Sustainable & Equitable Aquaculture: exploring power and livelihoods in Vietnam value chains

How we produce, trade and consume food (i.e. food value chains) is a major contributor to social and environmental problems: food insecurity persists among vulnerable people and the environment is damaged from food production while poverty persists among value chain workers. Scholars argue the need to tackle the power relationships that lead to poverty, poor health and ecological degradation. But existing evidence falls short in identifying how power translates to inequitable livelihoods, and what this implies for social and ecological sustainability. Contrasting industrial and traditional aquaculture value chains in Vietnam, this project will examine how power influences livelihoods of vulnerable people, and poverty, antibiotic use, and waste management. Aquaculture value chains in Vietnam provide a useful example with rapid intensification, increased risk of antimicrobial resistance and water pollution.

Principal Investigator: Dr Ayako Ebata, Institute of Development Studies