Towards Enhanced Partnership to Link Farmers to Growth Markets

1. Towards Enhanced Partnership to Link Farmers to Growth Markets An Asia-Pacific Regional Perspective Dr. Nerlie M. Manalili Regional Advisor for Asia (Market Access) VREDESEILANDEN

2. Outline • Regional Overview • Strategic Considerations Outcomes of Series of Regional consultations Goals by Development Gradients Initiatives on the Ground Questions Needing Answers • Guiding Framework • Strategic Plan and Activities

3. The Asia-Pacific Region 39 countries West Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific

4. Asia-Pacific Sub Regional Groupings

5. The Asia-Pacific Region • Home To • about 3.4 billion people or 60 % of the world’s • population. • 70 per cent of the world’s farming households • 60 % Of the 777 million malnourished people in • the developing world • 48 % of the 800 million food insecure in the world

6. Asia-Pacific A Region of Contrast

7. Regional SWOT Analysis

8. Analysts’ View of the Region

9. Asia–Pacific though diverse has a lot to look forward to as a region • Its two largest economies, China and India • *now the fastest growing economies globally • *driving global trends (economic growth, trade & poverty alleviation) • *only a few decades ago are among the poorest • In terms of the MDG of halving proportion of people in absolute poverty • *much of the global decline contributed by East and South Asia • *the decline of the 400M in poverty projected for East Asia • *have already occurred (Schmidhuber, 2004, Farrington, 2006). • Resilient and Performing economies • *Southeast Asia, which suffered from the onslaught of the • 1997 financial crisis is bouncing back (posted marked recoveries) • *Vietnam, an economy in transition now one of the • developing economies to watch

10. Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation GOAL To contribute to sustainable growth, poverty alleviation, and food security in Asia and the Pacific Region Purpose To enhance income of the rural population through the development of sustainable demand-driven and equitable post-harvest interventions in Asia and the Pacific Region

11. Specific Goals and Strategies by Sub-Region

12. Global & Regional Initiatives on Ground: • Regoverning MarketProject • Securing Small Producers’ Participation With Restructuring Markets • (East Asia, South and Southeast Asia) • Showcased how • *political will in Vietnam shaped the improvement of traditional markets • *how dialogues among interest groups in Thailand resulted into an • enabling conditions for farmers to supply an originally • inaccessible supermarket chain and • *how a group of competing supermarkets in the Philippines contributed • funds to put up a mini trading center that is mutually beneficial • to them and the farmer suppliers are • Making Markets Work for the poor • Understanding market dynamics from the perspective of the • resource poor farmers • Market Access Scenario Building • Understanding what the future holds for small family farms • in terms of market access to better plan for the future • Various seminars and conferences conducted & to be conducted

13. Sample Projects to Build Upon FAO – market driven project on entrepreneurial skills development of women in food processing (production of safe products and equipping them with basic tool kits for further knowledge transfer. Resulted to improved product quality and market opportunities. APRACA – to mitigate marketing constraints in linking farmers to local markets, a scheme in the Philippines whereby inputs are supplied by traders/suppliers who recover cost from farmers in kind (crops). Necessitates farmer groupings, inter-island linkages, crop insurance. AVRDC – focuses on the post-harvest handling, market analysis post-harvest management and primary processing of vegetables (e.g. chili drying) to mitigate losses in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Major challenges: the establishment of linkages with the private sector project scaling up to reach a larger number of farmers BPHRE, CFTRI _ how farmer clusters have proven to be a potential mechanism for LFM initiatives as showcased by the Indian, Indonesian and Philippine experiences JIRCAS - One Village – One Product Japanese Concept help link rural farmers to urban markets, offers potentials for job creation (off-farm) which enhance income generation & reduce poverty cycle.

14. Questions Needing Answers • Supply chain coordination • *What modes of farmer organizing will help sustain links with markets, • * what will help prepare them for these new modes? • Supply Chain Financing • *What alternative financing scheme will free farmers from the high • interest of informal lending and allow them to increase net gains • Chain Operations • *Is there really value in niche marketing (organic). • *Is organic the way to go? If so how to ensure premium pricing? • social more than market Issues (orientation shift) • *Is organic and healthy foods only for the rich? • *How can small producers be oriented to grow organic not only for • high end markets but also for themselves? (still a long way to go) • Enabled Environments • *How can research and policies be made more responsive to the • needs of the farmers so that they may be aided in the LFM process • *What can be done collectively as a region

15. LINGKING FARMERS TO MARKET STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK Strategy 1 Developing Enabling policies Strategy 2 Institutional strengthening through collaborative research & capacity building Strategy 3 Developing competitive & equitable agri-food systems Strategy 4 Fostering networks, Communication & further program development Standard Harmonization Food Safety & Quality, Post Harvest technologies Product Quality, Supply Chain Enhancements ASEAN & APEC Post harvest Conf Other Networks Trade and Market Access Market Driven Research Chain Analysis Chain Coordination Market Development Product development & Differentiation Niche Marketing • Information and knowledge sharing • Good Agricultural • Practices (GAP) • Market Profiles • Regional Updates Buss Environment SME policies & regulation Community Enterprise Development Enterprise entry pts Buss dev’t services Micro financing Capacity Building Capacity Building Capacity Building Target Partners Policy-makers in the public sector ( local, National, regional & International Support service providers, actors in the agri-food Systems and consumers Producers, micro/small & medium enterprises, public sector, industries Range of R&D Institutions, national, global, as well as chain actors

16. Program Vision • enhanced livelihoods of farming communities by • providing opportunities of choice for market integration • through responsive research and development. • underlying focus in providing opportunity choices • income enhancement, a measurable means • in contributing to the broader developmental goal • of sustainable growth, food security and poverty alleviation. • corollary vision • to forge a sustained partnership where members • are collectively working towards the improved • welfare of the target beneficiaries both • in terms of income and nutrition

17. Short term (1-2 yrs) Medium term (3-5 yrs) Long term (6-10yrs) Needs of economies by level of development competitive and equitable chains market development and collaborative researches sustainable enterprises with regional networks Maturing Food safety training, SPSS, TRIPS IPR, codex Compliance, infra, ICT, product diversifcatn Market expansn Enhance competitiveness (quality and safety) Trade and market development Market expansion Product certification Developing Standards, regualatory framework, laboratories, logistics, infrastructure, Training (qlty mgt , buss skills, Tech, Mkt assessment, chain integratn Integration to sustainable chains Development of alternative markets Finding market niche (organic) Sustainable markets, Standards, establishment Of laboratories, infra Integration to sustainable chains Business /Mktg skills, ph training, collaboration, BDS, Micro finance Early Stage Chain assessment & analysis, Microfinance market access Business skills, buss devt services Extension advise, appropriate tech Subsistence Empowerment thru access to resources Reduce exclusion risk to agric chains Post harvest, tech GAP, market orientation Reduce risk of exclusion to agricultural chains Enterprise Orientation STRATEGIC PLAN: Linking Farmers to Growth Markets -Micro financing Chain Assessment & Analysis Up scaling of farmer clusters -Profiling of markets per selected commodity (regional) -Harmonization of standards -Training on Horticultural Chain Assessment -Documentation & tool kit devt -Revival of the ASEAN APEC PH Conference(LFM) Call for LFM proposal on policy researches -Promote investment opportunities and enterprise promotion/devt -Information exchange -Market integration Management of organizations ( Business development units, etc -Regional collaborative research for new products,etc -Assessment of policy requirement for LFM enhancement -Policy review on traditional market -Call for LFM proposal on policy researches Activities by component strategies competitive & equitable agri-food systems Institution& capacity Bldg foster networks & communication policy development Third Party product certification -Enhance sustainable livelihoods -Institutionalization of Capacity building units per sub region on LFM -Continuous regional forum for inter-regional partnership program and international support teams

20. 1. Competitive and Equitable Chains • a. Micro financing of the marketing of organic produce in selected countries • The project is a three in one component as it covers three identified priority areas of • credit provision, value adding (product differentiation) and niche marketing, • not to mention the inherent environmental attractiveness of the program. • It builds on the expertise of APRACA and its regional exposure on providing Micro financing • with the concomitant technical and monitoring support provided through local financial institutions. • These ingredients presuppose a more coordinated system that lends higher chances of project viability. • b. Up scaling of farmer clusters • Regional experiences have shown that farmer clusters have proven to be • a potential mechanism for LFM initiatives as showcased by the Indian, Indonesian & Philippine • experiences. Up scaling activities of farmer cluster-led LFMs will afford extending potential benefits • initially across countries and hopefully across regions in the near future. • The project envisions a component where assessment of contributory factors to success based • on varying set up and scenarios will be documented and later on disseminated for • farmers’ guidance in the region.

21. 1. Competitive and Equitable Chains • c) Chain Assessment and Analysis • Building on the AVRDC model of tying up horticultural chain analysis with post harvest • initiatives, the project shall undertake chain analysis of on going activities to help identify • entry points for chain stakeholders as well as for capacity building service providers. • This ties up with the chain assessment’s capacity building component. • d) Regional Profiling of markets per selected commodity (regional) • The region will benefit more in terms of shared costs and power in number if market profiling • can be done on a regional level. This could likewise lead to collective planning, strategizing & • bargaining with export markets that could very well paved the ground for economic integration. • A big brother stance can be adopted to help small brothers in developing economies • meet volume and quality requirements of export markets. • e.) Harmonization of standards • Complementary to all previous ones and can be done by institutions that are well advanced • in technical exposures from countries also in the advanced or mature stage of development.

22. 2. Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Cuts across all strategic areas, but for the short term, could take off from a training program on horticultural chain assessment. This will greatly support the competitive and equitable chain development component. 3. Documentation and Tool Kit Development An activity well on the ground already as APAARI had started documenting cases that will serve as basis for an LFM tool kit that could immediately take off from the documentation activities. Tool kits come handy in terms of service delivery both for government extension workers & civil society groups into the business of assisting farmers and farmer groups. 4.Revival of the ASEAN APEC Post Harvest Conference To foster networking and information sharing, the region will greatly benefit (as it used to in the past) with the revival of the bi-annual ASEAN APEC post harvest conference which has lately been relegated to the sidelines for lack of institutional coordinatory grounding. 5. Call for proposals on LFM Policy Researches While it has been decided during the 2006 consultation that policy could come later, preparations could already be done during the short term via a program that allows regional research initiatives to come from the grass root themselves. To be done through a call for proposals for the chain stakeholders as to the types of policy inputs they need. At the start of the medium term activities, the implementation of selected research proposals

23. The proposed program • is a product of a series of consultation and updating • have taken into account the region’s SWOT, outcome of previous • regional & global initiatives and regional trends and scenarios • is building on activities already on the ground • planned by phases for doability (short, medium & long term) • capitalizes on existing institutional capacities expertise • is anchored on a regional partnership (voluntary & collaborative) • has a built in monitoring mechanism through APAARI

24. Thank You !