Accelerating growth in the pond fish sector

Katalyst has developed an approach to make structural changes in the private sector in Bangladesh. Understanding the private sector, finding the potential agents of change and making deals with them that benefit the poor are important elements of this.

This case study on pond fishery in Faridpur discusses these elements. It explains how to unlock economic potential and how to create economic incentives to change the way fish farmers work. The study also looks at how to reach many farmers in an efficient way, while asking if the changes really address the structural problems or just symptoms.

The study is interesting for several reasons:

• it is based on extensive data and research, making lessons and claims much more valuable
• it explains how embedded services can be applied and how successful they can be
• it discusses the central role of a business association in the development of the fish market in Faridpur
• it looks at how the extensive dataset reveals interesting lessons for the pro-poor growth discussion