Aquaculture production,certification and trade：challenges and opportunities for the small-scale farmer in Asia
This paper focuses on small-scale farmers in Asia and the challenges and opportunities faced in participating in global market chains for products from aquaculture．The bulk of aquaculture production in many countries in Asia is from small-scale，family-owned operations，perhaps making up tO 80 percent of the production．The small-scale aquaculture sector is important for rural development,employment and poverty reduction．Small-scale farms may be diffused through a local area district or highly concentrated around specific resource (e.g．water supply)．The small-scale sector,while innovative and a highly important part of the regions aquaculture production，faces increasing constraints，particularly for export crops such as shrimp．These include changing COSTS and business stmctures，access to modern market chains，exposure to increased market risks，increasingly stringent standards for food and other requirements，and limited access to markets，technical and financial services and knowledge．The commercial／government servicing，while well developed in Asia,also tends to be less oriented towards the small-scale farmer．Increasing trends towards certification，traceability and quality assurance schemes also risk disadvantaging the sector unless positive actions are taken to involve small-scale farmers and develop focussed strategies to ensure their participation．No certification scheme as yet targets the small-scale sector,but there will be significant social and economic benefits if the sector can be effectively serviced to participate in modern market chains．Some examples of the way forward are provided，including development of small-scale farmer organizations，group certification and services oriented towards the small-scale sector and the business opportunities it represents．These are rather new approaches for aquaculture，but lessons could be learned from other sectors，including agriculture and Fair Trade certification schemes．Recommendations to governments and the business sector for ensuring the participation of the small-scale aquaculture farmer in certification schemes and modern market chains in Asia are included.
Michael Phillips Rohana Subasinghe Jesper Clausen Koji Yamamoto C.V.Mohan A.Padiyar Simon Funge-Smith
Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific Bangkok,Thailand Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome,Italy Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome,Italy;International Finance Cooperation
国际会议
青岛
英文
163-169
2007-05-29（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）