Figure 5 - uploaded by Michael Lück
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Gleaning activities and shell economies in four Philippines coastal communities. The stacked bars in each column are representative of the four research sites/communities. (authors' compilation).
Source publication
Souvenirs have become an integral part of consumptive tourism with marine curios being a common offering in coastal destinations. The Philippines, an emerging coastal destination is also a large exporter of marine shells. There is some overlap in the species exported as shell souvenirs and those that serve as an important protein source for coastal...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... was considered a 'way of life' for most participants. In total, 49 participants reported they regularly undertook gleaning for gastropods (see Figure 5). Participants reported eating the meat (average size 1 cm 3 ) collected from these shells using a small pin or needle. ...
Context 2
... the interviews from Stage 1 of the study, it was common to observe large piles of discarded shells (primarily small gastropods) near or around participants' homes. At each of the research sites, the majority of, and in some cases all, residents reported discarding the shells collected from their gleaning activities as opposed to selling them into the souvenir trade (see Figure 5). The gender representation in gleaning was near equal with slightly more male (n = 27) than female gleaners (n = 22). ...
Citations
... After consuming the soft tissue (meat) of mollusks, shells of some species are used for cultural (e.g., Grulke, 2022), utilitarian (e.g., Thaman et al., 2017), or commercial (e.g., Simard et al., 2021) purposes. Most shells, however, are perceived as waste (Porter et al., 2022) and are discarded indiscriminately or into accumulations known as shell middens (Szabó & Amesbury, 2011;Fig. 1). ...
... While there appears to be some overlap among species harvested for household consumption (Frijlink, 2015;Thaman et al., 2017;Wright et al., 1983) and those utilized for shellcraft within the Pacific Islands region (Simard et al., 2022), it remains unclear whether shells wastes are subsequently utilized for shellcraft. Porter et al. (2022) describe this occurring to a limited extent in the Philippines and, based on largely unrealized potential, recommended exploring how interventions may assist households to better integrate their shell wastes with shellcraft. ...
... By utilizing the full or larger amount of shell wastes generated from subsistence fishing, the value of an existing resource is enhanced and time otherwise dedicated to procuring shells for shellcraft can be redirected. A more efficient use of shell wastes would afford opportunities for households to enhance asset accrual, resource sustainability, and socio-economic benefits (Porter et al., 2022;Purcell et al., 2019). Despite these potential advantages, integration of shell wastes with shellcraft occurred endogenously to only a limited extent in the Tigak Islands. ...
Bivalves (Mollusca: Bivalvia) and gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) are a common component of diets in the Pacific Islands region. After consuming the soft tissue of these organisms, their shells are commonly discarded. We consider how such discards, or shell wastes, might serve as a resource for value-adding activities and focus on a case study of shell wastes being utilized for shellcraft in the Tigak Islands of Papua New Guinea. Through an interview-based approach, we investigate the composition and quantities of shell wastes generated by households, the extent these shell wastes are already integrated with shellcraft, and whether continued generation of these shell wastes remains possible. We found consumption of bivalves and gastropods varies among households, in both composition and quantities, such that each household generates unique shell wastes. However, shell wastes are seldom utilized for shellcraft, with substantial variation between the species consumed and the extent their shell wastes are utilized within households (F = 16.2, P < 0.01). For roughly half (n = 15) of all species consumed (n = 31), significant quantities of unutilized shell wastes coincided with positive perceptions of stock status. We argue that integrating shell wastes with shellcraft is a viable pathway to support livelihood enhancement. Our findings in this local context have regional significance in providing useful insights for guiding interventions to assist households better integrate shell wastes with shellcraft.
... Souvenir and handicraft businesses have the potential to promote local ownership, create employment, and generate income (Grobar, 2019;Porter et al., 2022;Saarinen, 2016). Moreover, studies have shown that handicraft enterprises can be profitable and serve as an important source of income for micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries, such as South Africa (Abisuga-Oyekunle & Fillis, 2017). ...
This research assesses the economic and sociocultural dimensions of the handicraft and souvenir sector from the perspectives of predominantly female market vendors and microbusinesses in the South Pacific region. It focuses on two countries, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, which vary in their levels of tourism development, tourist characteristics, and available research on tourism impacts. Handicraft and souvenir businesses offer economic opportunities in remote and emerging island economies but face challenges from globalisation and tourism. The Solomon Islands prioritise locally crafted artworks, while Vanuatu largely depends on importing souvenirs, particularly for the large cruise-ship market. Such practices often lead to commodification and misrepresentation of local cultures and destinations, as businesses cater to the demands of tourists and engage in broader processes of international exchange and globalisation. While micro-entrepreneurs generally express satisfaction with their income from selling handicrafts and souvenirs before the pandemic, data indicate that benefits, mainly from cruise-ship tourism, are unequally distributed.
... The Filipino handicrafts industry has kept the respect of the high-end markets in the United States and European Union; despite the recent setback caused by the pandemic, the industry has evolved through design innovations reinforced by the creative use of indigenous materials (Arch, 2019). In the rural areas of the Philippines, where agriculture is the main source of livelihood, the use and manipulation of agricultural by-products in the hopes to gain income from selling them is extremely common (Porter, Orams, Lück, & Andreini, 2021). Micro enterprises emerged in these rural communities to make use of the relatively available agricultural by-products and turn them into creative handicrafts that can be sold off as souvenirs, decors, and as fashion accessories. ...
... These micro enterprises are only composed of a maximum number of nine employees that majority of them are family members or close friends; hence their capabilities and resources are basically limited and are challenged to make changes to their system to continue to survive. In addition, external resources that come from the environment pose a threat to their longevity in the business; the degradation of the environment from where they source their materials will likely affect decision-making processes (Dewulf, Klenk, Wyborn, & Lemos, 2020) and may result in the pursuit of alternative economic activities (Porter et al., 2021). Anchored on the theoretical support provided by dynamic capabilities (Buzzao & Rizzi, 2021;Eikelenboom & de Jong, 2019;Suddaby, Coraiola, Harvey, & Foster, 2020;Teece et al., 1997), this paper explores how capabilities and resources (or the lack thereof) affect the operations, management systems, decision-making abilities and strategies of the micro agri-based handicraft enterprises as they respond to the opportunity to reach bigger markets internationally, but at the same time challenged by increased global competitors, and by the need to make agricultural handicraft production sustainable. ...
Handicraft production is seen to be a promising opportunity to provide sustainable productive employment in the rural areas of the Philippines. The full implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership opened opportunities for bigger international market but ushered in tougher challenges; this study aims to explore the concept of adaptive capability of micro handicraft firms in response to effects brought by this economic and trade agreement. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with eight owner-managers, and two separate focus group discussions composed of six owner-managers of micro agricultural handicraft firms was conducted. Thematic analysis yielded three characteristics of adaptive capability: 1) value creation through product and process improvement complemented with customer service, 2) organizational agility and flexibility in decision making through their skilled and knowledgeable workforce with the use of available information, and 3) organizational resourcefulness to tap into the services provided by institutions and into online platforms provided by telecommunication infrastructure for product placement and promotion. These characteristics enable these firms to make necessary actions, decisions, and strategies which are dynamic and adaptive to the trade environment. However, they are facing hardships in terms of prioritization and inclusiveness in the value chain; sources of financial capital, access to technology and information are among the important factors to develop their adaptive capability. This study's original contribution to knowledge is the hierarchical thematic framework of adaptive capability and that the methodology used has uncovered underlying indirect factors that may be considered mediators that add depth to the understanding of the concept of adaptive capability.
