Contracting for sustainability (An analysis of the Lake Victoria-EU Nile perch chain)

This publication explores how the international Nile perch fish chain should or can be organised to improve both welfare of local communities, sustainability of the fisheries and quality of the fish. Primary producers face a number of bottlenecks such as poor access to production facilities, ineffective enforcement of sustainable practices, lack of market (price) information, competition with international markets and degradation of the fisheries that lead to increasing food insecurity problems. In order to improve sustainability and quality, primary producers are open to contracts that enable them better access to production facilities and price information, and also to better integrate them into international channels. Sustainable practices can or should be part of these contracts. Although the downstream channel members and other stakeholders were not fully aware of the complexity and gravity of the upstream problems, they appeared to be willing to help to improve the situation at Lake Victoria. It is therefore a corporate social responsibility for the downstream channel members, as well as nature conservation organizations and the donor community, to empower the primary producers and local communities in developing countries to implement welfare, sustainability and quality-enhancing practices. This publication outlines several mechanisms to achieves these goals.