Following its initial inception meeting at the University of Manitoba in May 2018, the Dried Fish Matters (DFM) project organized a series of regional inception meetings across South and Southeast Asia in June 2018. Held in Dhaka, Bangladesh (June 5–6); Hyderabad, India (June 13–14); Bangkok, Thailand (June 15–16); and Colombo, Sri Lanka (June 18), these meetings marked an important step in establishing the project’s international research partnership and developing its collaborative research agenda. The regional inception meetings provided an opportunity to introduce the project’s research objectives and methodological approaches, identify country-specific research priorities, and discuss the roles and contributions of participating researchers and institutions.
Bringing Together Regional Research Partners
The first meeting took place on June 5–6 at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, bringing together researchers affiliated with Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh Agricultural University, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, and the University of Manitoba. The agenda included presentations on the project’s anthropological foundations and an overview of existing knowledge concerning Bangladesh’s dried fish economy, presented by Mostafa Hossain. A dedicated workshop focused on developing a country-level research plan, alongside discussions on project governance, methodological approaches, and partnership building.
The next meeting was organized in Hyderabad, India, on June 13–14, with researchers and collaborators representing universities, fisheries research institutions, and civil society organizations. The meeting’s agenda opened with remarks by Professor S. Galab, Director of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS). Over two days, participants were invited to consider regional research priorities, research methodologies, institutional contributions, and arrangements for country-level coordination and data sharing. The programme also included a workshop dedicated to developing regional research plans.
On June 15–16, the DFM Thailand inception meeting took place at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok. The meeting brought together a diverse group of researchers and institutional partners from Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand, with the participant list including representatives from the Asian Institute of Technology, Kasetsart University, Mahidol University, Michigan State University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, WorldFish, and the University of Manitoba, among others. Discussions were organized around project governance, research methodology, partner responsibilities, and resource contributions. A central component was a workshop on developing country-level research plans, followed by sessions on knowledge mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, and partnership development.
The series concluded with the Sri Lanka inception meeting in Colombo on June 18. The meeting’s participant list included Oscar Amarasinghe and Dilanthi N. Koralagama from the University of Ruhuna, Gayathri Lokuge from the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), and Derek Johnson, Fabiana Li, and Eric Thrift from the University of Manitoba, alongside Kaumi Piyasiri from Hue University. The agenda emphasized project methodology, institutional responsibilities, partnership building, and the development of a country-level research plan for Sri Lanka.
Shaping a Collaborative Research Agenda
Across the four meetings, a central objective was to translate DFM’s broader research vision into coordinated research activities that could respond to the distinct social, economic, and cultural contexts of dried fish economies across the region.
The meetings were guided by a common set of questions concerning existing knowledge gaps, opportunities for comparative research, institutional contributions, and the practical resources needed to undertake research. They also provided a framework for considering how researchers and partner institutions could collaborate across disciplinary and geographical boundaries.
Another important area of planning concerned the project’s anticipated research outputs and knowledge mobilization activities. Proposed outputs included dried fish value-chain studies, food security and nutrition research, policy briefs, statistical and bibliographic databases, academic publications, and resources for non-academic audiences. Discussions also considered communication platforms that could support collaboration within the DFM network and make research findings accessible to a wider audience.
These early discussions were intended to contribute to the development of DFM’s first major Milestones document, scheduled for October 2018, which would outline the project’s planned activities, expected outcomes, timelines, and partner contributions.
Together, the regional inception meetings represented an important step in building the foundations of the Dried Fish Matters partnership. By connecting researchers and institutions across South and Southeast Asia, the meetings helped establish a common planning framework for research aimed at bringing greater visibility to dried fish economies and the communities whose livelihoods and wellbeing depend upon them.