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Economic and Social Dimensions of Aquaculture Growth: Implications for Sustainability

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 28 2018. Trends in developing country aquaculture. Myths: Export oriented

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Economic and Social Dimensions of Aquaculture Growth: Implications for Sustainability

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  1. 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 28 2018

  2. 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

  3. 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)

  4. 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)

  5. Poor consumers eating more farmed fish Changes in fish consumption per capita by poverty group and source, 2000-2010 (Toufique & Belton, 2014)

  6. 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

  7. Fish farm growth supported by “quiet revolution”, in off-farm value chain, driven by mainly by SMEs Nurseries + 200% Seed traders + 60% Inventory of enterprises in the aquaculture value chain, in villages with high concentrations of fish farms, Myanmar, 2006-2016 (Belton et al, 2018)

  8. 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)

  9. 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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