Oregon State University has received a grant worth nearly $9 million dollars to lead a new aquaculture research program.

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The five-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development is designed to reduce poverty in developing countries by improving access to fish and water resources.

University officials said that poverty remains the single biggest threat to children's health around the world. And giving the poor better access to well-managed water resources can help them escape poverty.

Aquaculture -- farming the ocean and other waters -- is gaining market share and can generate a lot of money for developing countries.

But researchers say the profits from export-oriented aquaculture does not always benefit local economies as much as they could.