Development Policy Review, 2011, 29 (4): 459-484  The Authors 2011. Development Policy Review  2011 Overseas Development Institute. Published by Blackwell Publishing, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. Immanent and Interventionist Inland Asian Aquaculture Development and its Outcomes Ben Belton and David C. Little * Aquaculture is equated with the reduction of poverty by intergovernmental agencies such as the FAO, which advocate the promotion of small-scale aquaculture through project-based interventions. There is a lack of convincing empirical evidence to support the efficacy of this type of intervention, however. Meanwhile, commercial cultured freshwater fish production has increased hugely throughout Asia, despite limited direct donor or government support. Its impact with respect to poverty also remains ambiguous, however. This article critically evaluates the developmental impacts of both immanent and interventionist forms of aquaculture and advances finely nuanced interpretations of both. Key words: Aquaculture, poverty, development, Asia, wellbeing 1 Introduction Aquaculture, the farming of fish and other aquatic organisms, is the world’s fastest growing sector of food production. Around 90% of global aquaculture output originates in Asia, where total production volumes of cultured products now exceed those from fisheries. Relative production gains for Asian freshwater aquaculture are even greater, and output now exceeds that from inland fisheries by a factor of three or more in many of the main producing and consuming countries in the region (see Figure 1). Freshwater aquaculture therefore makes a far greater contribution to aquatic food production and consumption than marine aquaculture or capture fisheries throughout inland Asia. 1 However, despite its undeniable significance, the emergence of inland aquaculture for mainly domestic markets has, with the exception of technical reportage, been relatively ‘silent’, and the outcomes of its development have received scant international academic attention compared with that lavished on coastal shrimp. The figures underpinning these observations justify the specific focus of this article on the development of, and development associated with, inland Asian * Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK (bdb1@stir.ac.uk). They wish to thank Peter Edwards and Jock Stirrat for thoughtful and incisive comments on earlier drafts of this article, and M. Nandeesha and R. Ramakrishna for their help in providing information on carp culture in Andhra Pradesh. 1. This is the case at least in terms of volume per capita for the region and many of the countries within it. Where prolific inland fisheries persist (e.g. in Cambodia, Sri Lanka) contributions from aquaculture are generally of far lesser local significance.