Post on 08-Sep-2018
The Sustainability of Production-ConsumptionChains: Insights from the Industrialization of Shrimp Aquaculture in Asia
Dr. Louis LebelDirector
Unit for Social and Environmental ResearchFaculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University
llebel@loxinfo.co.thwww.sea-user.org
Harvard University22 October 2003
Research T
opics in Sustainable Developm
ent Seminar, C
enter for International Developm
ent, Kennedy School of G
overnment, H
arvard Univ. 22 O
ct. 2003
Motivating Question
• How can the shrimp aquaculture industry be made more sustainable, ecologically, economically and socially?
• Solution:– Improve livelihoods (and voices) of the poor – Cannot shut the industry – but may involve
restrictions on locations and technologies– Should take account the commodity-chain or web
of inputs from ocean to plate
Outline
• Research design• Organization of the shrimp industry
– Sea– Ponds– Processing– Trade-Consumption
• Governance
Research Design
• Organization of the chain (web)• Economic, ecological and social sustainability
issues at various points along the chain– Understanding histories of land-use change:
acquisition of land,ownership and property rights– Distribution of risks and benefits to local
communities in pond/hatchery areas– International trade and consumer behaviour
• Integration with coastal/rural livelihoods• Knowledge system and institutional
performance
Fieldwork
• Producer• Hatcheries,
Factories,Feedmills, Input Suppliers
• Fishing and agriculturalcommunities
• Import-export companies
• Knowledge producers –disseminators
• Consumers
Japan
Thailand
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Prod
uctio
n (T
hous
ands
of T
onne
s)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Culture Capture
Viet Nam
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Prod
uctio
n (T
hous
ands
of T
onne
s)
0
50
100
150C
ultu
re A
rea
(Tho
usan
ds o
f Hec
tare
s)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Pond Area
Cul
ture
Are
a (T
hous
ands
of H
ecta
res)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Culture Capture Pond Area
• Increasing importance of aquaculture in overall shrimp production
• Growth in production relative to area
• Rapid expansion and intensification of aquaculture
Shrimp Aquaculture
Inputs from the Sea
• Subsidy from nature– Feed– Dependence on gravid-
female shrimp• Stretching and masking
of feedbacks by source switching
• Small-scale fishery conflicts
• Technological solutions– substitution in feeds– Complete life cycle
• Knowledge uncertainty – size of impact and attribution
• Institutional control -Almost un-regulated accept indirectly thru EEZ, coastal fisheries rules
Hatcheries
• State involvement• Constraints:
– availability of gravid females (rearing?)
– costs of Artemia feed– Water quality and
disease– Access to coast– Access to credit-initial
• Innovation: Freshwater acclimatisation
Mangroves and Shrimp Aquaculture
• Aquaculture is one of the contributing direct and indirect causes of mangrove conversion/degradation (definitions)
• Other coastal/riparian ecosystems are also converted to aquaculture (rice, rubber)
• thus importance as “driver”has varied between placesand over time
• Wetland ecosystems• Reversibility
Pond Production
948393914Percentage of farms having used antibiotics
991001001478Percentage of farms using artificial feed
5159761125Mean Survival Rate (%)
66.055.028.74.83.7Mean Stocking rate (ind m-2)
1.380.911.392.9523.7Mean total area of ponds (ha)
0.520.570.702.620.1Mean Pond size (ha)
EastThailand
WestThailand
CentralVietnam
SouthVietnam
NorthVietnam
Intensification
Int SemiIndonesia 10 10Philippines 15 50Vietnam 10 20 +-Taiwan 50 50Thailand 85 10 Hatchery, Satun, Thailand
Production Risks
Aquaculture
IndustryUrban
Agriculture
DISEASE
POOR WATERQUALITY
Markets
PRICES,CAPITALLABOUR
CONSUMERCHOICE
INSTITUTIONALCONTROLS
EXTERNAL “ENVIRONMENT/SOCIAL CONTEXT HAS EFFECTS
Environmental Effects
• Effluents: nutrients & sediments• Disruption of hydrology• Salinisation• Pond sediment disposal• Inputs into feeds: fish meal to GM soybean• Wildcapture of broodstock• Biodiversity of mangroves/wetland systems
and offshore ecosystems
Rearing in ponds
Land Conversion• Primary/secondary
mangrove conversion• Disruption of hydrology
Water management• Effluents: nutrients from
unprocessed feeds and PM from erosion of sediments
• Chemical releases to environment including antiobiotics
Land Conversion• Zoning: catch-up and
negotiable• Access is everything• Decision procedures
captured by local elitesWater management• Conflicts + cooperation • Zoning and siting• Effluent controls ?• Technology promises• Non implementation of post-
treatment laws• Code of Conduct
Distributing risks and benefits
• Distribution of risks and benefits – among people with different livelihoods and ecosystems that provide input or waste assimilation services
• Rules of entry – acquisition of land and credit
Consumption Population
Organization
Technology
Markets
KnowledgeSystems
Environment Livelihoods
ResourceInstitutions
mig
ratio
n
cons
umer
aw
aren
ess
&pr
efer
ence
s
“Industrial Transformation”
Processing and marketing
• Direct sustainability issues are relatively minor and not shrimp commodity specifi
• But: an important stage in the commodity chain in terms of monitoring of chemical residues and food safety
Subsidies from the state• (many parts of chain)• Direct assistance• Infrastructure• Private-Public R&D• Tax incentives (eg mills)• Market channel
promotion• Enabling frameworks
(FAO/NACA)
Value added
Value ChainBrood stockSeed producerFarmingProcessor/ExporterTotal value addedImported contentTotal Domestic value added
Value added (Mil baht)2,1602,64062,40040,800108,00015,00093,000
4th National symposium in marine shrimp culture : Rayong Nov,2002
Trade
• Argument: tougher regulations reduce competitiveness
• Counter: progressive improvements may lead to more sustainable and better technologies
• Diplomatic tit-for-tat with EU over antiobiotic residues
• Trade competitiveness and barriers – economic and institutional analyses
• Certification – labellingprogrammes
• Traceability• Information about
social/ecologicalconsequences could flow along some of the same IT channels that make markets work
Importers and Exporters of ShrimpProducer Net Export Balance
Value
(US million)
Consumer Market Net Import BalanceValue
(US million)
Thailand 664 European Union 567
Iceland 184 United States 362
Indonesia 87 Japan 287
Norway 84 Australia 36
Malaysia 29 Switzerland 25
India 29 Korea 20
China 26 Canada 14
Vietnam 23 New Zealand 4
Consumption
• Green campaigns: consumers have been far away - Information could bring them much closer and they may not like much what they see
• Response: labelling in supermarkets, but most consumption outside home
• Knowledge uncertainties
• Role of media and education
• Start with little but hard to find independent -/reliable sources
• Secure-quality controlled supply lines –Japanese
Counter-labelling
• How much leverage at the consumer end of chain? Retailers, Restaurants, Hotels, Final Consumers? Would information matter?– No conclusion – field
work in progress
Consumption Population
Organization
Technology
Markets
KnowledgeSystems
Environment Livelihoods
ResourceInstitutions
mig
ratio
n
cons
umer
aw
aren
ess
&pr
efer
ence
s
“Industrial Transformation”
KnowledgeSystem
Components• Actors• Network-linkages• Messages
Analysis• Gaps• Control and Access• Institutional arrangements –
knowledge system
Conventional Political-Economy View (stays within Thailand)
• Sustainability has not been the goal
• Little awareness of the value of goods and services from wetland ecosystems(wastelands)
• Model of management: Knee-jerk engineering solutions
• Structure of power in the provinces
• 1997 Constitution and local government (TAO)
• Inter-agency competition and shifting agendas
• Over-arching state emphasis on export-oriented growth
Unsatisfactory
GovernanceAnalytical Framework
• How problems are identified• How decisions are made• Who is included• How rules are enforced• How conflicts are resolved• If/how activities are accountable
(upwards, downwards)• Activities/interests of different
actors
Working Paper in Progress –points of leverage and control
Conclusion
• Transitions to sustainability would benefit from paying much more attention to the structures and processes in production-consumption chains
• Chain (or web-) based analysis of commodity chains is an important compliment to place-based research in sustainability– Tracking of physical flows, inputs and outputs (cf. life-cycle
analysis)– Distribution of benefits and sharing of risks– Consideration of environmental governance along
commodity chain: control and leverage