the sustainability of production-consumption chains ... · the sustainability of...

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

[email protected]

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

Shrimp Production -ConsumptionSystem

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

Land Conversion

MangroveConversion

ShrimpMangrove

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-level technology Changes

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”

Value-added Processing

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

Summary of Analysis

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

Acknowledgements

• Suparb Pasong• Amnuay Saengnoree• Nguyen Hoang Tri• Le Kim Thoa• Po Garden• Sachiko Nakayama• Supaporn Khrutmuang• Sakawarat Sareerat• Phimphakan Lebel

Chiang Mai, Thailandwww.sea-user.org

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