DFM Interview guide: wholesalers

Structure

How many traders are there in the market?

Are all the traders here local? (If not: Where do you come from? What brought you here?)

What are the main species and products on sale?

How much of each of the major species/products do you trade each month?

Do the types of species/products traded vary by season – how and why?

Do the volumes of species/products traded vary by season – how, and why?

Which months are high/low/intermediate season?

Where are the main traded species/products traced from?

How are they transported to market?

What types of vehicle bring fish to/take fish from the market?

What are the main sizes of vehicle (e.g. 6 wheel truck, 12 wheel truck?)

How much dried/fermented product can be carried by each vehicle? How many of each size of vehicle visit the market each day during peak/low season?

Is there any variation in the size of actors (big, small traders)?

Conduct

Do some of the traders here specialize in particular fish species or products? How many traders specialize in each kind of product/species?

What ethnicity are the traders (don’t need to ask this directly)

Is the trading enterprise a family firm? If so, in what capacity are family members involved in the firm?

Who and where are the main traded species/products sourced from (e.g. other traders in market, small/large traders from area where produced, direct from processors)?

Do traders provide credit to their suppliers? On what terms?

Where/who are the main traded species/products sold to?

Do traders provide credit to their buyers? On what terms?

How many workers does each trader employ? What are their roles? How are they paid? Where are they from?

Besides trading dried fish, do traders perform any other role in the value chain (e.g. do they own boats or transportation vehicles, do they process fish, do they retail fish directly to consumers)? Has this changed over time (e.g. did they start as fishers and get into trading, or start trading and buy boats later)? (i.e. is the trading firm vertically integrated?)

Performance

Who owns and manages the market? Do they have an office in the market? Do they keep records of the quantities of fish traded?

How many traders were there 5 years ago, 10 years ago?

Is there a trader’s association?  Is every trader in the market a member? What rules does it have? Who leads the association?

Do all the traders in the market operate in the same way or are there different types (e.g. do some buy and sell, while others earn a commission?): how does each type of trader operate?

Is it possible to categorize traders in the market by size? (e.g. small/medium/large?) If so, what characteristics does each have?

Has the availability/volume/composition/price of species/products sold changed over the past 10 years – how/why?

What are the supply and demand drivers of change in the past 10 years?

What are the proportions of male and female workers employed by traders? Do male and female workers have different roles?

Do traders have any businesses that are not linked dried fish?

How much economic loss do you incur per month because of decay/wastage of fish?

Are there any support from the government for this trade in dry fish?

Are you satisfied with this trade? Do you like your children to continue with this trade?

What are the main issues in dried fish trading?

Have there been any changes to the price of dried fish over the last 5 years? 10 years? Species wise?

Are the dried fish more affordable for consumers now as compared to a year ago?

Do you like this trade? Would you like your children to continue in this trade?

Do you consume dried fish if so which species and why those species?