The Sustainability of Production-Consumption Chains: Insights from the Industrialization of Shrimp Aquaculture in Asia

Transcription

1 The Sustainability of Production-Consumption Chains: Insights from the Industrialization of Shrimp Aquaculture in Asia Harvard University 22 October 2003 Dr. Louis Lebel Director Unit for Social and Environmental Research Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University Research Topics in Sustainable Development Seminar, Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Univ. 22 Oct. 2003

2 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

3 Outline Research design Organization of the shrimp industry Sea Ponds Processing Trade-Consumption Governance

4 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

5 Fieldwork Producer Hatcheries, Factories, Feedmills, Input Suppliers Fishing and agricultural communities Import-export companies Knowledge producers disseminators Consumers Japan

6 Shrimp Production - Consumption System

7 Shrimp Aquaculture Production (Thousands of Tonnes) Production (Thousands of Tonnes) Culture Capture Pond Area Thailand Culture Capture Pond Area Viet Nam Culture Area (Thousands of Hectares) Culture Area (Thousands of Hectares) Increasing importance of aquaculture in overall shrimp production Growth in production relative to area Rapid expansion and intensification of aquaculture

8 Shrimp Production - Consumption System

9 Inputs from the Sea Subsidy from nature Feed Dependence on gravidfemale 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

10 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

11 Shrimp Production - Consumption System

12 Land Conversion

13 Mangrove Conversion Shrimp Mangrove

14 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 places and over time Wetland ecosystems Reversibility

15 Pond-level technology Changes

16 Pond Production North Vietnam South Vietnam Central Vietnam West Thailand East Thailand Mean Pond size (ha) Mean total area of ponds (ha) Mean Stocking rate (ind m -2 ) Mean Survival Rate (%) Percentage of farms using artificial feed Percentage of farms having used antibiotics

17 Intensification Int Semi Indonesia Philippines Vietnam Taiwan Thailand Hatchery, Satun, Thailand

18 Production Risks DISEASE Markets CONSUMER CHOICE Aquaculture INSTITUTIONAL CONTROLS Industry Urban Agriculture PRICES, CAPITAL LABOUR POOR WATER QUALITY EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT/SOCIAL CONTEXT HAS EFFECTS

19 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

20 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 elites Water management Conflicts + cooperation Zoning and siting Effluent controls? Technology promises Non implementation of posttreatment laws Code of Conduct

21 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

22 Industrial Transformation Consumption Population Technology consumer awareness & preferences Organization Resource Institutions Knowledge Systems Markets migration Environment Livelihoods

23 Shrimp Production - Consumption System

24 Value-added Processing

25 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)

26 Value added Value Chain Brood stock Seed producer Farming Processor/Exporter Total value added Imported content Total Domestic value added Value added (Mil baht) 2,160 2,640 62,400 40, ,000 15,000 93,000 4 th National symposium in marine shrimp culture : Rayong Nov,2002

27 Shrimp Production - Consumption System

28 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 Certification labelling programmes Traceability Information about social/ecological consequences could flow along some of the same IT channels that make markets work Trade competitiveness and barriers economic and institutional analyses

29 Importers and Exporters of Shrimp Producer Net Export Balance Value (US million) Consumer Market Net Import Balance Value (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

30 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

31 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

32 Industrial Transformation Consumption Population Technology consumer awareness & preferences Organization Resource Institutions Knowledge Systems Markets migration Environment Livelihoods

33 Knowledge System Components Actors Network-linkages Messages Analysis Gaps Control and Access Institutional arrangements knowledge system

34 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 exportoriented growth Unsatisfactory

35 Governance Analytical 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

36 Summary of Analysis

37 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

38 Acknowledgements Suparb Pasong Amnuay Saengnoree Nguyen Hoang Tri Le Kim Thoa Po Garden Sachiko Nakayama Supaporn Khrutmuang Sakawarat Sareerat Phimphakan Lebel Chiang Mai, Thailand