Indonesia Final Event Reflects on Project’s Impact on the Aquaculture Sector over Five Years

On June 11, the AgResults Indonesia Aquaculture Challenge Project held its final event in Jakarta, recognizing the achievements from the last five years and reflecting on the project’s broader impact across the country’s aquaculture sector. The Pay-for-Results (PfR) prize competition, which began in 2021 and was managed by WWF-Indonesia, incentivized businesses across Indonesia to deliver aerator and auto-feeder technologies to smallholder farmers. In Year 3, the competition added a technical assistance (TA) prize to further strengthen farmers’ ability to prevent disease and manage water quality.

Since 2021, the Indonesia project tackled longstanding challenges in the nation’s aquaculture sector, focusing on feed costs, water quality, and shrimp and fish quality — issues that historically hindered the efficiency of smallholder aquaculture, especially in traditional pond settings. This inefficiency not only stifled productivity but also negatively impacted the environment and the sustainability of fish and shrimp farming practices. By promoting the use of on-farm technologies like feeders and aerators and facilitating essential technical support, the competition sought to enhance value chain connections and increase the incomes of smallholder farmers. At the final event, government and donor representatives commemorated the project’s achievements while also reflecting on the broader structural barriers it helped to address, from limited access to technology and services to persistent challenges facing rural and underserved populations.

“Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) continues to promote the sustainable development of marine, coastal, and inland aquaculture through several key strategies, including the development of leading export commodities through the revitalization and modeling of aquaculture systems, as well as the strengthening of local commodities based on local wisdom through aquaculture villages,” said Tb Haeru Rahayu, Director General of Aquaculture, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. “Within the framework of the Blue Economy towards Indonesia Emas 2045, the adoption of technologies like water quality monitoring and high-quality feed will drive aquaculture production and enhance productivity.”

“This project has helped ensure that smaller-scale farmers are not left behind as the sector evolves, but instead have greater access to technologies, knowledge, and market relationships that can improve their productivity and incomes,” said Ms. Wisruthiy Shankar, Counsellor for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) at the Australian Embassy Jakarta. “Development progress is most meaningful when it creates more opportunities for communities to grow.”

The project’s achievements were notable: In its five years, 13 competitors participated in the technology competition, renting 5,301 units and selling 8,767 units of technology, resulting in US$1,376,185.57 total prizes. Over three years, nine competitors participated in the TA competition, providing 855 TA packages and receiving a total of US$51,567.00 in prizes. Competing businesses served a total of 4,693 smallholder farmers across the country during this time. “As we look back on the last five years, it has been promising to see shifts in technology adoption among smallholder farmers and to observe the continued growth of relationships across the aquaculture sector,” said Parasto Hamidi of the Secretariat. “Competitors that won prizes have reinvested them into areas such as education, equipment, social media promotion, HR, farmer support services, and the development of IoT-based technologies, driving further expansion of their operations and distribution networks.”

The final year of the PfR competition reflected the project’s steady momentum as the country emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. During Year 5, which ran from June 2025 – March 2026, eight competitors participated in the technology competition, and six participated in the TA competition. Of those, six technology competitors and four TA competitors qualified for prizes. These winning competitors, who sold 3799 technology units, rented 25 technology units, and provided 393 TA packages, received a total of US$ 559,631.67 in prizes. They served a total of 1,130 smallholder farmers.

At the event, qualifying competitors were recognized for their achievements in Year 5. Additionally, CV Republik Vannamei won the project’s grand prize for selling 2,963 units of technology over the course of the entire competition. “This competition has taught us that innovation is not only about technology. It is also about building trust, providing consistent support, and creating strong partnerships,” said Deputy Director of CV Republic Vannamei, Sarah Marsa Tamimi. “This award is not the end of our journey. It inspires us to keep growing, supporting more farmers, and creating lasting impact across Indonesia.”

Since 2021, the AgResults project has played a pivotal role in demonstrating the value of connecting actors along the aquaculture value chain and using monetary incentives to empower smallholder farmers to manage their farms more effectively and sustainably.

“Over the past five years, smallholder farmers’ adoption of aquaculture technologies has expanded across 34 provinces in Indonesia.” said Project Manager Lead Nur Ahyani of WWF-Indonesia. “With the pilot projects conducted toward the end of the competition, we hope competitors can continue to grow through collaboration with the government and farmers.”

Looking ahead, momentum in Indonesia’s aquaculture sector appears set to continue, with government and private sector partners showing strong interest in building on this foundation for both economic and environmental reasons.

“We are very pleased with the results of the AgResults evaluation conducted over the course of this five-year project. Throughout its implementation, this pilot initiative has demonstrated positive changes in the adoption of technology among fish farmers. We have also observed continued progress in relationships and collaboration across the aquaculture sector,” said WWF-Indonesia Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Bayunanda. “This competition has encouraged more efficient and productive aquaculture practices, while also supporting the government’s food security agenda. Increasing productivity on existing aquaculture land is essential to enable farmers to continue growing economically without the need to expand into new areas. From an environmental perspective, these efforts to intensify aquaculture production help reduce the risk of converting critical marine wildlife habitats and mangrove ecosystems.”

The Indonesia Aquaculture Challenge Project is part of AgResults, a $152 million collaborative initiative between the governments of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Gates Foundation, and the World Bank Group that uses prize competitions to incentivize the private sector to overcome market barriers and create lasting change. Under AgResults’ Pay-for-Results model, these competitions encourage actors to achieve predetermined results thresholds and quality for monetary prizes.