Aquaculture farmer organizations and cluster management: concepts and experiences

Certification 
At present, only a small proportion of cooperative members are selling to the local 
processor under a contract arrangement. The cooperative has also been approached by 
Fairtrade to see whether the produce of the farmers that have sold their shrimp to the 
EU meets the Fairtrade criteria, along with their contract farming operation practices 
(as Fairtrade certification requires the whole market chain for the product to be certified 
covering social, economic and environmental issues, and ensures a minimum price and 
premium for community-development projects is paid to the producers). Assessment 
of a processor could be challenging; however, the currently engaged processing plant is 
not a large operation and specializes in high-quality produce and seems more socially 
conscious than the average private sector company and is looking to target a niche 
segment of the market through taking this approach. Fairtrade is conducting a pilot 
study with those selected members of the cooperative, and there is the opportunity to 
increase substantially if Fairtrade certification for the cooperative’s product is achieved. 
Certification would lead to increased demand from the existing EU buyer, with the 
potential of attracting other processors and buyers. There have been difficulties for 
5 
FAO/DOF Workshop on the Options for a Potential Insurance Scheme for Aquaculture in Thailand, 
23–25 September 2009, Bangkok, Thailand.

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farmers to meet all the Fairtrade requirements, but the cooperative is optimistic and 
willing to make the necessary changes.
Increased access to output markets
Currently, the majority of members are still selling to brokers at low and unpredictable 
prices. The FOSCOT’s contract with the national seafood processing plant is 
potentially unsustainable; therefore, the cooperative needs to actively strengthen