The structure, conduct and performance of aquaculture value chain in Bangladesh

The stacked survey technique was used to conduct survey of large representative samples of 1195 actors from five nodes of the aquaculture value chain in sothern Bangladesh in 2021: fish hatcheries (n=66), feed traders (n=79), aquaculture farms (n=721), and aquatic food wholesalers (n=229) and retailers (n=100). This stacked survey was the second round of a panel first conducted in 2013. In 2021, a new census of respondents were prepared in every area surveyed in 2013. All respondents surveyed in 2013 who were identified as still operating in 2021 were resurveyed, and respondents included in the 2013 survey whose businesses had closed, or who were unavailable to participate in the resurvey were replaced at random from the 2021 census list. A structured questionnaire developed in 2013 was modified based on current context, translated into Bangla, and piloted extensively before finalizing. The questionnaire covered four broad topics: (1) Demographic and business characteristics (e.g., volume of working capital, year of establishment) and asset ownership; (2) Procurement and use of aquatic products, labour, credit, and transport; (3) Production technology, product handling and value addition activities; (4) Marketing behavior. Interviews were conducted face to face by trained enumerators, using tablets.