Student group meeting 2023-12-19

Student Group Meeting

December 19, 2023

Key points:

• A spreadsheet will be shared with the students to map the social economy of dried fish, considering variables like country research sites and key themes.
• Participants emphasized migration as a rich theme for discussion, with varied dimensions such as cultural preferences, international and regional effects, and its role in shaping the social economy of the dried fish industry. The exploration of migration offered a broad and nuanced perspective for further discussion.
• Participants discussed the impact of aquaculture on dried fish, addressing market dynamics and changes in consumer preferences.
• Students are encouraged to contribute interesting findings, including photographs, videos, stories, and articles, to draw attention to DFM’s work and research.
• Participants shared what working groups their research aligns with.

Minutes:

Mahfuzar Rahman: The agendas for the meetings are (1) identify research questions or themes for the next plenary meeting, (2) students’ contribution to the DFM’s public outreach, (3) student’s research connection to DFM’s broader working groups, and (4) frequency and organization of student group meeting.

One of the suggestions of the last plenary meeting was for the student group to come up with interesting research questions or themes for the next plenary meeting. I request all the participants to share their preferred questions or themes for the plenary meeting.

Anas Khan:  I have a lot of social economy ideas that came out of my research. I also have visual outputs to share with broader DFM groups. In my research, the social economy comes together in a unique way. So, I am interested in how different communities and ethnicities come together in the value chain and how it connects family and market.

Derek Johnson: Will the next plenary meeting be student-led, and what would the structure of that session look like? My understanding is there are two types of meetings; one is the student group meeting, where the group invites people and has brainstorming sessions. The other one is the plenary meeting, where students will present their findings and foster larger group discussions. The plenary meeting is ninety minutes long so that we can have two to three students’ short presentations.

Mahfuzar Rahman: Or we can have a single presentation. The student group can come up with a single presentation, and someone from the group can present it. The group needs to do homework to finalize and develop the presentation.

Derek Johnson: Anas has given us one productive idea. We could definitely talk about that. Each of you who has field experience so far can talk about dried fish's social and economic context. However, brainstorm around the group and see if there are other ideas that people would like to discuss.

Raktima Ghosh: My field experience indicates that some non-governmental organizations are playing critical roles in mediating between the government and other stakeholders. So, the role of these organizations in establishing the social economy in particular contexts is crucial, particularly in India. For example, the National Fish Workers Forum played a crucial role in developing hybrid cooperative systems in Sundarbans. We can examine how these different types of social economies have developed in different places and how these have been complicated over time.

My second point is that every time we visit the fields, we see their challenges and solutions to them. We need to think about these challenges and solutions in an inclusive way.

We have the INSEE conference in February. We can plan this kind of participatory approach to address the issues in the field.

Derek Johnson: The INSEE conference is India-focused, and the participants are from the India team. The conference provides a milestone for the participants in the India team. Think about how the students could use this discussion forum. Mahfuz can circulate the conference proposal from the DFM India team.

Safina Naznin: I am a bit confused about the plenary and student meetings. It needs to be clear first what meeting this presentation is for. We can discuss the social economy idea that Anas mentioned. The social economy idea could be a good option for the student meeting, but for the plenary session, I’m not sure about the modality. How a student will lead the plenary session, I am not clear about it.

Mahfuzar Rahman: As mentioned earlier, we have two different meetings; one is the student group meeting that decided to have regular meetings with keynote speakers. The other one is the plenary meeting. One of the decisions of the last plenary meeting was the student group to come up with ideas and questions in the next plenary meeting for fostering thought-provoking discussion.

Safina Naznin: Okay, we can think about the social economy or nutrition as discussion themes for the next plenary meeting.

Mahfuzar Rahman: We had regular student presentations in previous meetings where the students shared their research proposals and findings and received feedback from the participants. The meetings were fruitful in terms of receiving interesting and effective feedback. We can go back to that format if the group decides.

Tanzina Nazia: We can think about how rights and ethnicity relate to the social economy.

Colleen Cranmer: I am interested to hear more about aquaculture and dried fish and their impacts. How does it impact the market, rural areas, and others? My study found that the smaller fish species that are used for dried fish are being put towards aquaculture. I am wondering what everyone else’s research and experience has been with that.

Derek Johnson: It is more of a demand-side question. The other side of this change is whether there are any consumption changes. Are the dried fish consumers increasingly consuming aquaculturally produced dried fish, whereas previously, they produced or consumed wild catch dried fish?

Colleen Cranmer: Yes, ten years ago, people were having wild-caught fish, and now, because of the price issue, they go for whatever is cheapest. Increasing imports from Thailand and Vietnam are causing issues in the Cambodian aquaculture fish market.

Derek Johnson: Jessie might be able to comment on this from the Philippine case. About changes towards aquaculturally produced dried fish impact on the value chains.

Jessie Varquez: Yes, aquaculture production affects the ecology.

Derek Johnson: The Karnataka team has done a study where they found small fish used for fish oil and feed. I can link you (Colleen) with the Karnataka team.

Sharmin Afrose: Thanks to Anas and other fellow students for sharing such interesting ideas. I would like to see how migration affects the consumption of dried fish and the impacts of forced migration, displacement, and social change on the consumption of dried fish. My study focuses on the cultural preferences of dried fish consumption among displaced communities like Rohingya. I’m also interested in working in the food and nutrition security group.

Derek Johnson: Sharmin’s study is closely linked to Way Win’s study in terms of the orientation towards migration; both are refugee-focused. It also reminds me of the tribal population of India, who move around a lot. It’s a rich theme, and Kyoko is interested in migration, so she would be a good person to lead a discussion on that.

Ishaan Khot: I don’t have anything substantial to share with you right now. If I have any specific suggestions, I’ll definitely make them in upcoming meetings. I think we have a lot of good ideas to go with.

Derek Johnson: I have two more thoughts on migration; one is related to Cambodia, where Vietnamese migrants to Cambodia play crucial roles in facilitating the supply of fish. It is important to shape the social economy of dried fish in Cambodia. The second point is that migration is not just of people but also of ideas and economic relationships. Also, migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Canada has shifted economic possibilities, also shaping consumption preferences in Canada. Also, Mahfuz’s study in Bangladesh found that large-scale outmigration from Sylhet plays a critical role in the international dried fish economy. So, migration is a rich theme.

Mahfuzar Rahman: Just to add to Derek’s comments, the outmigration from Sylhet, Chittagong and Noakhali is shaping Bangladesh’s dried fish export market. It also shapes consumer preferences within Bangladesh. Increasing the export of specific dried fish species causes price hikes in the domestic market and consumer preferences. So, migration is a really interesting theme that we can discuss.

Jessie Varquez: I’d like to share two points based on my ten months of field experience: first, the role of women, particularly at the production level. Second, the circulation of dried fish, primarily through online platforms. Thirdly, access to and preferences of dried fish consumption. I’d like to have a comparative analysis across different project areas.

Mahfuzar Rahman: My study also finds interesting findings about the changes in dried fish circulation during the Covid-19 period and an increase in digital marketing using social media.

Derek Johnson: I have a few important points: the diversity of dried fish social economy – social diversity, economic diversity, and intersectionality are interesting places to start. Secondly, mapping of the social economy of dried fish – who does what? Who has power? Who controls value? You can identify a number of variables in a spreadsheet: country or research sites on one axis and variables on the other axis. Then, fill out the spreadsheet for a more grounded brainstorming for the next session. For example, we have identified several themes so far: migration, aquaculture, gender, and the diversion of fish-to-fish meals and fish oil. Everybody fill out the spreadsheet and then meet again. It starts as a basis for discussion; from there, we can identify specific focuses.

Mahfuzar Rahman: Thanks, Derek, for summarizing and guiding the discussion. We would like to move towards the second agenda of the meeting – students’ contribution to DFM public outreach.

Derek Johnson: Students who are in the field and have access to the richest and most interesting examples that will draw people’s attention. Students also have more enthusiasm for creating visual creative outputs. Through your work, we can draw attention to what we are doing.

Mahfuzar Rahman: As Derek mentioned, we are requesting all students to share their interesting findings; they could be a photograph, short video, or story. We have two examples already; one is Colleen’s recent blog post, and the other one is Raktima’s wonderful video.

So, please send your research photographs, videos or stories to DFM Central.

Derek Johnson: One more idea: if you come across an interesting article that makes some new point, you could also share it with us with a few lines about why this is important to you.

Raktima Ghosh: I have one more video, the gender video that I prepared for the GAF conference. It requires a bit of work on the voice-over, and I hope to finish it by January 2024.

Derek Johnson: Anas has an example of a popular article that we are in the process of getting ready for publication or for advertising through DFM.

Mahfuzar Rahman: We are running out of time, and we have one more agenda to discuss – which working groups is your study related to? DFM has three working groups: WG1 – Social Economy, WG2- Nutrition and Food Security, and WG3 – Policy and Governance. Let me begin with my research; my research is directly linked to working groups 1 and 3.

Raktima Ghosh: My research is also directly linked to working group one because I am also focusing on social economy from the perspective of values and relationships. Another point that I want to share is that the dried fish producers in Sundarbans are primarily migrants who came there from other districts during the 1970s. They learned about dried fish processing from the Bangladeshi refugees during the post-partition period. It showed the migration of ideas.

Derek Johnson: Raktima’s story reminds me of the Rajput migration; they had to go fishing because of losing to Muslim armies.

Sharmin Afrose: I am working on displacement. My work mostly supports the food and nutrition security area (WG2). It will also explore the influence of food aid on food choices.

Anas Khan: I think it’s the social economy group (WG1) that is definite. It is also related to WG2 to some extent.

Colleen Cranmer: I’d say my closest ties with working group one (WG1) are mostly looking at micro-scale female fish processors.

Safina Naznin: My research focuses on professional health and hygiene provisions with a gender focus, so it clearly goes under working group one (WG1).

Tanzina Nazia: My research actually goes under working group 3 since I am trying to focus on the impact of the blue economy in the dried fish sector.

Ishaan Khot: I see the most direct connection with working group one. It also has connections with working groups two and three.

Jessie Varquez: It connects to working groups one and three.

Mahfuzar Rahman: Thanks to all for your response. In terms of the third agenda of the meeting – frequency of the meeting. Six students responded to the poll, of which three voted for monthly meetings, two voted for bi-monthly meetings, and one for quarterly meetings. It is now the group to decide the frequency of the meetings.

Raktima Ghosh: If we meet frequently, then we will know about our overlapping ideas and write short articles.

Derek Johnson: Given the fact that Mahfuz will be instrumental in facilitating the design and completion of the spreadsheet. I would suggest you lead it again next month, and then after that, we can start sharing the responsibility around amongst everybody else.