Đề tài Improvement of export and domestic markets for Vietnamese fruit through improved post-Harvest and supply chain management - Milestone Report 7

1 Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development Milestone Report 7 Improvement of export and domestic markets for Vietnamese fruit through improved post-harvest and supply chain management CARD Project 050/04VIE Milestone Report 7 Date December 2008 1 Table of Contents 1 Institute Information ............................................................................................................ 2 2 Contact Officer(s) .............................................................................................................. 3 3 Project Abstract ................................................................................................................. 4 4 Executive Summary........................................................................................................... 4 4.1 Introduction & Background ............................................................................................... 5 4.2 Implementation Highlights ................................................................................................. 6 4.3 Strategies for improved supply chains of selected fruits .................................................. 6 4.3.1 Post-harvest training manual and mango post-harvest physiology manual...................................... 6 4.3.2 Quality assurance manuals................................................................................................................. 8 4.3.3 A complete set of promotional material including training aids for farmer training programs ....... 9 4.4 Small holder Benefits and Capacity Building.................................................................. 14 4.5 Publicity .............................................................................................................................. 15 4.6 Project Management.......................................................................................................... 18 5 Report on Cross-Cutting Issues ........................................................................................ 19 5.1 Environment....................................................................................................................... 19 5.2 Gender and Social Issues................................................................................................... 21 6 Implementation & Sustainability Issues ............................................................................. 21 6.1 Issues and Constraints ....................................................................................................... 21 6.2 Options ................................................................................................................................ 22 6.3 Sustainability ...................................................................................................................... 23 7 Next Critical Steps ............................................................................................................. 23 8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 24 2 1 Institute Information Project Name Improvement of export and domestic markets for Vietnamese fruit through improved post-harvest and supply chain management. Vietnamese Institution Southern Sub-Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Post-Harvest Technology (SIAEP) Vietnamese Project Team Leader Mr Nguyen Duy Duc, M. Eng. Australian Organisation Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI & F) Australian Personnel Mr. Robert Nissen Dr. Peter Hofman Mr Brett Tucker Mr. Roland Holmes Date commenced September 2006 Completion date (original) May 2008 Completion date (revised) December 2008 Reporting period Milestone Report 7 3 2 Contact Officer(s) In Australia: Team Leader Name: Mr. Robert Nissen Telephone: +61 07 54449631 Position: Project Leader Fax: +61 07 54412235 Organisation Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI & F) Email: bob.nissen@dpi.qld.gov.au In Australia: Administrative contact Name: Michelle Robbins Telephone: +61 07 3346 2711 Position: Senior Planning Officer (Emerging Technologies) Fax: +61 07 3346 2727 Organisation Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI & F) Email: michelle.robbins@dpi.qld.gov.au In Vietnam Name: Mr Nguyen Duy Duc, Telephone: +84 (8) 8481151 Position: Director SIAEP Fax: +84 (8) 8438842 Organisation Southern Sub-Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Post-Harvest Technology (SIAEP) Email: siaep@hcm.vnn.vn 4 3 Project Abstract 4 Executive Summary Design, development and production of a mango post harvest training manual and postharvest physiology manual completed in July 2007 by the Australia CARD project team. Postharvest training workshops were also designed and conducted during July-August 2007. These workshops align with the proposed project activities 3, 5 6 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 and with project milestones 4, 7 and 9 and further build upon the CARD Project strategic plans developed in April 2006 for mango and pomelo cooperatives in Southern Vietnam. Development of quality manuals took some time especially using a consultative action learning approach as agreement on quality levels acceptable to farmers, collators, wholesalers, traders, SOFRI and SIAEP institute staff members involved in the project. One manual was developed for Cat Hoa Loc Mango variety and two manuals for pomelo, one manual for Da Xanh and one for Nam Roi. As part of the promotional material and training aids for this CARD project, over 40 manuals were developed and provide to the mango and pomelo farmers and to SIAEP and SOFRI staff. These were provided in hard copy format and electronic format. These manuals cover areas such as: • Introduction Value/Supply Chains • Principles of supply chains • Developing supply chains • Supply chain analysis • Developing Strategic Plans • Developing Action Plans • Developing new improved Supply Chains • Mango Physiology and Postharvest Technology to improve supply chains • Optimising Harvest Quality of Mango The fruit industry in Vietnam has a great potential and plays an important role in agricultural production. In 2003, Vietnam exported US$43 million of high value fruit to high-income countries and imported US$14 million of fruit and vegetables. Vietnam is experiencing difficulties in competing with other Asian nations in export markets and its own domestic market, especially with China and Thailand. This suggests that Vietnam’s horticultural industries require substantial development to be globally competitive. Vietnamese consumers are demanding safer and higher quality fruit. This project has identified key pre-and post-harvest technology gaps that reduce product quality, safety and consistency. Targeted training programs are focusing on the total supply chain and are providing benefits by helping to implement quality management systems and GAP systems at the village level providing greater employment for the farming community. This project embraces the five CARD strategies for rural development; and in particular; strategies to increase production and competitiveness of agricultural systems; reduce poverty and vulnerability, and increase stakeholder participation whilst ensuring sustainability. 5 • Improving Mango harvest Systems • Mango Ripening Room Design • Supply Chain Management of Fresh Product Quality and Food Safety • Marketing and Focus Groups • Designing training Workshops for Farmers • Socio-economic Analysis of Supply Chains • Mango and Pomelo Orchard Design • Integrated Pest and Disease Management for Mango and Pomelo • Citrus Problem Solver • Citrus Pruning and Training • Using Chemicals A consultative and participatory action learning approach was used to empower the rural poor and supply chain participants in the decision making processes. The agreed directions in the strategic and action plans for both mango and pomelo CARD project participants (SIEAP, SOFRI staff and the mango and pomelo farmers) helped develop their skills via these workshops that aligned to the CARD Project objectives. The Objective, Reflective, Interpretative, and Decisional (ORID) system was used to evaluate the effectiveness of farmer training schools and workshops conducted during this CARD Project. Analysis of all workshops conduced showed the averages for all workshops conducted were: • 70% of workshop participants thought workshops were of the right time length • 70% of all participants understood concepts very well • 100% of participants indicated that information presented was new to them • 80% of participants indicated that information provided would be very useful to them to develop new supply chains 4.1 Introduction & Background Ford et al., (2003) analysed the competitiveness of fruit industries in Vietnam and identified: • poor unstable product quality • no quality standards • poor post harvest technologies • poor pre-harvest practices • lack of group co-operative marketing structures • little information about supply chains, prices and customers needs. Stakeholder/beneficiary analysis of fruit crops in the Mekong delta showed that both mango and pomelo (with plantings of 33 000 ha and 9 000 ha, respectively) are very important fruit crops in Southern Vietnam. The objectives of this CARD project 05/04 VIE are to: • Improved pre-harvest technologies to produce high quality mango (integrated pest management, integrated crop management, fruit fly control, maturity indices, reduced pesticide residues, better environmental and human health etc) 6 • Improve mango and pomelo post-harvest technologies (eg, cool chain management, packaging, post-harvest dipping, ethylene ripening, waxing, washing and wetting agents, quality assurance) • Improve quality standards and quality assurance programs for mango and pomelo. The approach and methodologies developed for these crops through this project will be applied to other fruits and vegetables. • Map current supply chains to domestic and selected export markets, with particular emphasis on determining consumer preferences and needs, and reporting results back to farmers. • Provide a better understanding and possible improvements of the supply chain by Vietnamese fruit industries for mango and pomelo. This CARD project fills capacity gaps and reduces major weaknesses in pre-and post-harvest technologies affecting product quality consistency and supply chain management and planning. Highly specialised targeted training programs and research appropriate for institutions and industry stakeholders was provided to complete CARD Project 050/04 VIE Milestone 7. CARD Project Milestone 7:- strategies for improved supply chains of selected fruit comprises a complete set of promotional material:- including training aids for framer training programs; and promotional awareness material, such as: • Post-harvest training manual • Mango Post-harvest Physiology manual • Quality assurance manual for mango and pomelo 4.2 Implementation Highlights 4.3 Strategies for improved supply chains of selected fruits 4.3.1 Post-harvest training manual and mango post-harvest physiology manual Development and design of a mango post-harvest training manual and post-harvest physiology manual for Vietnam was undertaken by the Australian team in April to July 2007 (See Appendix A for post-harvest training and physiology manual and session notes). Post harvest training workshops were designed and conducted during July-August 2007. These workshops align with the proposed project activities 3, 5 6 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 and with project milestones 4, 7 and 9 and further build upon the CARD Project strategic plans developed in April 2006 for mango and pomelo cooperatives in Southern Vietnam. SIAEP and SOFRI Staff members in train the trainer workshops were conducted then key growers participated in four farmer school workshops during July 2007. These 2 day workshops involved “participatory action learning” and “farmer training farmer” processes to develop solutions to improving pre-, post-harvest and supply chain management impacts on mango and pomelo fruit quality. Employing such a process allows this CARD project to obtain wider support from a cross section of participants. This consultative and participatory action learning approach is designed to 7 empower the rural poor and supply chain participants in the decision making processes. Based on the agreed directions in the strategic and action plans for both the mango and pomelo, the CARD project participants (SIEAP, SOFRI staff and the mango and pomelo farmers) develop skills via workshops aligned to the CARD Project objectives. The Objective, Reflective, Interpretative, and Decisional (ORID) system was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the eight farmer training schools and workshops conducted in September-October 2007 and January-February 2008. Vietnamese farmers and SIAEP and SOFRI staff were surveyed at the completion of each workshop. Summary analysis of the workshops for September-October 2007 and January-February 2008 using the ORID system showed:- • workshop length:- 70% of participants found that the workshops were of the right time length with the remaining 30% indicating that they were too short. These participants indicated workshops should be between three to 5 days in length. • trainees understanding of concepts:- 50% of participants understood the concepts very well, with the remaining 50% understanding concepts well. • new information:- the pre-and post-harvest management workshops, all participants indicted that some of the information presented was new to them. • usefulness of information provided:- 86% of participants indicated that the information would be very useful in working with other professionals and growers to develop new supply chains, whilst the remaining 14% indicated that all the information would be useful. • trainees use of materials:- 83% of participants indicated that training methods used and information provided would be used by them, while the reaming participants indicated that they would us this information in some form to develop new supply chains. Some feared that they would not be able to implement high end technology components (graders packaging etc., that were implemented in Australia). These fears were soon laid to rest with simple grading technologies explained and demonstrated in the training workshops held in January –February 2008. • trainees confidence in using techniques and methodology:- 90% of participants indicated that their confidence would improve with further training. • cultural barriers:- 63% of participants indicated they were unsure if cultural barriers would limit use of new supply chain systems, they indicated their may be some cultural barriers in implementing new methods, whilst 37% were indicated there are cultural barriers for post harvest technology inputs. • trainers’ knowledge:- 100% of participants believed that the trainers were very good. • fulfilling trainees’ expectations:- 50% of participants indicated that their personal expectations with the workshops and their needs were highly satisfied. The remaining 50% had their expectation satisfied. A copy of Small-Scale Postharvest Handling Practices: A Manual for Horticultural Crops (4th Edition) by Lisa Kitinoja and Abel A. Kader was supplied in both printed and a Vietnamese version in electronic format. 8 4.3.2 Quality assurance manuals Since mapping and conducting the SWOT analysis of the mango and pomelo supply chains developing quality assurance manuals for the new value/supply chains was undertaken and completed. The action plans and the setting of responsibilities for SIAEP and SOFRI staff and supply chain participants enabled identifying key fruit quality characteristics to be included in the quality assurance manuals. Determining fruit quality levels acceptable to farmers, collectors, wholesalers, traders and retailers for pomelo and mango were undertaken. These activities align with the proposed project activities 3, 5 6 7, 8, and 11 and project milestones 4, 7 and 9. After consultation with SIAEP, SODRI, the Vietnamese farmers, collectors, wholesalers, traders and retailers participating in this CARD project, it was decided that two quality manuals be developed for pomelo and one for mango. One quality manual for each of the two pomelo cultivars “Nam Roi” and “Da Xanh” and one quality manual for the mango cultivar “Cat Hoa Loc” were developed (See Appendix B). Studies on pomelo cv. “Nam Roi” and “Da Xanh” and mango cv. “Cat Hoa Loc”, “Ghep” and “Cat Chu” were carried out and data collected on fruit quality characteristics and market requirements and characteristics reported on in CARD progress reports for Milestones five and six. Workshops on manual development and consultation were carried out with farmers, cooperatives, wholesalers and retailers in July-August 2007, September 2007, January 2008 and July 2008 to construct and develop these quality assurance manuals. In January-February 2008 an overview of the draft copy of the Cat Hoa Loc mango Quality Guide was shown and discussed with Metro Cash and Carry Le Thi Minh Trang, Quality Assurance Manager and Stephane Maurin, Divisional Manager–Fresh Food to determine their needs and input. These activities align with CARD project Milestone 4 and activities 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 and with focus on further development of “Metro” type supply chain as suggested by the CARD PMU in their MS6 appraisal report. Some of the mango and pomelo cooperative members indicated that the standards may be too strict. Further workshops and consultation and amendments to manuals alleviated many of these fears farmers and cooperative members had. The standards used in the mango manual were based on the Vietnamese CODEX Standard 18 Using the ORID analysis system, the six workshops for 2007 and 2008 to development of quality manuals were evaluated and findings were:- • workshop length:- 90% of participants indicated the workshops were the right time length with the remaining 10% indicating that they were too short. These participants indicated workshops should be between 4 days in length. • trainees understanding of concepts:- 70% participants understood the concepts very well, with the remaining 30% understanding concepts well. • new information:- for the orchard management workshops, all participants indicated that information presented was new to them. • usefulness of information provided:- 75 to 86% (with an average 79.5%) of participants indicated that the information would be very useful in working with other professionals and growers to develop new supply chains, whilst the remaining 20.5% indicated that all the information would be useful. 9 • trainees use of materials:- 82% indicated this information was very useful to them with the remaining 18% indicating the information provided would be used by them. • Information used to develop their new supply chains:- 100% of participants indicated that these manuals would be used to develop their supply chains. • further training would improve confidence in using the concepts and manuals :- in the first workshops 90% indicated they needed further training. This dropped as to 50% as more workshops were conducted. • cultural barriers:- 30% of participants indicated that there may be some