Promotion of “One Village, One Fisheries Products (FOVOP)”

Summary of the Promotion of “One Village, One Fisheries Products (FOVOP)” System to Improve the Livelihood for the Fisheries Communities in ASEAN Region

I. Project Type: Human resources development (HRD) programs mobilizing existing regional technical cooperation schemes and expertise for both awareness building and capacity building on the promotion of active participation of the women’s group in economic activities in the fishing community through the promotion of “one village one fisheries product”(FOVOP) system.

II. The Objectives: The main objective is to improve fisheries livelihood through motivation of the potential people in the fishing communities in ASEAN Member Countries through introduction and promotion of “One Village, One Fisheries Product (FOVOP)”. And in order to achieve the above Development Objectives, the project will focus on the following detailed objectives through various HRD activities.

1) To enhance the awareness on the gender and development in the fishing communities, especially to clarify the role and function of women’s group for the development of small- scale economic activities in the community level;
2) To develop the regional strategy on the development and promotion of “One Village, One Fisheries Product (FOVOP)” especially the policy to support these activities through the government services;
3) To evaluate the needs and problem areas on the introduction and development of “One Village, One Fisheries Product (FOVOP)”in each ASEAN Member Country;
4) To identify the regional mechanism requirement to support the promotional work on “One Village, One Fisheries Product (FOVOP)”; and
5) To provide basis to facilitate exchange of experiences among ASEAN Countries and experts, including experience from the case studies to develop recommendation for future FOVOP activities that could be later developed, which are suitable for each local situation in respective ASEAN Country.

III. Project Activities:

The project is included 6 major activities as follows

The 1st Regional Technical Consultation (RTC) on the Promotion of “One Village, One Fisheries Product (FOVOP)”
This RTC will be held to discuss and share experiences among the regional participants on the OVOP, Japan and OTOP, Thailand as a basis for the development of appropriate strategies for the promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN region. RTC will also share the experiences on the gender and development in ASEAN region. It is also important to identify the required financial resources including through available micro-credit in the region, even though these requirement might be minimal, for the working capital of the economic activities to be identified.

Development of the Materials for Training and Awareness Building Activities
Based on the outcomes of RTC, required materials for various HRD activities to be conducted in the project will be prepared by the SEAFDEC Secretariat and project experts. Then the draft guidelines to promote the FOVOP in ASEAN Region will be prepared.

Regional HRD Workshop on Identification of Potential and Problem Areas for the Promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region

After that the Regional HRD Workshop on Identification of Potential and Problem Areas for the Promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region will be organized. Through this workshop exchanging of experiences on the issues in the region and will also discuss about the implementation of the case studies (5 sites in the region) in selected ASEAN Countries and standardized methodologies of the case study. The countries that are going to conduct the case studies will be selected using the criteria including the followings.

- The level of willingness and readiness of the countries;
- The level of acceptance of the technical obligation including writing case study reports and translation of HRD material to local languages; and
- The level acceptance of financial obligation under SEAFDEC cost share system on the implementation of the case study.

Case Studies on the Promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region (Local HRD Workshop)

Under the HRD project, the case studies will be conducted by SEAFDEC in five selected sites of five Member Countries as Local HRD Workshop with the representatives of the identified women’s group. The Local HRD Workshop will be similar to the Regional HRD Workshop on Identification of Potential and Problem Areas for the Promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region”, but mainly using local languages and materials. More detailed and localized potential and problem areas will be identified through the exchange of experiences of the participants.

Revision of HRD Materials

The responsible officer of the central government will revise the regional HRD materials including strategies and guidelines accommodating the findings through the local consultation meeting.

Based on the revised HRD materials submitted by the responsible officers of the central government that conducted case studies, the Secretariat will revise the regional HRD materials (including Strategies and guidelines) so as to reflect the outcomes of the case studies.

The 2nd RTC on the Promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region

The 2nd RTC on the Promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region will be organized. HRD activities will be conducted using the revised HRD materials accommodating the outcomes of the case studies in the selected countries and localities. Through reviewing the HRD materials and exchanging the experiences of the participants, these HRD materials will be finalized as the regional strategies and guidelines including the followings for the promotion of FOVOP movement.
1) Regional Strategy and Guidelines for the promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region;
2) Regional Strategy and Guidelines for the Support of Government Agencies on the Promotion of FOVOP;
3) Regional Guidelines for the Mobilization of the Micro-Credit and Marketing Promotion in Rural areas; and
4) Regional Guidelines on the Identification of the FOVOP Products

In addition, the 2nd RTC will also discuss and recommend future possible post-project activities and will further discuss the development of regional network to promote FOVOP in ASEAN region, in the long run.

IV. Proposed Outcomes:

Awareness building on how the Fisheries OVOP (FOVOP) can provide impact on the following issues, will be greatly enhanced through the successful project implementation
1) Improvement of fisheries livelihood;
2) Impact on the over-capacity;
3) Gender and development in the fishing community;
4) Active participation of women’s group on the community based business activities; and
5) Recommendation on identified future FOVOP activities to be implemented in respective ASEAN Country.

Through the proposed HRD activities, the following strategies/ policy and guidelines will be clarified and understood among the various stakeholders in the region.

1) Regional strategy and guidelines for the promotion of FOVOP in ASEAN Region, especially on HRD motivating local people and encouragement for the appropriate institutional set up including women’s group;
2) Regional strategy and guidelines for the support of government agencies on the promotion of FOVOP;
3) Regional guidelines for the mobilization of the micro-credit and marketing promotion in rural areas; and
4) Regional guidelines on the Identification of the FOVOP Products.