Participatory Planning and Indigenous Knowledge Integration

The project conducted household surveys and community dialogues to incorporate local perceptions of soil, water, and biodiversity. Farmers' observations of drying springs, declining rainfall, and erosion were used alongside model outputs to co-design interventions. Practices like terracing, organic fertilization, and family gardens were promoted. Gender inclusion and respect for indigenous governance enhanced ownership and resilience.

Strong local engagement, trust-building efforts, support from local leaders, and alignment with traditional land-use systems fostered participation.

Co-production of knowledge enriched planning and ensured cultural relevance. Gender-sensitive approaches helped include women, especially in home gardens and agroforestry. Feedback loops reinforced adaptive learning and built community trust.

Using the SIREN App to Raise Awareness and Strengthen Community Connections

The SIREN app is a mobile tool developed by AMMCO to collect data on marine wildlife sightings, strandings, and bycatch, while simultaneously serving as an educational and engagement platform for coastal communities. Beyond data collection, SIREN helps raise awareness among fishers and youth by delivering marine conservation messages directly through mobile technology.

What makes this approach unique is the dual function: it informs and empowers users to act as citizen scientists, while also fostering a sense of community through shared environmental responsibility. Users, mainly small-scale fishers and local conservation volunteers are connected through common reporting goals and periodic in-person exchanges (e.g. during trainings or events like the Street Whale Symposium), enhancing trust and collaboration across regions.
The app is introduced through outreach sessions in coastal villages.
 

To implement SIREN, we apply the following steps:

  • Users receive basic training on species identification and reporting procedures.
  • Each report (sighting reported through the app) is reviewed by AMMCO staff, who provide feedback and clarification.
  • Educational content (Virtual Reality, posters, storybooks, videos) is developed based on the reports, and delivered through schools or fisher meetings.
  • Shared results and feedback loops build trust and stimulate user engagement and connections.
  • User-friendly mobile interface with offline capability
  • Existing trust between AMMCO and fishing communities
  • Regular communication and in-person follow-up
  • Integration of local languages and culturally adapted visuals
  • Low literacy and limited smartphone access require regular in-person engagement and the use of visual/voice features.
  • Incentives and recognition (e.g. being invited to events or featured in newsletters) help maintain motivation.
  • Community ownership improves when feedback is timely and reports lead to tangible conservation actions.
Monitoring and evaluation of training impacts

To measure the long-term effectiveness of training, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes are essential. Beyond collecting immediate feedback from participants, a holistic approach involves assessing the application of learned practices over time. 

Rather than merely counting the number of participants trained, the focus shifts to measuring the qualitative impacts of the training. This includes evaluating how the acquired knowledge translates into tangible outcomes such as increased productivity, improved resource management, and enhanced livelihoods. By systematically tracking these outcomes, the effectiveness of the training programme can be continuously assessed and improved.

Surveys conducted immediately after the training capture participants’ initial reactions, while periodic follow-ups provide insights into the rate of adoption and adaptation of practices. 

Field visits also help trainers to identify barriers to adoption, such as resource constraints or contextual challenges, which can then inform future revisions of the training materials. This ensures that the training remains dynamic and responsive to the evolving needs of farmers. 

Feedback loops play a valuable role in the evaluation process, while periodic follow-ups provide insights into the rate of adoption and adaptation of practices. For instance, data on the adoption rate of specific techniques – such as improved water management or sustainable feeding practices – can serve as an indicator of training success. 

Pilot testing and feedback incorporation, and continuous revision

Pilot testing of the training materials is an important step in refining and improving the content based on real-world feedback from various stakeholders, especially trainees and trainers. This process is enhanced through practical methods such as field visits and demonstrations, during which trainers showcase specific techniques. Trainees are then encouraged to apply these methods in real-life scenarios, allowing trainers to assess the applicability and relevance of the training content.

Through test training sessions, necessary adjustments and challenges can be identified—supplemented by anecdotal insights and direct feedback from farmers. This iterative approach ensures that the materials remain practical and relevant to local conditions, incorporate new knowledge, and adapt to changing environmental and market dynamics.

Importantly, feedback collection should ideally span an entire cultivation cycle, covering key phases like pond preparation, stocking, feeding, and harvesting. This allows trainers to identify challenges and adjust the training accordingly.

At the end of pilot sessions, participants should reflect on their experiences by answering key questions such as “What went well?” and “What can be improved?” This process strengthens the content and improves delivery methods. As a result, materials better meet the real needs of the target audience.

This comprehensive timeframe allowed trainers to gather detailed insights into the challenges faced by farmers and adjust the training accordingly.

Innovative modes of delivery

The campaigns need to be specifically tailored for the respective target group to make the content more relevant and engaging. It is important to use multimedia and varied communication formats such as videos, comics, and radio shows, posters, comic books, wall murals, and competitions. These formats help presenting information in an easily understandable and appealing way.

Additionally, training in sustainable fisheries and aquaculture needs to include both practical skills and theoretical knowledge, with a strong emphasis on flexible teaching methods and hands-on learning. Practical training often takes place on demo farms or participants’ own farms, where group mentoring and on-site technical input from trainers and experts occur. This hands-on training covers essential topics such as site selection, pond excavation, stocking, feed and pond management, fish health monitoring, water quality management, and fish processing. By engaging in real-life situations, participants gain the skills needed to independently apply the training content in their own operations. This experiential learning enhances their ability to manage pond aquaculture and fishing throughout the season. While field demonstrations offer practical, hands-on learning, classroom-based training provides theoretical knowledge.

Depending on the context, it may be important to develop training that can be delivered without relying on technology or electricity -especially in remote and rural areas.

Influenced by the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries adopted innovative methods to deliver training content and reach a broader audience. In Mauritania, for example, the training content was disseminated via a mobile application, allowing target groups to access the information conveniently. Meetings, visits to fish landing sites, and training workshops in the field were restricted. Some projects developed specifically designed interactive radio shows for remote listeners or special training videos to spread their training content and sensitise about fish consumption and sustainable practices. These videos furthermore have the benefit of being re-watched, therefore guiding fish and aquaculture farmers even after the training cycle or assisting other farmers who couldn’t participate.

Selection and Training of Trainers (ToT)

The Training of Trainers (ToT) method is a widely used approach in capacity-building programmes to ensure the effective dissemination and anchoring of knowledge and skills in communities. Trainers are selected based on criteria such as experience, communication skills, and community engagement. They undergo a structured qualification programme that includes classroom sessions and hands-on learning to prepare them to conduct sessions aligned with adult learning principles and discovery-based approaches.
A Master Trainer model, as used in the Aquaculture Business School in Malawi and the Community Resource Person model in India, plays a crucial role in ensuring consistent quality and calibration of training standards. Master Trainers not only lead the initial ToT programmes, but also support ongoing quality assurance by mentoring the trainers and monitoring the effectiveness of training delivery. The trainers act as intermediaries, translating technical concepts into practical solutions for farmers. 

Trainer manuals should be created precisely and in detail to provide future trainers with clear guidance on how to deliver specific training content effectively. The development of these manuals should follow a participatory approach, incorporating continuous feedback loops from participants. 

The establishment of a network of trainers within communities is essential to ensure the long-term availability of training and advisory services. By embedding this network locally, capacity-building efforts can better respond to the needs of the community.

Experience from India has shown that younger trainers, particularly those with up to five years of experience and graduate-level education, were rated highly by farmers. These trainers were found to be more relatable to the farmers’ learning levels, as they were not too distant in terms of educational understanding and could effectively bridge the knowledge gap.

Integration of local contexts and languages

Incorporating the local context – like environmental and cultural conditions in the regions and local languages – is essential when designing training manuals. This ensures accessibility and relevance of training content and alignment with the realities of the target audience’s environment. To ensure the sustainability and widespread adoption of the training materials, they need to be closely aligned with the needs and priorities of local institutions. 

 

Enabling factors include involving local farmers and experts in developing materials, ensuring that training venues and tools are accessible, regularly collecting participant feedback to update content, and gaining support from community leaders to encourage attendance and trust.

In India, for instance, the modular training sessions were developed with a specific focus on the available time of farmers and their farming calendar. The developed approach allows the training to be broken down into short, 2-hour modules. This ensured that farmers, particularly women, can participate without disrupting their ongoing livelihood and household activities. The modular setup also enabled farmers to select sessions based on the season, such as pond preparation, stocking, or cultivation periods, maximising the relevance and timing of the information provided. Adding fitting illustrations, especially of local commodities and practices, to the training materials enhanced comprehension by grounding the content in familiar visuals.

Collaborative and participatory development

A collaborative and participatory approach is central to the development of training materials. To ensure relevance, practicability, and ownership, a task force is typically formed—comprising representatives from ministries, academia, fish farmers, value chain actors, and researchers. Iterative processes, validation workshops, and stakeholder consultations are employed to refine the materials and ensure they reflect local needs.

Training should address not only the 'how' but also the 'why'. By explaining the rationale behind specific practices—such as reducing environmental impacts or promoting food and nutrition security—farmers gain a deeper understanding and are empowered to make informed decisions that align with sustainability goals. This goes beyond simply following instructions; it fosters critical thinking and adaptive problem-solving.

To build resilient and thriving enterprises, training should also incorporate elements such as business education, innovations along the value chain, and the use of decentralized renewable energy technologies. These components enable fish farmers to enhance their financial literacy, respond to market and environmental challenges, and implement innovative solutions for increased productivity and sustainability.

If necessary, consultants can be incorporated to harmonise the outcomes and accelerate the process, but a variety of relevant stakeholders of the sector and value chain should always be involved in reviewing the content.

Materials should be closely aligned with the needs and priorities of local institutions and collaboratively integrated into national curricula and technical training colleges, ensuring both relevance and local ownership.

In India, the development of aquaculture training materials involved multiple workshops and participatory feedback from local fish farmers, government agencies, NGOs, and researchers. This collaborative process was vital in creating modular training sessions suited to the seasonal constraints of fish farming, particularly for women and small-scale farmers. The materials were continuously tested and revised to ensure their relevance, written in local languages, and tailored for field-based learning without the need for technology. This inclusive approach enabled farmers to take ownership of the training content and ensured its effectiveness in the long term.

Needs assessment and gap analysis to decide training content and formats

The initial step is conducting a thorough needs assessment and gap analysis by experienced technical team members from the project and partners. This process involves screening existing materials, consulting with stakeholders and actors in the fish value chain and identifying gaps in knowledge and practice. A field survey can be conducted to collect data on the needs of the beneficiaries and necessary framework requirements for training, e.g. technology availability, training duration, and intervals. 

Basic factors for the assessments include a skilled technical team and effective collaboration among partners. They should have access to existing materials to ensure informed screening. Participatory field surveys that consider gender, youth, and marginalized groups help accurately identify needs. Financial resources and logistical support enable thorough data collection and analysis.

The main topics of the different training programmes, as well as the formats used, can vary greatly. For example, while the needs assessment in Zambia identified gaps in existing aquaculture training manuals that could be addressed through hands-on training, the survey in Uganda led to the development of a fisheries business. In Mauritania, the identification of weak points highlighted the need for hygiene and quality training in the fish value chain. In response to climate risks, the project in Malawi recognized the importance of intermittent harvest methods and developed a fish trap manual.

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