Work resumes

Work has resumed for SEAT-KU project. The team had a meeting last 7th December to discuss status of work and to revise plans for field work. There was also discussion on what items needed to be clarified with WP partners and how things will be adjusted due to the delayed schedule. Early this week the team met again to present plans for field work in the coming months, including data input, contacting respondents for further work, and database management.

The revised field work schedule (immediate) is as follows:
14-15 Dec: farm surveys in Chachoengsao (WP5,6,7)
19-23 Dec: farm surveys in Surat Thani (WP5,6,7)
26-30 Dec: farm surveys in Chanthaburi (WP5,6,7)
Jan 2012: farm surveys in Nakhon Pathom (WP5,6,7) - depends on post-flood situation

For other WP work such as LCA & LCC (WP3/5), sample collection (WP4), and SH workshop (WP8), these are already included in the schedule. On-going work related to LCA/LCC involves updating potential respondents' lists and making contacts with them through various means such as letters, personal contact, and networking. Recruitment of more field staff is also on-going.

Likewise, a discussion on action research topics was also started with the action research manager in attendance. Main items discussed were: checking the language of the SOS posters, deliverable protocols, additional topics from farmers who are willing to conduct research, action research to check products in the field and to produce policy papers.

tilapia in cages

Harvested tilapia from cages are carried in baskets ...

... and transported in this FG tank and sold live in local markets!

Project updates

As Nov ends and Dec starts, we see the end of the flooding at KU campus. However in other parts of the country esp in central region and around Bangkok, water has not receded yet. At KU, water has been pumped out since last week and nearly the whole campus is now dry. The cleaning up operation also started a few days ago and it is hoped that everything will be ready by next week for offices to open. (Photos)


We have informed the project team to report back to work next week. While grounded by the flooding in their respective areas, the team had been working remotely, communicating with various partners esp with WP coordinators in relation to the field work we are currently doing (WPs3,4,5,6,7). Also planning for the next round of field work, which this time will involve going to the south to cover the shrimp areas there. The schedule will depend on the situation in the field of the identified respondents.


Likewise we have also been scanning for notable news items related to aquaculture and will try to post the links on the right hand corner of this blog, or in the News page.


We have also been closely discussing and working with the project coordinators, U of Stirling, regarding current and future work such as for project management in general (WP1) and project meeting in Vietnam, and more specifically about paper publications from survey efforts, including data analysis (WP2), planning for action research esp with SMEs (WP9) and dissemination of project outputs (WP12).


We are also planning with the coordinators regarding LCA/LCC work (WPs3,5), and to prepare and think of ways to contact the various value chain actors who will be interested to participate in this part of the project. The questionnaires have been prepared and translated with all inputs from both WP coordinators/ researchers and local team, which is the same as with all other research survey instruments used in this project.


Due to the flooding situation, the timing for sample (water, sediment, feed) collection and analysis for WP4 has to be moved to the next season. The first sample collection will start in March 2012, then in June, August and November.


WP8 coordinators (U of Bergen) have also communicated with us regarding the upcoming stakeholder workshop next year and the details about preparation and other specifics. We plan to discuss more of the details when we meet in Cantho during the project meeting.


The KU PI, Dr Key Satapornvanit has been invited to participate in the meeting on "Asian Collaboration on Agricultural and Food Ethics - EurSafe/Asia", which is organised by Prof Matthias Kaiser (President and Foundiing Member, European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics - EurSafe, U of Bergen, WP8 Coordinator) and Dr Kate Millar (Center for Applied Bioethics, U of Nottingham UK). This will be held on 2 Dec 2011 at UNESCO Bangkok. The main purpose is to explore the setting up of an Asian Chapter of EurSafe.  


We also continue to add into our value chain metadatabase as we meet new contacts through meetings and networking activities.