A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management , School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2018

Protein malnutrition in Timor-Leste is rampant especially in rural villages. Promotion of small-scale aquaculture has just begun in some districts in the hope that it could contribute to reduce malnutrition problem. A field survey was conducted in Viqueque and Bobonaro municipals of Timor-Leste to compare fish production, consumption, sales and other socio economic indicators, and to make recommendations for the sustainable development of aquaculture in Timor-Leste. The two districts were selected to compare the impacts between 2after project3 and 2during project3. Viqueque, where the project was completed a year ago and Bobonaro, where the project was still on-going. In both the districts, farmers raised Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) obtained mainly from Gleno Hatchery in Ermera. Present survey showed that showed majority (60% in Viqueque vs 80% in Bobonaro) of household heads had no formal education at all. The entire household heads interviewed were men in Viqueque whereas in Bobonaro, 75% were men and 25% were women. In Viqueque 70% of the farmers had only one pond whereas in Bobonaro 42.5% had one pond and 45% had two ponds. The majority (57.5%) of farmers in Bobonaro have big ponds is 10m x 10m or bigger whereas in Viqueque relatively a few farmers (35%) have big ponds. In Viqueque all the farmers constructed ponds after 2010 whereas in Bobonaro a few farmers (7.5%) had constructed their ponds long ago during 1980s and 90s. A newly established tilapi ahathcery at Gleno, Ermera is the main source of fingerlings except for 3 farmers in Viqueque. All the farmers use spring water to fill the ponds in Viqueque whereas in Bobonaro 25% farmers use river water as well in addition to 75% from springs. The survey also revealed that in Bobonaro and Viqueque over 90% families consumed fish ranging from 11 to 20 kg per year after having fishponds. In Viqueque large majority (75%) of households did not consume fish at all before construing fishponds, which declined to 25% after having fishponds. At least 50% consumed fish at least 1-2 time per year. In Bobonaro, only six households (15%) mentioned no fish consumption and 72.5% used to eat at least 5-6 times per year even before constructing the ponds. In Viqueque, there is only one farmers{u2019} group named 2Moris Foun3 with 40 farmers whereas n Bobonaro there are three groups of farmers in different places i.e. Lotan Batugede (20 farmers), Leohitu (10 farmers) and Beiliku (10 farmers. In Viqueque nobody added new ponds because whereas in Bobonaro majority (60%) added one pond. In Bobonaro more than half of the farmers (62.5%) feed the fish 3 times a day and 32.5% fed once, while in Viqueque all the farmers fed the fish twice daily only. In Bobonaro about half of the farmers feed the fish with locally made pelleted feed while in Viqueque more than half (60%) farmers fed the fish with rice bran and kale leaf. In terms of fish harvest, in Bobonaro total production from 40 farmers was 574 kg/year while in Viqueque it was lower i.e. 426 kg/year fish production; out of which 510 kg and 338 kg were sold per year respectively, which generated over US$2,000 in total in each district showing US$71.71 and US$53.25/household as income per year. Average fish price per kg was US$5, which is quite high indicating good economic prospect for farmers. Farming of tilapia is likely to expand. However, seed, feed and fish stealing are the major problems, which need to be addressed for any intervention of aquaculture programs.