Science, Environment and Development Group

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Wednesday, 22 October 2003
The Sustainability of Production-Consumption Chains: Insights from the Industrialization of Shrimp Aquaculture in Asia
Louis Lebel, Director, Unit for Social and Environmental Research (USER), Chiang Mai University
9:30-11:30 am, Perkins Room (E-415), 4th Floor, Eliot Building, KSG (Map)

Biography:

Louis Lebel is the Director of Unit for Social and Environmental Research (USER), Chiang Mai University, and the Science Coordinator for START (global change SysTem for Analysis, Research, and Training) in the Southeast Asian region. He began his career as a freshwater ecologist, but after coming to work in Thailand in the early 1990s he became interested in health and development issues, in addition to maintaining an interest in the environment. Now, most of his primary research and research coordination efforts involve attempts to better synthesize and integrate understanding of nature-society interactions. Lebel is a member of the Resilience Alliance. He sits on the international steering committee for the Global Carbon Project, the international Initiative on Science and Technology for Sustainability (ISTS), and the Southeast Asian Regional Committee for START (SARCS). He is a co-investigator with Bill Clark on the Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development Project.

Presentation slides:

Lebel, Louis. "The Sustainability of Production-Consumption Chains: Insights from the Industrialization of Shrimp Aquaculture in Asia." PowerPoint presentation from Research Topics in Sustainable Development seminar, 22 October 2003, Center for International Development, Harvard University.

Background document:

Lebel, Louis, Nguyen Hoang Tri, Amnuay Saengnoree, Suparb Pasong, Urasa Buatama, and Le Kim Thoa. 2002. "Industrial Transformation and Shrimp Aquaculture: Pathways to Ecological, Social, and Economic Sustainability?" Ambio 31(4): 311-323.

Shrimp aquaculture in Vietnam is in the process of being transformed into a major industry around the intensification of the production system. The experiences of other countries in the region, especially in Thailand where high input production systems dominate, suggests that now is a critical time for intervention to redirect industry into pathways that are more sustainable ecologically, socially, and economically. In Thailand, years of experience with intensified systems and a complex industrial organization has not led to sustainable solutions. The challenge here is for society to regain control and then to redirect the transformation along more efficient and benign pathways. Our analyses suggest that current pathways in both countries are unlikely to lead to a sustainable industry. A complete transformation of the way shrimp are grown, fed, processed, distributed, and regulated is needed.

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