NACA is an intergovernmental organisation that promotes rural development through sustainable aquaculture. NACA seeks to improve rural income, increase food production and foreign exchange earnings and to diversify farm production. The ultimate beneficiaries of NACA activities are farmers and rural communities. The core activities of NACA are:
NACA policy is determined by the Governing Council composed of high officials representing in the member governments. The Governing Council regularly meets once a year and formulates NACA's 5-Year Regional Work Programme. FAO is a non-voting member. The NACA Agreement provides for other international and government assistance agencies to be non-voting members, by invitation.
Current member governments are Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, I.R. Iran, Korea (DPR), Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.
NACA conducts development assistance projects throughout the region in partnership with governments, donor foundations, development agencies, universities and a range of non-government organisations and farmers. NACA supports institutional strengthening, technical exchange and the development of policies for sustainable aquaculture and aquatic resource management.
NACA's partners include organisations such as FAO, United Nations Development Programme, the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, OIE (World Animal Health Organization), the Mekong River Commission, ICLARM, SEAFDEC, APEC, ASEAN, European Union, DANIDA, DFID, ACIAR, AusAID, DANCED, IDRC, IFREMER, NORAD, the Asian Institute of Technology, World Wide Fund for Nature, MacArthur Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
The formation, objectives and governance of NACA are set out in the NACA Agreement, available for download (PDF 104 KB).