The Training Workshop was divided into 5 sessions. Session 1, entitled “The Market Situation and the Challenges for Small Farmers” discussed the current market situation and the challenges confronting small farmers in engaging markets. The inputs from Mr. David Hitchcock, Agribusiness & Infrastructure Officer, FAO Regional Office in Asia and the Pacific, provided analysis of agricultural market trends in Asia especially as it is also affected by global trends.

Session 2, entitled “Agri-marketing in Asia:  Agribusiness perspective” was delivered by Mr. Senen Bacani, Ultrex Management and Investment Corporation, former Secretary of Agriculture in the Philippines and member of LSFM Project Advisory Committee provided insights into the agribusiness perspectives in Asia.

Session 3 entitled “Understanding Agricultural Chains Towards Enhanced Market Access” focused mainly on insights and possible strategies that would be used to improve the value chain and provide greater benefits to small farmers. Dr. Nerlie Manalili, Advisor Market Access of Vredeseilanden based in Leuven, Belgium and member of LSFM Project Advisory Committee stressed the need to improve and upgrade market value chains that would ultimately benefit small farmers.

Case presentations from CEDAC and PhilDHRRA on the value chain analysis of free-range native chicken and fresh calamansi fruits provided specific examples of existing value chains that needed improvements to generate favourable benefits to small farmers. The presentations also provided insights on possible strategies that would improve value chains beneficial to small farmers.

Session 4 entitled “Market Positioning /Marketing strategies” discussed the importance of marketing plan and strategies, economy of scale and other basic marketing concepts. Dr. Wen-chi Huang, president of TaiwanDHRRA and Associate Professor Graduate Institute of Agribusiness Management of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, also a member of LSFM Project Advisory
Committee, stressed the importance of the organizing small farmers into producer groups based on products or commodities to be able to achieve economy of scale.

Sessions 1 to 4 were followed by 3 case presentations on actual market intermediation initiatives in Vietnam, Korea and Philippines. In Vietnam, a case was presented by Ms. Chu Thi Mai Anh of CRS Vietnam presented a case of CRS agro-enterprise development initiative in the province of Nghe An province in Vietnam. Mr. Chang Hyo Kim, president of the Red Kiwi Cooperation in Cheju Island in Korea, presented the case of small Kiwi producers in Korea, how they as association of Kiwi producers positioned themselves vis-à-vis Kiwi importation from other countries. Mr. Rene Guarin, Executive Officer of the Upland Marketing Foundation, Inc. (UMFI) in the Philippines, presented the case of UMFI as a market intermediator for small farmers and how UMFI has able to penetrate the supermarket chains in Metro Manila in the Philippines.

A total of 75 participants, resource persons, guests and secretariat attended and participated the First Regional Forum cum Training Workshop.

A synthesis after 4 sessions were presented highlighting existing CSO models of market intermediation. Included in the discussions were the new and classic forms for intermediation. There were at least five (5) CSO models of market intermediation involving small farmers. Among them is the two-sided platform, which is a model for market facilitation whose success depends on the capacity of farmers to group together, and the one-sided platform, which is a model largely utilized by rural and agricultural cooperatives.

Visit the First LSFM RTW Activtity Blog…
2. “Complying with Market Requirements on Food Safety and Product Quality” Second Regional Training Workshop, January 19-23, 2009, Monoreach Angkor Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Food safety and product quality has been identified as among the major barriers of small farmers/producers’ participation and engagement with markets.  Because of the lack of information and technical support that small farmers get from government, small farmers have always been left behind in their efforts at complying with the growing sophistications of product quality standards set by governments and markets.

The over-all objective of the second regional training workshop was to provide information that can be used by used to develop capability-building interventions to suit specific needs on the production and marketing of safe and high quality products and thus enhance their market linkaging. The training workshop identified and provided information around distinct themes on food safety and product quality. The design was a structure and process that provide the flexibility to develop a training programme to meet the needs of a specific country, by allowing the participants to go over broad overview of food safety requirements and product quality standards.

At the end of the training workshop, the participants were able to:

1. Identify specific food safety and product quality issues around the selected commodities that the LSFM project is involved, namely: tea, calamansi and free-range native chicken;
2. Understand the rationale behind product quality and most especially food safety standards set by international inter-government bodies and national governments;
3. Articulate the importance of certification, guarantees, etc. as mechanisms to ensure food safety and product quality;
4. Present practical steps that would address food safety and product quality issues in their own specific organizations and communities; and
5. Identify specific needs that require support from government and other stakeholders to improve safety and quality of those mentioned chosen commodities.

Site Field Visit
The workshop participants were divided into two groups for the field visit. The first group visited Teuk Vil station, a research, demonstration, training and exchange visit station of target farmers and target groups from other NGOs. Here, SRI technique is tested and demonstrated. Organic fertilizers, such as compost, fermented fruit and plant juices are also tested and demonstrated in different kinds of crops, e.g. vegetables, rice, fruits and others. Teuk Vil Station is supported by funds from APSARA Authority which is a certain percentage of the revenues from the Angkor Wat admission fees.

After the visit to Teuk Vil station, the first group visited farming communities in Angkor Thom district where they interacted with farmers practicing composting and sustainable agriculture, and where they met with the finance officer of the village’s saving cooperative. They were also happy to witness community’s preparations for a wedding ceremony. The first group ran out of time for sharing and reflection.

The second group visited organic farm in Ba Kong, a nearby public market, and one of CEDAC’s distribution center for organic rice. The following insights and learnings were shared by the group:
•Shifting from  conventional to organic vegetable farming results to reduction in production cost and improved yield which allow farmer to increase its capacity to supply existing market

• Price premium for organic product cannot be enjoyed by farmers without the presence of effective intermediation mechanism that will develop the link between them and the appropriate market
• Consumer awareness is necessary to build the market for organic product
• Consolidation of individual small-scale farmer is necessary to meet the required market volume
• Technology transfer and capacity building interventions are not enough to upscale the volume and quality of organic production, the following support services should likewise be advocated to ensure expansion of success cases:
  • Accessible credit
  • Pre and Post-harvest facilities
  • Organizing farmers

Visit the 2nd LSFM RTW Activity Blog…

3. “The importance of commodity-based associations of small producers in addressing competitiveness and for successful market engagements” Third Regional Training Workshop, June 28 to July 2, 2009, VIP Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

The workshop was designed to help participants understand the importance commodity-based associations of small producers to achieve economies of scale and a stronger bargaining strength in the market. PhilDHRRA, the in-country anchor for LSFM in the Philippines, hosted the event and provided a festive welcome dinner featuring a traditional Manobo dance number and the participants’ diverse backgrounds and cultures.

Sixty five (65) participants representing networks of rural NGOs and people’s organizations from nine countries in Southeast and East Asia gathered in Cagayan de Oro City and discussed how the small-scale farmers and producers can hurdle the extremely difficulties and challenges in entering and engaging competitively in the market. They are united in the belief that small farmers and farmholders can survive and compete in the market if they are organized as commodity-based associations of small producers.

The participants of the workshop realized how difficult the situation of small farmholders had become over the last 15 years due to various factors that influenced changes in agricultural markets. Regional and bilateral agreements on the removal of tariffs have pushed down the prices of highly-subsidized agricultural imports from highly-developed countries, to the detriment of small farmers in Asia. Consumer preferences have increasingly shifted from fresh farm products to processed food due to increasing urbanization. Small farmers who have not been able to claim their space in agricultural sectors and industries will now have to face the additional hurdle of increasing market segmentation.

Models of commodity-based small producers association in the more advanced countries in Asia, such as Korea and Taiwan, provide the way to a better future. The associations in these countries have grown so big that their small farmers actually earn more than salaried professionals. Mr. Seo Dong Woo of Korean Producers Association and Dr. Wen-Chi Huang of Taiwan Wax Apple Development Association (TWADA) presented how they reached this  stage by narrating their history, marketing strategies, and how they have been able to address the challenges related to economies of scale, product quality, and food safety. The successful experience of small cassava farmer in Agusan in dealing with an established food and beverage corporation, narrated by Agnes Bolaños of Agri-Aqua Coalition for Development, provided significant insights about how small farmers dealt with the challenges of dealing with a huge, established, and stable market, and the opportunities in engaging the private sector.

Participants from various ASEAN countries identified the key factors to ensuring success in this endeavor. Government support will definitely be helpful, as well as the leadership provided by people’s organizations in breaking through the market. Quality control and product promotion, systematic consolidation for greater bargaining power, the identification of competitive advantage, and thorough work on internal organization strengthening and development will all help push commodity-based small producers associations to success.

Participants have likewise identified the important functions of commodity-based small farmers/producers to include the following:

1. Easing access to input credit through member-based saving and credit schemes or through group lending schemes involving microfinance institutions
2. Facilitating extension training on production, addressing product quality and food safety issues,
3. Mobilizing external technical support
4. Consolidation of commodities for marketing, especially where they are linked to a major markets
5. Ensuring continuous supply of marketed products/commodities
6. Underlying these elements is the commitment to the principles of holistic, diversified, and sustainable agriculture as the foundation of any and all economic undertakings of commodity-based associations of small producers. The basis of their engagement with various players, especially the business/private sector, remains the same as the fundamentals guiding their advocacies for agrarian reform and rural development– that is, social justice, environmental protection, sustainable agriculture.

A visit to the Northern Mindanao Vegetable Producers Association (Normin Veggies) in Barangay Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon was done on the last day so that the participants will have a common community-based experience as one reference for concretizing their learning and insights.

Visit the 3rd LSFM RTW Activity Blog here…

The organic rice website can be accessed at http://www.berasalami.com

At the moment, it is only available in Bahasa Indonesia. The english version will be activated as soon as the necessary translations and technical adjustments are finished.

It is maintained by Chaerul Umam of Binadesa

The kalamansi (Philippine lemon) website is still currently under development but some parts are viewable now at http://www.pinoykalamansi.org/

It is maintained by Mags Catindig of PhilDHRRA

Representatives from networks of rural NGOs and people’s organizations from nine countries in Southeast and East Asia gathered in Cagayan de Oro City from June 28 to July 2 to discuss how the small farmers and farmerholders can hurdle the extremely difficult challenges of entering and participating competitively in the market. They are united in the belief that small farmers and farmholders can survive and compete in the market if they are organized as commodity-based associations of small producers.

The event, organized by AsiaDHRRA, is the third of a series of ASEAN-level workshops implemented under an ASEAN Foundation project entitled “Linking Small Farmers to Market” which aims to establish the mechanisms that will help commodity-based associations of small producers achieve economies of scale and a stronger bargaining strength in the market. PhilDHRRA, the in-country anchor for LSFM in the Philippines, hosted the event and provided a festive welcome dinner featuring a traditional Manobo dance number and the participants’ diverse backgrounds and cultures.

The participants of the workshop realized how difficult the situation of small farmholders had become over the last 15 years due to various factors. Regional and bilateral agreements on the removal of tariffs have pushed down the prices of highly-subsidized agricultural imports from highly-developed countries, to the detriment of small farmers in Asia. Consumer preferences have increasingly shifted from fresh farm products to processed food due to increasing urbanization. Small farmers who have not been able to claim their space in agricultural sectors and industries will now have to face the additional hurdle of increasing market segmentation.

Yet models of commodity-based small producers association in the more advanced countries in Asia, such as Korea and Taiwan, provide the way to a better future. The associations in these countries have grown so big that their small farmers actually earn more than salaried professionals. Mr. Seo Dong Woo of Korean Producers Association and Dr. Wen-Chi Huang of Taiwan Wax Apple Development Association (TWADA) presented how they reached this stage by narrating their history, marketing strategies, and how they have been able to address the challenges related to economies of scale, product quality, and food safety. The successful experience of small cassava farmer in Agusan in dealing with an established food and beverage corporation, narrated by Agnes Bolaños of Agri-Aqua Coalition for Development, provided significant insights about how small farmers dealt with the challenges of dealing with a huge, established, and stable market, and the opportunities in engaging the private sector.

Participants from various ASEAN countries identified the key factors to ensuring success in this endeavor. Government support will definitely be helpful, as well as the leadership provided by people’s organizations in breaking through the market. Quality control and product promotion, systematic consolidation for greater bargaining power, the identification of competitive advantage, and thorough work on internal organization strengthening and development will all help push commodity-based small producers associations to success.

Underlying these elements is the commitment to the principles of holistic, diversified, and sustainable agriculture as the foundation of any and all economic undertakings of commodity-based associations of small producers. The basis of their engagement with various players, especially the business/private sector, remains the same as the fundamentals guiding their advocacies for agrarian reform and rural development– that is, social justice, environmental protection, sustainable agriculture.

A visit to the Northern Mindanao Vegetable Producers Association (Normin Veggies) in Barangay Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon was done on the last day so that the participants will have a common community-based experience as one reference for concretizing their learnings and insights.

The LSFM Third Regional Training Workshop had a total of 65 participants from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines. Mr. Nestor Carbonera, Chairperson of PhildHRRA Mindanao, gave the welcome address. Keynote address was given by Ms. Lealyn Ramos, Regional Director for Regional Field Unit 10 of the Department of Agriculture. Ms. Nyla Prieto delivered a special message from the ASEAN Foundation.

In implementing LSFM, AsiaDHRRA has entered into partnerships with the Center for Study for the Development of Agriculture in Cambodian (CEDAC), the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA) and the Vietnam Farmers Union (VNFU) and BinaDesa to implement the regional project in four countries in Southeast Asia, namely, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.

This workshop will emphasize the importance of small farmers organized into commodity groups so that issues of competitiveness, economy of scale, food safety and product quality as well as regular delivery of product supply are easily addressed. Presentors from the Taiwan, Korean and the Philippines will share their experiences about their engagements with markets as a commodity-based association of farmers.

Participants will also visit the farm site of Normin Veggies, a vegetable producers association in Northern Mindanao.

Among the NGO, PO and LGU participants were Kooperatibang Likas ng Nueva Ecija (Kool NE), Zamboanga Sibugay High Value Marketing Crop (ZASHIVAC), Xavier Agricultural Extension Services (XAES), Samahan para sa Likas Kayang Pagsasaka (SALIKA), Samahan at Ugnayang Mambubukid para sa Likas Kayang Pagsasaka, Inc., (SAMBUKID, Inc), Triparrd Federation of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (TRIFED-ARBC), Lakambini-PAKISAMA, Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CARRD), Mindoro Ecological and Sustainable Agriculture Federation (MESAFED), Nazareth’s Women Association, Trento Calamasni Processors Development Cooperative (TCPDC), PAKISAMA-Mindoro, Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Masgsasaka (PAKISAMA)-National, PhilDHRRA-National and the LGUs of Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, Brgy. Caudillo, Cabanatuan City, and Nabunturan, Compostella Valley

The national training is a response to the agreement reached during the 2nd Regional Training in Cambodia to follow through and localize learnings and targets in the pilot countries.

1. Value Chain Analysis Report: Cambodia, Philippines and Vietnam
2. Mapping of Marketing Initiatives by CSOs: Cambodia, Philippines and Vietnam

The books are available in print and in PDF for immediate download (click on the link to view or download).

The publication of the two books was made possible with support from the ASEAN Foundation.

This Regional Training Workshop aims to enhance the awareness, knowledge and skills of participants from 10 Asian countries on the importance of food safety and product quality standards so that they become initiators, implementers, advocates and supporters of initiatives that would help small farmers upgrade their capacities at producing quality and safe food and agricultural products.

This training workshop is the second of a series of workshops at the regional level.

Visit the 2nd LSFM Activity Blog….

Visit also the activity blog of the 1st LSFM RTW (Vietnam)

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The fast pace of agricultural trade liberalization and the opening up of various market offers both threat and opportunity for small farmers in Asia.In the liberalized market, small farmers and agricultural producers are unable to maximize the benefits of their production efforts.The income derived from farming is low because they are unable to benefit from the price differential that happens after their produce leaves the farm and reaches the consumers. Moreover, Various studies have already shown that most small farmers have lost their livelihoods due to the influx of cheap agricultural product from other countries.However, there are also successful cases where farmers with appropriate support were able to capture opportunities in the liberalized market.

This project will focus on building the capacity of women and men leaders of small farmers’ organization and cooperatives together with their partner NGOs/agri-agencies to respond to agricultural marketing issues confronted by small farmers and producers. It shall also undertake the formation of marketing intermediation mechanisms that will link small farmers to the market to lessen the transaction cost and increase the benefit of the small farmers in the process of engaging with the market.

PROJECT GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

The strategic goal of the project is to contribute to the reduction of rural poverty in South East Asia region through strengthened capacity of small farmers and their organisations to engage in the market and other institutions having impact on rural development.

The program in general aims to strengthen entrepreneurial capacity of NGO workers and their partner Farmers’ Organisations (FOs) in Southeast Asia to establish an on-ground marketing link between small farmers’ group and market players and to collaborate with policy makers at national, sub-regional, and regional levels to respond to agricultural marketing issues confronted by the small farmers.

PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

The participants are primarily women and men small farmers who are members of AFA and FO partners of DHRRA members at the country level plus other groups of small farmers and stakeholders in the identified commodity or industry sector in three pilot countries namely Philippines,Cambodia and Vietnam.

The pilot sites are selected based on the following criteria:

• presence of enterprising organized communities producing surplus and willing to engage the market
• presence of organizations (NGOs/POs) interested and potential for market intermediation roles
• core stakeholders with previous experience in partnership mechanism

Aside from the small farmers as focal point, other important stakeholders shall be mobilized in the project e.g. NGOs and government and intergovernmental agencies ASEAN, academe and research groups, media, business sector (traders, processors, supermarket chain, input suppliers, commodity chambers, marketing groups, etc.). These stakeholders will be part of a partnership mechanism that shall be installed as a necessary platform for coordination and closer cooperation.

PROJECT COMPONENTS & CRITICAL ACTIVITIES

Component 1: Participatory Market Research and Information System Development

1. Product inventory of key partner NGOs and POs
2. Market scanning/appraisal of shortlisted commodities including mapping of marketing initiatives of POs and NGOs at the country
3. Supply chain analysis of chosen crop per country
4. Focused group discussion among major crop or industry players
5. Designing and installation of marketing information system

Component 2: Capacity Building

1. Carrying out of a capacity and training needs assessment (TNA) to identify existing marketing capacity and specific training needs of local partner organizations at the pilot country level and a rapid assessment in non-pilot countries
2. Conduct of 3 regional and 5 national/local training and 1 farmer exchange visit focusing on common marketing training needs.

Component 3: Commodity-Based Market Intermediation Mechanism

1. Consolidation and strengthening of farmers group based on common commodity through regular forum, trainings, exchanges etc.
2. Setting-up of marketing intermediation mechanism with appropriate organizational systems and policies
3. Installation of effective and efficient enterprise development and management system
4. Formulation of business plan
5. Provision of product development support
6. Farmers group participation in trade fairs
7. Initial negotiation with major markets

Component 4: Partnership Building

1. Formation of technical working group for each of the selected priority crop / commodity towards defining market intermediation mechanism
2. Setting-up of marketing intermediation program and services to selected commodity-based farmer groups
3. Round table discussion/ forum among major industry players on selected priority crops

Component 5: Policy Review and Advocacy

1. Preparation of policy papers promoting farmers’ right and favorable and fair agricultural trade policies
2. National consultations on farmers’ issues focusing on specific crops or commodity towards formulation of pro-small farmer marketing policies
3. Conduct of meetings and dialogues with concerned national and regional inter-governmental agencies (ASEAN, FAO, IFAD)

Establishment of mechanisms towards improved dialogue and constructive engagement of FOs in the discussion on wider policy issues

PROJECT STRATEGIES

In-country Piloting

Pilot countries are chosen based on the general criteria of presence of enterprising organized communities producing surplus and willing to engage the market, of organizations (NGOs/POs) interested and potential for market intermediation roles, and of core stakeholders with previous experience in partnership mechanisms. In addition to the core criteria, consideration was given to the mix of development context in the three pilot countries which will be instructive in the expansion or replication in other countries of varying conditions. The project recognizes that marketing realities in each country vary from one another. In fact, it will not only be country specific but also crop/industry based. What will be drawn at the regional level are processes and learnings from the pilot areas that are relevant to all regional participants, regardless of the product. The inputs from the pilot experiences will serve to enrich ( being experiential-based) the more generic regional workshop themes e.g. food safety standards, quality control management, and agri marketing info systems which are deemed crucial capacity building areas for producer groups in different countries.

In these three countries, AsiaDHRRA has strong partners to work with which will be mobilized in the course of project implementation. The mapping activity will also guide in further identifying potential core participants and service providers.

Linking up with expert groups and institution

The Technical Working Group will be multi-sectoral and multi-agency in nature. It will provide directional guidance to national level piloting. Other than drawing out specific expertise from this platform, it could usher informal networking cooperations. The technical experts may also serve as resource persons in the trainings. Composed of respected authorities in their respective fields the TWG is expected to give the project cooperation credibility, especially in dealing with policy making bodies.

Information-Based Marketing Operation

A practical information system will be designed to ensure that there is efficient link between production/supply and consumption/demand. It will be developed based on an assessment of what information system exist for the selected crop or industry. This project will exploit possibilities that the information technology could offer, especially in engaging the youth sector. It will also be potential area for cooperation with the business sector and other marketing information service providers.

Developing Pro-Small Farmer Marketing Mechanism

A mechanism that will facilitate effective market intermediation and shorten the supply chain between the producer and the consumer shall be designed and installed based on the result of the studies and the recommendations of various stakeholders. The mechanisms shall be stirred by small farmers and professionally managed by competent personnel.

ICT Enabled Operations

To ensure a wider benefit spread of the project, results, publications, expertise, mechanism, shall be made accessible to all through the Marketing Information system that will be hooked up in the AsiaDHRRA website and shall be downloadable free. An Information Officer shall ensure that the info system is responsive to actual needs of (small farmers) commodity stakeholders. In-country Pilots shall be documented and published for wide circulation.