Markets for Native Fruit Diversity

How to engage farming communities in markets?- experiences from the TFTGR project -

Hugo Lamers, Bioversity International

Outline• Markets and diversity over time• Problem setting – TFTGR project• Key aspects of a NUS-based market approach• 4 focus areas• Major problems to tackle• 12 key elements or steps to guide activities• 7 guidelines• Cycle of interventions • Preliminary results from the field • Some conclusions and lessons learned

Markets and diversity over time

1. Emergence of global commodity or bulk markets (~1820 onwards): Lower transportation costs, improved farming techniques, new fertile lands Shift from home use towards producing for markets (quantity + distance) Shift from diverse agro-systems to mono-cropping systems

2. Emergence of formal & commercial seed sector (the green revolution) Yield orientation, economies of scale, specialization, high external input use Focus on few crops & varieties with low intra variability Farmers abandon landraces and minor crops

Green revolution, 1950ies Grain market Teheran, Iran 1893 New interest in diversity, 1990ties

Markets and diversity over time3. Monopolization in conventional food/bulk markets (since 70ties) Emergence of integrated and shorter food chains with dominant players High impact risks in bulk markets (harvest failure, product failure) Market power shift towards supermarket chains & international processors Standardization of products – focus on quantity, low costs, requirements New contract formats: contract farming; out-growers; cooperatives

4. Emergence of new or differentiated consumer demands (since 90ties) Income of households and education level increased worldwide Dislike of monopolization and standardization in conventional food markets Raising interest in quality & exclusivity Raising interest in natural & original products (origin areas) Nutrition & health Transparency and traceability (know the farmer) Localized & cultural based preferences Long-term sustainability (PPP, social, water use, carbon footprint)

Problem setting - TFTGR project Territorial approach – selected 36 villages in fruit tree diversity

hotspots ‘those farming communities that still have a wide range of fruit species and varieties that others already lost’

Community-based Biodiversity Management (CBM) – multitude of activities and interventions that combined help farming communities to make self-directed decisions in the management and use of their local diversity in a sustainable manner

Focus on participatory methods – how to facilitate and engage such communities in markets in an effective manner?

Higher level of complexity:

1. Which crop? 2 How to engage? 3.Which market?

Key aspects of marketingto explain to farming communities and women groups

A bulk production market has often low value, high competition, over-production and volatile prices which you cannot influence resulting in insecure income for farmers.

Advantage is that it requires little investment or effort. We focus on innovative niche markets and use local fruit diversity or

unique species or varieties to develop novel products and innovative market concepts by:

A. Product differentiation; i.e. how to make my product different and more attractive then competitors by product design and quality, package, price, promotion

B. Consumer segmentation; i.e. how to create strong customer relationships and target a specific consumer group that is most interested to buy my product

Disadvantage is it requires substantial investment and effort.

B 20-30

C 200-800

Export

Sold in wholesale markets in major cities (inter state/province)

Sold in local village markets

D > 1.000Home consumption

High local market value

Limited market value ~ high use or agronomic value

Agro-biodiversity and markets

Limited use value ~ high optional or future value

E

A 5-8

High distant market value

B 20-30

C 200-800

Export

Sold in wholesale markets in major cities (inter state/province)

Sold in local village markets

D > 1.000Home consumption

High local market value

Limited market value ~ high use or agronomic value

Agricultural biodiversity and markets

Limited use value ~ high optional or future value E

A 5-8

High distant market value

Major problems encountered when marketing ABD:

• How to identify which species, variety or product has market potential for local or distant markets?

• How to identify promising crop attributes? • How to identify market trends or know what traders or

consumers want/prefer?

• How to identify constraints & problems in the value chain? • How to overcome unstable & low quality of produce?• How to achieve aggregation & constant supply demanded

by traders? • How to find trustworthy and long-term buyers and traders?

PMCA – Concepts & approach

12 steps to guide interventions:1. Sketch or theatre play ‘the blue square mango’ or ‘the spike-less durian’ to explain

the concept of a value chain, to jointly discuss problems & bottlenecks and to built trust & collaborations among stakeholders

2. Participatory identification of promising crop attributes and products by evaluating traditional uses, recipes and related traits & characteristics

3. Joint assessment of potential products and markets by Impact Filter

4. Participatory Value Chain Mapping to provide insight into the value chain

5. Rapid Market Appraisal to identify market trends, niche markets, consumer preferences and market potential for local and distant markets

6. Identify and link farmer and women groups to entrepreneurs or potential buyers that are interested to develop and test new products and innovative market concepts as advisors and collaborators

7. Identify the market potential of products by defining potential buyers, end-consumers and market trends or consumer preferences which you can embrace or incorporate into the product.

8. Creating regular value chain stakeholder workshops & meetings to develop sample product, design brand and labels, develop packaging, test processing equipment, facilitate registration (product, organic, GI), design post-harvest quality insurance (HACCP) and improve collective action together with entrepreneur or potential buyer

9. Conduct product evaluations by tasting events during fairs, workshops or events:

10. Detailed product evaluation by lab analysis of biochemical components; nutrients, micro-nutrients, vitamins, anti-oxidants, essential oils, medicinal properties etc.

11. Develop action plans or a simple business plan to evaluate economic viability of the business start-up with farmer or women groups.

12. Develop simple and effective community-based conservation strategies by designing or appointing diversity blocks (in field of custodian farmers, the school garden or community forest) or the marking of source trees for all local available fruit species and varieties to ensure accessibility for all farmer households.

12 steps to guide interventions:

1. Identification of crop attributes

2. Impact filter to select most promising products

3. Identifying private sector partners

4. Sketch or theatre play to explain concepts and foster collaborations

5. Value Chain Map to understand the market

6. Rapid Market Appraisal to learn about what customers want

7. Assess market potential by identifying end-consumers, buyers, trends & preferences

8. Conduct taste panels for product evaluation

9. Organizing stakeholder meetings

7 guidelines developed

1. To explain concepts and foster collaborations between stakeholders

2. To understand level of market knowledge within community and to identify gabs and constraints

3. To learn about what customers want and collect relevant market information

4. To improve products

Cycle of interventions on community level

Theatre play – ‘square mango’

1.Value chain has many functions & actors

2.Listen to customers demands

3. Improvement achieved through collaboration

Value Chain Map

1.Provides overview/insights of market knowledge

2. Identify knowledge gabs

3. Identify constraints or potential market channels

Rapid Market Appraisal

1. Insights of available competitive products

2. Consumer preferences (product, label, packaging)

3. Volumes and market channels

4. Potential buyers’ requirements

Preliminary outputs - Sarawak

Before

After ?

Preliminary outputs - Sirsi

Mrs. Nagaveni and Mrs Parvati Siddi from Kalgadde – Kanchigadde village said the following, “the theatre play clearly demonstrated the actual market situations of the village as of today. We, the farmers always suffer from the existing situation. Normally we get very less price by these middle men and traders as it is righty explained in the street play. To overcome such problem we need to work together with as many stakeholders”.

“Before the value chain analysis and rapid market appraisal we were not aware

about the different aspects of packaging, labeling and marketing. We were

supplying it to College of Forestry, Sirsi, our neighboring villagers and relatives.

We were under the impression that our product (mango pickle) is really costlier

compared to other producers. However, now we know that there is quite a huge

demand to our pickle and several other potential buyers. Quality of the product

also appreciated by the super market manager and cooperative society

administrators. This brought us more confidence we would certainly continue

with producing the pickle in larger scale”

Case study – pork curry (moo chamuang)

Case study - mango diversity box

Conservation & trade

Case study - mango diversity box

• Eosta and mangobagh still interested

• Key markets are Germany, UK and India

• Bottle-neck is ripening process of varieties

• Stakeholder meeting planned in Jan 2014

0. Short introduction to markets and diversity

the Market Approach to Conserve Agricultural Biodiversity

1. Identification of crop attributes

2. Impact filter to select most promising products

3. Identifying private sector partners

4. Fostering collaborations between traders and farmers

5. Value Chain Map to understand the market

6. Rapid Market Appraisal to learn about what customers want

Lessons learned

Source: Bernet et al 2003 Marketing Approach to Conserve Agricultural Biodiversity

TRUST

Lessons learnedParticipatory market approach as part of CBM

Advantages Disadvantages

Direct positive impact on the ground

Localized impact

Little budget Substantial time

Sustainability through empowerment & self-direction

Self-imposed limitation in finding value chain solutions due strict geographical approach

Directly embedded in a conservation model to mitigate negative effects

Thank you!

What is already done by others?• CIP/CIAT: Participatory Market Chain Approach -

http://cipotato.org/publications/pdf/003296.pdf• GIZ: Value links - http://www.valuelinks.org/• DFID: Value chains for the poor http://www.valuechains4poor.org/• FAO: Contract farming -

http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/contract-farming/library/en/• SNV/Agriprofocus: Gender in value chains -

http://genderinvaluechains.ning.com/• UKAID/SDC/SIDA: Markets for the Poor Hub- http://www.m4phub.org/ • SDC: Market approaches to development - http://poverty.ch/• ILO: Value chain development http://www.ilo.org/empent/areas/value-

chain-development-vcd/lang--en/index.htm• USAID: http://microlinks.kdid.org/good-practice-center/value-chain-

wiki/costaleo-value-chain-analysis-example

Garcinia indica

Case study – white kokum jam