Questions unanswered

Two weeks full of experiences leads to plenty of questions, many of which are unanswered or will be covered in the report. A selection:

1. Does digging up of sand in the middle of the Mekong river lead to shifting of sand away from the edges and higher erosion rates?
2. Why is the bottom 1m of all (city) trees painted white?
3. Is it possible to keep gekko's in our rooms in holland? They are facinating..

I. Our interview questions seem unambiguous, yet noted answers vary considerable and several have to be discarded because they are untrue. What can we learn from this experience? How to construct interview lists to minimize the knowledge level of the interviewer, note-taker and translator from influencing the quality of the answer?
II. What is the future for VN small-scale Pangasius farmers? How quickly will certification-based demand lead to unequal bussiness opportunities between small and large scale farms? Will (new) international markets for export of non-certified Pangasius expand as market for small and medium-scale farms?
III. Producers are said to have the power within the Pangasius value chain in determining price of fish. Is this true and what is this conclusion based on? They seem to be sandwiched between export prices and the fact that they need to pay farmers enough to keep farming financially feasible. No farmers, no fish to process.
IV. When will monodon be domesticated, when will broodstock be produced on-farm? As Hatcheries cannot meet the demand by growout farms.

4. Will Herman be able to order 'hot coffee with a scoop of icecream' by the end of the trip?
5. What next piece of crazy meat will we eat? (after: softshell turtle, snake, crocodile, rat, goat, embryonic birds and various fish heads)

V. Certfication scheme's seem to be based on western expectations of professionalised production systems. Certain demands seem to ask for Record keeping habits and analysis technology which is expensive and high tech in comparison to Vietnamese farming, trading and processing. Our demands instantly push certified organisations into or beyond western quality expectations on production protocols. Is this a good thing or is it unfair to ask so much at once? The cleanest factory I have seen, even in comparison to European factories, borders a road filled with cars, trucks and uncountable amounts of scooters all buzzing by at 40km/hour on hobbled roads. Merchants sell boiled corn, grill pig intestine and press sugar cane juice on the roadside. Do we need to ease off with our demands and build in slower step-by-step development?
VI. Are global G.A.P. and ASC going to compete for credibility and market share? Which one will "win"?!