Oxfam and the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability (ICAFIS) on May 24 launched a project to support sustainable and equitable shrimp production and value chain development in the Mekong Delta region.
The project worth EUR2.5 million, funded by the European Union (EU) under the SWITCH-Asia programme, aims to promote sustainable economic prosperity and poverty reduction in Vietnam through improving social and environmental impacts of shrimp value chain development.
Vietnam's shrimp production provides a living for over a million of people and improves incomes for small scale producers who account for more than 80% of Vietnam's shrimp production.
The project targets small and medium enterprises (SME), shrimp producers and inhabitants in Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces for a period of four years from March 2016 to February 2020.
It will facilitate a win-win collaboration among value chain stakeholders and empower the small scale farmers to engage effectively in the value chain for added benefit. The participatory process facilitated by the project allows surrounding communities to dialogue with shrimp value chain actors and hold them accountable for negative impact management.
Speaking about the project, Alejandro Montalban, Minister Counselor of the Delegation of the EU to Vietnam said the project would contribute to efficient resources utilisation, responsible production supply chains and practices, improved social and environmental conditions and reduced waste.
Besides the technical support, the project will work with project stakeholders to find solution to helping small scale shrimp producers and SME shrimp processors to be able to access adequate finances, including advocating favourable government credit policies, and empowering them to have a stronger voice in negotiations with other actors in the value chain, the EU official added.
Sustainable production practices and the successful collaborative models of shrimp value chain actors are expected to be documented for national level institutionalisation and be disseminated for nation-wide replication in Vietnam at the completion of the project, said Oxfam deputy country director in Vietnam Nguyen Thi Le Hoa.
The SWITCH Asia Programme started in 2007 is one of the European Commission actions to promote the green economy in Asia. The programme aims to identify and scale up successful Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) practices in Asia in order to induce a systematic change in consumption and production patterns and behaviour.
