1.
CERTIFIED ORGANIC SHRIMP: A NEW
APPROACH TO MANGROVE PES?
Jake Brunner, IUCN
Jakarta, May 2014

2.
28%
70%
Ca Mau
50%
Vietnam’s Mangroves

3.
January 2013
Nhung Mien Forest Management Unit

4.
Integrated mangrove-shrimp
1. Low yield: 300 vs. 10,000 kg/ha/year
2. Low costs: no chemicals, feed, or antibiotics
3. Low risk: no crop failure in 2012
4. Diverse: crab, fish, oysters, etc.
5. Profitable: $2,100 vs. $1,100-$1,300/ha/year

5.
Mangroves & Markets
• 2012-2016, BMU funding, IUCN and SNV
• Starting off with 740 farmers in Nhung Mien
• Minh Phu has signed 5-year contracts with
farmers:
– 10% price premium
– All sizes
• Organic standard: Naturland
– Requires 50% mangrove cover per national law
• Auditor: IMO, Institute of Market-Ecology
• Supports provincial vision of “organic coast”

6.
PES brief history
• 1993-1998: Program 327 introduced household
protection contracts (VND/ha/year)
• 1998-2010: Program 661 (5 Million Hectare
Reforestation Program)
• 2006: USAID/Winrock/IUCN ARBCP in Lam Dong
• 2008: Decision 380 on piloting PES
• 2010: Decree 99 nation-wide, specified payments for
hydro (VND/KWhr) and water utilities (VND/m3)
• 2012: Work started on aquaculture PES decision
supported by IUCN and GIZ

7.
Weaknesses
1. Low willingness to pay
– Buyers are state-owned companies that were
instructed to pay; private hydropower plants reluctant
because existing contracts
2. Potentially low compliance
– Monitoring is based on self-reporting, raising
questions about conflict of interest and credibility;
government sees PES as welfare support
3. Doubts about permanence
– New market opportunities (e.g., cassava) may make
PES unaffordable; high and fluctuating opportunity
costs

8.
Certification approach
1. Willingness to pay
– International consumer is ultimate buyer; Minh Phu, the
intermediate buyer, has identified organic shrimp as key
market opportunity
2. Compliance
– Forest management board, annual audits, internal control
system in place, farmer groups encourage peer pressure,
satellite monitoring
3. Permanence
– Transforming the threat ; significant up-front costs
(training, GIS, toilet kits, etc.) but incremental costs
modest; strong financial incentive to stay certified