Aquaculture farmer organizations and cluster management: concepts and experiences

partnerships with other processors such as Thai Union Frozen and Marine Gold. 
Developing partnerships with a range of processors and buyers (shortening the market 
chain as they have done with the current contract arrangement with the local processor 
and the EU buyer) provides the best opportunity for cooperative members to benefit 
from working together and enabling them to maximize their returns from shrimp 
farming in a sustainable way.
KEY LESSONS
Similar objectives of members 
The cooperative is made up of farmers with different needs, interests, skills and 
assets. However, these farmers are united by a small number of common interests 
and objectives. The main problems related to decreasing and unpredictable prices 
and unsustainable market access are being successfully addressed by the cooperative. 
The cooperative is providing members with access to good-quality inputs on credit 
along with negotiating new partnerships for market access. By working together and 
building partnerships along the market chain, members also now have the chance to 
become Fairtrade-certified, which would be virtually impossible if they were working 
individually. It is the existence of common problems being successfully addressed by 
the cooperative that has kept the cooperative strong and its membership growing.
Strong leadership
The cooperative president is extremely motivated and committed. He is a successful 
shrimp farmer and understands the problems members are facing. The strength and 
commitment of his leadership is a key reason why the cooperative has moved forward 
and grown so quickly in such a short space of time. The cooperative president is also 
supported by another strong and charismatic leader, the FOSCOT president, who has 
creativity and vision, and is highly educated and well connected both nationally and 
internationally.
Partnerships
Strong external partnerships between the cooperative and NACA, the government 
through the DoF and the DCP, the private sector (input suppliers, processors and 
buyers), NGOs such as the WWF and Fairtrade, along with the other cooperatives 
that form the FOSCOT, have been important factors in the growing success of the 
cooperative. These partnerships have provided the cooperative with increased influence 
with government (by forming a federation with other cooperatives, they have increased 
their voice and lobbying power), increased exposure and national and international 
awareness of the cooperative, strategic guidance and technical support from NACA 
and others, all of which have contributed to its growing success.