Feature · MDF Stories
Divron impacts livelihoods in Northern Sri Lanka
MDF travelled north on a story-gathering expedition to see how a rare freshwater prawn is changing the economics of inland fishing.
MDF recently travelled to the North of Sri Lanka on a story-gathering expedition, focusing on partner Divron Bioventures. Divron is an aquaculture exporter active primarily in the Northern and North Central provinces. The company's specialty is a rare Sri Lankan freshwater species — the giant freshwater prawn.
With MDF's support, Divron is strengthening its sourcing and supply chain, providing benefits to fishing communities in order to meet export demands, primarily from South-East Asian markets.
Exact numbers are not documented, but Sri Lanka is home to thousands of reservoirs, some of which were built as far back as the 3rd century BC. It is an impressively complex irrigation system, as well as a largely underutilised resource.
Capitalizing on this abundant resource, Divron stocks close to 60 reservoirs across Sri Lanka with giant freshwater prawn post-larvae, hatched and nurtured in its own carefully maintained hatchery. These waters have the ideal conditions for the prawns' growth — and under the right conditions, the prawn can grow up to a massive 600–700g.
According to Sri Lanka's Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, inland aquaculture accounted for 13% of total annual fish production in 2015, with close to 49,000 inland-fishing households in the sector.
