transformation in the fish value chain has occurred and how it has improved the lives of both fish producers and fish consumers and considers the future potential of aquaculture in Bangladesh.

ÿThe European Union-supported Agriculture and Nutrition Extension Project (ANEP) began in Bangladesh and Nepal in December 2011 and ended in November 2014. The objectives of the project were to: (1) improve the food security and nutrition of smallholders by facilitating the adoption of productive and environmentally sustainable agricultural technologies that improve beneficiaries? livelihoods; and (2) create and develop market links to improve food and nutritional security of both rural producers and urban consumers in Bangladesh and Nepal. The most significant change stories in this booklet cover many topics ? technology, gender, markets, research partnerships and scaling ? illustrating the broad range of outcomes from Agriculture and Nutrition Extension Project (ANEP). The authors focus on most significant change stories relating to aquaculture. A prominent theme was the power of international visits where participants learned from each other and it also highlights both the broad range of outcomes of the project, and the power of exchange visits.

The impressive growth in aquaculture is now commonly dubbed a “blue revolution.” In some Asian countries, fish availability has increased at a faster rate in recent decades than did cereal availability during the Green Revolution. As an example, Bangladesh is one country where aquaculture has increased almost eightfold since the early 1990s. This growth has important implications for food and nutrition securities. Yet, there is little research on the determinants and impacts of this growth to document the lessons, identify evolving issues, and guide policy discussions. This paper attempts to fill that gap. Using several rounds of nationally representative household survey data, the authors conducted microsimulations to generate disaggregated estimates. The results show that, between 2000 and 2010, about 12 percent of Bangladesh’s overall poverty reduction can be attributed to aquaculture growth. In other words, of the 18 million Bangladeshis who escaped poverty during this period, more than 2 million of them managed to do so because of the growth in aquaculture. However, the results vary widely across income groups, with households in the third income quintile (which is not the poorest) benefiting the most. The implications of the results, methodological issues, and areas of future research are also discussed.