This session provides an opportunity to reflect on the potential of group-based interventions to facilitate upgrading by shrimp smallholders, and the challenges associated with doing so.
Shrimp is Bangladesh’s main agricultural export and a substantial contributor to the economy of southern Bangladesh, but the sector has a checkered history; beset by struggles over land and water governance, salinization of agricultural croplands, persistent problems with disease, low productivity, and overcapacity in the processing and shrimp hatchery sectors. Complex supply chains, comprised of hundreds of thousands of small farms and tens of thousands of small traders, make it difficult to implement traceability and certification initiatives – now a prerequisite for entry into most supermarket supply chains. Recent interventions aimed at upgrading in shrimp value chains in Bangladesh and beyond have focused on forming smallholder clusters as a key strategy to meet this objective.
Time: Tuesday, November 28, 2023 (7:00 p.m. Dhaka time)