Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Green Soil, developing standards in such a way would enable the organic standards
to be both based on scientific knowledge and be tailored to local conditions.
Given the large number of farmers who were part of the sustainable shrimp
project, a committee was formed to take the lead in developing the organic
standards for the project. While the standard-development process was intended
to be democratic, committee members tended to feel that their positions and views
were subordinated to those of Green Soil. This was especially the case in instances
where there was a disagreement between the committee and Green Soil. Such
marginalization was largely the result of requirements by Green Soil that the stan-
dards be based on science. Specifically, Green Soil maintained that modifications
to its core principles had to be supported by scientific evidence. However, as the
committee largely drew on experiential knowledge, such a requirement functioned
to limit farmers' input into the standards.
A particularly contested issue between the committee and Green Soil was the
degree to which mangroves should be reforested. Green Soil is a strong proponent
of mangrove reforestation, as it is one of the major concerns that the international
community has regarding shrimp aquaculture. Specifically, Green Soil's core
principles stated that a shrimp farm should only be certified as organic if the total
farm area did not exceed 50 % of the former mangrove area. Thus, former mangrove
areas on farm properties must be reforested to at least 50 % within 5 years to receive
organic certification from Green Soil. As the shrimp ponds on the Bojokulu delta
were once mangrove forests, Green Soil stipulated that reforestation of half of the
land on which Bojokulu shrimp ponds are located was necessary.
The committee disagreed with Green Soil's interpretation of mangroves in
the Bojokulu region. From the committee's perspective, most shrimp ponds in
Bojokulu have been in existence for 200-300 years or more, previously being
used for milkfish production. Thus, committee members argued that shrimp ponds
in Bojokulu have coexisted with nature for a long time and there has not been
significant recent mangrove destruction as a result of shrimp farming. Given this
history, the committee maintained that the standardized principles of Green Soil,
which might be suitable for regions where mangrove forests had recently been
cleared for shrimp production, were inappropriate for Bojokulu. The committee
tried to convince Green Soil that its principle on mangrove reforestation needed
to be interpreted more flexibly given the history of the ponds in Bojokulu. However,
Green Soil rejected the committee's position on the grounds that their position was
not supported by scientific evidence.
In an attempt to enhance the creditability of their position, the committee then
enrolled an official with a European organic consultant company. Soon thereafter
Green Soil agreed to enter into a renegotiation stage and the two groups were able
to come to a compromise.
5
Nevertheless, despite getting Green Soil to compromise
5
As a compromise, organic standards required that shrimp farmers plant mangrove trees at a
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