Working Paper

Productivity and profitability of small-scale tilapia aquaculture in Myanmar

Abstract

To promote the sustainable development of aquaculture in Myanmar, WorldFish and its partners 
implemented the Scaling Systems and Partnerships for Accelerated Adoption of Improved Tilapia Strains 
(SPAITS) project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development 
and commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit through the Fund 
International Agricultural Research. The goal was to increase the adoption of improved tilapia strains among 
poor fish producers and deliver improved productivity and profitability of small-scale aquaculture so that 
poor producers, particularly women, are able to exit poverty and natural resource systems are improved to 
sustain future fish production. The project’s purpose is to design systems that accelerate the dissemination 
and adoption of improved tilapia strains and aquaculture management practices developed by WorldFish, 
based on relevant gender-sensitive and contextual knowledge, that will enable poor small-scale fish farmers 
to have access to, adopt and benefit from improved strains of tilapia. As an activity of the project, this study focuses on assessing the performance of small-scale tilapia aquaculture operated by aquaculture households in Myanmar