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Michigan State University Food Security Policy Project
Economic and Social Dimensions of Aquaculture Growth: Implications for Sustainability Ben Belton Michigan State University Food Security Policy Project World Aquaculture Society Montpellier, France, August
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Trends in developing country aquaculture
Myths: Export oriented High value (high trophic) species for wealthy Farms traditional small-scale or industrial Realities: Concentrated on low-mid value species for domestic markets (mainly herbivores/omnivores) Rapid expansion leading to falling prices and greater access for poorer consumers Most production from “missing middle” segment of small-medium commercial farms Farms supported by “quiet revolution” in off-farm VC segments
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Domestic markets dominate
Aquaculture exports and domestic consumption in top 10 aquaculture producing developing countries (87% of global farmed fish production) (Belton et al, 2018)
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Farmed fish prices falling
Monthly nominal retail prices of four farmed and two non-farmed fish species in Bangladesh, January 2012-May 2015 (Belton et al, 2018)
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Poor consumers eating more farmed fish
Marine capture Inland capture Aquaculture Poverty group Change (kg) Change (%) Extreme poor -0.6 -42.9 -1.4 -34.6 2.3 152.1 Moderate poor -1.0 -42.4 -2.5 -44.1 3.1 114.0 Non-poor 0.3 11.4 -2.6 -37.2 4.1 88.2 Changes in fish consumption per capita by poverty group and source, (Toufique & Belton, 2014)
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Production coming from diverse “missing middle” segment of farms (not industrial or backyard)
Highly commercially oriented, span a broad spectrum of scales Have emerged in an unplanned manner, in response to opportunities created by changing patterns of demand Produce multiple, predominantly low and medium value, species (mostly low-mid tropic level) Utilize a diverse range of production technologies (but increasingly intensifying through use of pelleted feeds) Wide range and intensity of environmental impacts among farming systems, trade-offs across impact categories
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Fish farm growth supported by “quiet revolution”, in off-farm value chain, driven by mainly by SMEs
Enterprise 2006 2016 % change Hatchery 30 60 100 Nursery 501 1538 207 Seed trader 166 265 Pelleted feed trader 5 11 112 Rice bran/oil cake trader 175 56 Small boats for hire 115 216 88 Fish trader 46 68 47 Ice factory 9 16 82 Mechanical excavator hire 2 24 961 Trucks for hire 1 20 1900 Nurseries + 200% Seed traders + 60% Inventory of enterprises in the aquaculture value chain, in villages with high concentrations of fish farms, Myanmar, (Belton et al, 2018)
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Main development impacts of aquaculture through employment & income spillovers
Estimated local economy-wide direct and indirect income gains from additional acre of land utilized by large fish farm, small fish farm and crop farm, Myanmar (Flipski & Belton, 2018)
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Implications for sustainability
Changes in demand in developing countries will drive the future sustainability profile of global aquaculture Production already concentrated on species will relatively low average impacts, but high variability among culture systems and practices Diverse aquaculture making contributions to domestic food security and rural economies that may not be captured by planetary boundaries metrics Need to understand (environmental, social, economic) impacts beyond farm and throughout value chain Need more/better data, methodological integration of LCA, VCA, economy- wide approaches Biggest environmental sustainability gains likely to come from improved feed use efficiency (better for farmer & environment) Question of whether the most environmentally efficient models are socially optimal/desirable in terms of ownership & distribution of benefits
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