For decades, seasonal flooding meant lost crops and lost income for one riverside village — until a group of farmers began treating the water itself as an asset.
The shift started small, with a handful of households experimenting with enclosed fish pens during the months their fields were underwater, and has since grown into a coordinated seasonal operation involving most of the village.
“We stopped fighting the flood and started planning around it,” said one of the farmers who helped organise the first fish enclosures nearly a decade ago.
Managed fish enclosures now support dozens of families through the flood season, providing income during months that used to mean total crop loss with nothing to replace it.
The model is being studied by two neighbouring districts considering similar projects, with a regional agricultural extension office offering technical visits to villages interested in adapting the approach to their own flood patterns.
