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Objectives
The
objective of activity 2 is to deeply analyze shrimp farming practices and
economy in the 3 areas in order to (1) quantitatively evaluate the
performance of shrimp farming in terms of short and long run economic and
social viability under environmental constrains (2) qualitatively assess
the relative weight of technical practices and collective action on this
performance (3) propose and recommend improvements at the farm and
collective levels.
Innovative
aspects
Multidisciplinary
approach to analyze the logic of private and public choices in the
management of shrimp farming. Assessment of the relationships existing
between economic performance and environmental constrains at the farm and
community levels. Building capacity by training and transfer of knowledge.
Methods
A
key question in discussing shrimp farming sustainability is the
possibility to ensure significant economic returns in the short run at the
expense of environmental degradation. High returns are a strong incentive
for a speculative attitude. Environment careless practices often
contribute to the destruction of remarkable coastal ecosystems but it also
generally lead to the complete stop of shrimp production with little
possibilities for alternative use of the shrimp ponds. This has been seen
in many places in the world. But environmental degradation, often
expressed by the outbreak of disease in the ponds, is not a simple linear
cause-effect phenomena. It is both a zootechnical problem of controlling
diseases in the ponds but also, and by large, a matter of water quality
management. This second dimension doesn’t depend solely on individual
farm management. It can partly be monitored either by improving rearing
practices at the farm level, by imposing technical norms at the collective
level or by improving collective management of water. But in all cases,
when many farms are interconnected through the water flows the problem of
sustainability can be only addressed at a collective level. Still there is
a great lack of scientific knowledge about the controllability of these
phenomena, so that anticipation of crisis and the possibility to prevent
it depends largely on building the collective capacity to act in a more
responsible and precautionary way. This can be done by education, by norms
or any other incentives and applies both to maintaining the environment
for the sustainability of shrimp farming and to controlling the impact of
its development on natural assets such as mangroves. In a context like the
Mekong delta, where the collective outcome results from hundreds of small
and poorly informed decision centers, the quality of a
"monitoring/warning" system based on information collected at
the farm level in relation with the building of extension services
capacity is crucial to improve such environmental and economic
sustainability. Therefore the methodology to applied for activity 2 is
based on surveys to be conducted by mixed team so that the preparation of
questionnaires, field collection and processing of data as well as the
analysis be conducted in a cooperative way. This should result in an
effective transfer of know-how to future develop a monitoring system
partially based on a regular technical and economic survey of the farms.
Detailed
presentation of technical and socio-economic surveys
The
performances and sustainability of the production in shrimp farming can be
controlled at three levels : the individual farm, the local and the
regional collective levels. The regional collective level is the public
policy at the scale of the Mekong watershed to ensure that the water
quality is not affected by upstream activities to the extent that
aquaculture cannot be performed. This is a matter of regional and national
policy beyond the scope of this project. Activity 2 will focus at the
local collective and farm levels.
The
local collective level defines in systemic terms as the level where a
certain number of farms become interdependent through an aquatic ecosystem
that can be significantly affected by there activity (a bay, a river
stream, a mangrove…). At this level, environmental sustainability of
shrimp farming is partly within the hands of shrimp industry collective
action capacity, eventually in relation to other local users or polluters
of the water. That involves a multi-stakeholder social environment and the
relative capacity of industry/community/ administration to enforce the
rules set.
At
the farm level, performance and sustainability mainly depend on three
criterion : quality of the water entering into the farm system (partly
determined at the local collective level), zootechnical practices (stocking
density, water renewal, food and feeding, post-larvae quality, pond
management) and pricing policy (price of inputs and outputs).
Two
surveys will be conducted to document these two last levels :
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A
"collective action survey"
based on key persons interviews will review the stakes, potential and
difficulties of collective action in sites representatives of the
diversity of ecological settings in the three areas but also of the
typical patterns of shrimp farming development observed in the delta.
This may be done in one community or at a multi-community level
according to the intensity of ecosystemic interdependencies.
Information collected during STD3 project, to be complemented by more
recent knowledge of the local partners, will be used for this
selection. 3 to 4 such "eco-socio" entities will be selected
for the survey in each of the 3 areas. Qualitative information on the
development of collective action issues since the start of shrimp
farming will be collected. This will address environmental issues,
socio-economic contribution of shrimp farming and conditions of access
to resources : natural resources (water, land, mangroves ..°) as well
as access to know-how, to financing or to markets. Levels and
potential for effective collective action as well as blockages will be
analysed in an institutional evaluation perspective, i.e. to assess
the potential of today’s institutional setting to design and
implement collective action and the possible institutional innovation
within the Vietnamese context. Information will also be gathered at
this level on alternative sources of income for shrimp farmers to
compare levels of income and risks with these of shrimp farming.
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A
"farm survey"
will document the diversity of zootechnical practices of the farms and
assess their short and long run economic performance. This survey will
be prepared by zoo-technicians, ecologists and economists to ensure
that the data collected allows for the analytical link between
environmental data, technical practices and economic data. The
intended sample of farms to be surveyed is 100 to 120. They will be
preferentially selected in the sites designed for the "collective
action survey", but not only so that the relation between the
ecology of the "outside" environment (activity 1) and the
performance of the farms can take into account the diversity of
ecosystems in the delta beyond the limits of the "collective
action survey". Beside the description of technical and pricing
option in the farms, the survey will focus at providing a dynamic view
of each farm. The sampled farms will be interviewed a first time for a
detailed description and recollection of physical and financial
performance of the farm in the past two years. The survey will be
designed taking into account the lessons gained from previous
experiences in Vietnam and Indonesia (STD3 and AADCP programmes). A
local team will be trained to perform the survey. This will be done by
a preparation session and field work for the first visit to the farm
done by two Vietnamese researchers and two French researchers, in each
case one economist and one specialist of shrimp farming technology.
Then the locally trained team will follow these farms during two years
with one or two visits per year according to the number of crops).
This will give a four years historical background to analyse the
inter-seasonal and inter-annual variability of performances.
The format of the farm survey is intended to provide proper
methodological and field training of a local team but also to provide
the sampled farmed with some form of information transfer.
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Analytical
scope of the surveys
Based
on the “collective action survey” a comparative analysis of sites and
shrimp farming development will be conducted. With the data from the
“farm survey”, a comparative analysis of farms management modes will
be conducted by the way of a cost-benefit analysis. Short and long run
economic performance of the farms will be analyzed in regard to external
constraints (water quality in the environment) and to internal technical
choices (rearing practices). The whole will lead to practical
recommendations regarding the possible improvements of rearing practices
and the stakes for collective action.
The
farm survey will allow for a short run analysis of farm performances. The
economic short run is set here at the horizon of one crop. This reflects
the fact that in many cases the level of investment, to be paid over few
years, is low and that most advances have to be paid back at the end of
one rearing cycle. The long run will be analyzed in two ways. The economic
long run for farms is within decision horizon for a farmer to reinvest in
capital terms. This will be few years, varying according to the level of
intensification of the production. The ecological long run is in assessing
at an ecosystemic entity level, whereas the present level and conditions
of shrimp farming level show signs of non sustainability. The experience
shows that the horizon for ecological degradation under shrimp farming
pressure can be very short (few years) or much longer (few decades). This
assessment uses the data from the farms. Beyond the four years of
information collected in each farm, the comparison of recently developed
sites and older ones of similar ecological profile, gives a longer time
span of the empirical material. The information collected in activity 2
surveys will be cross-analyzed with the data obtained on the ecology of
the environment.
Schedule
of the surveys
The
first 6 months will be devoted to the preparation of the surveys :
identification of sample structure needs, selection of sampling site and
farm sampling strategy. Then a first visit in all selected sites and farms
will allow for a first collection of detailed data. During the following
two years each farm will be visited by interviewers after the end of crops
to complement the data set of each farm. During the last 6 months, data
will be analysed. At all steps, researcher from the French and Vietnamese
participants will be closely associated by short training/preparation
seminars in Vietnam, joint field work, training in France for Vietnamese
researchers.
Duration
30
months (not including the first six months of preparation to be conducted
jointly with other activities)
Outputs
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Relationship
between production performances and farming practices.
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Identification
of the main external constraints (environmental, social, economic)
affecting short and long run farm performances.
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Indicators
of economic efficiency in a given environment (to preserve or restore)
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Recommendations
for technical improvement of rearing practices, adapted to the
different environmental and economic situations,
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Identification
of the main local development profiles and needs for collective action
initiatives
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Participants
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Vietnamese
part : IO Nha Trang, Fisheries Authorities in the Mekong delta
provinces, an economic research institute (to be identified)
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Asia
: one expert from NACA
(for zootechnical aspects)
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EU:
UBO-Cedem , IFREMER
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Bibliography
Bailly
D. and Raux P., 1997. Economic study of the shrimp culture in the Mekong
delta, STD3-ENSAR, 1998, 53p.
Bailly
D. and Raux P., 1997. Economic study of the shrimp culture in Lampung
province - Indonesia, STD3-ENSAR, 1998, 108p.
Bayley,
C. and Slakadany, M., 1991. Aquacultural development in tropical Asia, a
re-evaluation. Natural Resources Forum, Vol 15, 1:66-73, february 1991.
Berkes
F. (ed.), 1989, Common property resources, ecology and community-based
sustainable development, Belhaven Press.
Bromley
D. W., 1991, Environment and economy : property rights and public policy,
Blackwell pub.
Bromley
D.,W., 1990, the ideology of efficiency, searching a theory of Policy
analysis, Journal of environmental economics and management 19; 86-107.
Faucheux,
S. et Noël, J. F., 1995. Economie des ressources naturelles et de
l’environnement. Colin, A. Edition, Paris..
Ostrom
E., 1989, Governing the Commons, Cambridge University Press,
Ruddle
K., R.-E., Johannes, 1985, The
traditional knowledge and management in coastal systems in Asia and
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C. S., 1996. Research
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Project
