Giant prawns by Divron Bioventures

A newly commercialised variety of giant prawn is fast becoming an important source of income for inland fishers in the Northern and North Western Provinces.

Divron began to stock selected reservoirs in Vavuniya with whom Divron works. During the drought, there were hardly any fish, says Gemeniganeshan, one of the fishers in Divron's supplier network. So, whatever little could catch, would spend on essentials. But prawn money, could save for the future.

For the fishers, being a part of this value chain has been an essential livelihood provider, especially during dry spells when their regular fish catch is low. For Divron, the fisher network provides a reliable and fresh supply of giant prawn that they can export or supply to the domestic market. The business model relies on the successful cycle of stocking, catching and buying back the giant prawn.

What was really important from MDF for us was that they could support us in all the key elements, given the vision that we are developing — that is, the sustainable base, community participation, and the market opportunities, comments Director Dr. Tim DeJager.

MDF encountered Divron as the program began operations in Sri Lanka in 2015. As Dr. DeJager again put it, the value chain existed in small fragments, but Divron needed support to connect the dots. MDF worked to strengthen the links in the value chain through helping Divron establish a Regional Centre in Vavuniya, which acts as a hub for the transport of both baby prawns to the reservoirs and full-grown prawns from them, and by adding to its transport network by cost-sharing on the purchase of the trucks necessary to move the fresh product from point to point.

Over the duration of the successful business partnership, MDF has supported Divron to expand its cold storage facilities, provide reliable information to the fishers on harvesting and post-harvest best practices, and connect more local fisher communities to the network.

MDF is a multi-country private sector development program funded by the Australian Government, operating in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Timor-Leste, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. MDF has created close to 145 jobs and increased household income for approximately 5,000 people between 2016 and 2017, and works to stimulate business growth in the sectors of tourism and authentic Sri Lankan goods, partnering with public and private entities across the island.