Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the role fisheries research for development (R4D) projects play in the livelihood of local people, their relationship with other ethnic groups, and the changes in the relations between local and external actors and local and scientific knowledges in Papua New Guinea.

Paper long abstract:

In the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) people are dependent on subsistence farming. These areas are considered food insecure, and protein is hard to source. To alleviate food insecurity and nutritional deficits in these communities, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) started to work with its local counterpart, the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) and funded several fisheries (inland aquaculture) research for development (R4D) projects since 2000. The main purpose of these inland aquaculture R4D projects was to build local capacity and improve farming techniques to increase the volume and quality of fish production, particularly in the highlands of PNG. Between 2015 and 2017, a Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) was used to assess the socio-cultural and economic impact of the inland aquaculture R4D projects. SLA is a methodology that puts people, context and capacities and capabilities of local people at the centre of local development. It assumes that people have capabilities and basic assets and may operate in the context of vulnerability. This paper uses anthropological approaches to uncover the role played by the R4D projects in the livelihood of local communities, and in changing or maintaining the relations between different ethnic groups, local and external institutions and local and technical knowledges; and how these changes affect local communities and local development in PNG.