Research aims to improve shrimp supply chain sustainability

A field research trip to Bangladesh, conducted by Dr Maryam Lotfi of Cardiff Business School, focused on understanding and improving social sustainability in the shrimp supply chain.

Dr Lotfi, a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Co-Director of the Modern Slavery and Social Sustainability Research Group, conducted the research as part of the ‘Ethical Shrimp’ public value engagement project, funded by Cardiff Business School.

This project is a collaboration between Cardiff Business School (Dr Maryam Lotfi and Professor Yingli Wang), Cardiff Metropolitan University (Dr Imtiaz Khan), and Bangladesh Agricultural University (Professor Khan).

During the visit to Bangladesh, Dr Lotfi engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including farmers, middlemen, processing companies and their workers, and government bodies. Her fieldwork focused on social risk mapping and proposing improvements.

As well as visiting a shrimp farming area, she also travelled to Bangladesh Agricultural University, where she met with the university team, the Dean, and the Vice-Chancellor to discuss future collaborations on sustainable supply chains in the agri-food sector.

Intensive discussions and engagements led to a comprehensive understanding of the upstream shrimp supply chain and identified challenges faced by various stakeholders. Key issues included the exclusion of most farmers from government initiatives due to capacity and financial constraints, unfair prices on farmers by companies and middlemen, and the lack of a bottom-up approach in price setting.

While stakeholders were reluctant to discuss child labour openly, it was confirmed to occur in certain areas, despite being denied at the farm level. Additional challenges identified were cultural issues, lack of awareness, and extreme poverty. Despite these issues and the unfair pay, many workers still expressed job satisfaction.

The insights gained from this project are expected to enhance social sustainability in the shrimp supply chain, aiming to improve conditions for all involved.