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.

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The third training workshop is focused on the study of specific cases of successful engagement in the market by small farmholders who have organized themselves into commodity-based associations. It looked into the advanced experiences of Taiwan Wax Apple Development Association, Korean Pear Producers’ Association, and the Northern Mindanao Vegetable Producers Association in directly linking with the market.

The workshop aims to enable the participants to:

1. Review of three basic important elements required in the engagement of small farmers with formal markets;
2. Learn from the experiences of market engagements from commodity-based associations in Asia, and visit a particular case of the Normin Veggies in the province of Bukidnon.
3. Provide inputs on formation of commodity clusters/groups to achieve economy of scale, enhance bargaining strength and for systematic delivery of crop-specific agricultural training and extension to enhance yields of specific commodity, improve product quality and windows of opportunities with ASEAN and FAO.
   

The following outputs are expected to be produced from this workshop:

1. List of identified marketing issues and challenges confronting small farmers and producers;
2. Summary of experiences of commodity-based groups associations of small farmers in their engagements with markets.

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This training workshop is the third in a series of workshops that established the importance, for small farmholders, of engaging the markets and of complying with market requirements in food safety and product quality. It has been established that directly linking with markets is the way to go in ensuring a better income for small farmholders, and in acquiring for them expanded opportunities and prospects for the comprehensive and sustainable development of their farms. The constraints of their participating competitively in the market are serious but experiences in developed countries in Asia have shown that these can be overcome when small farmholders are able to consolidate their products in linking with the markets. Consolidation and organizing will also enable them comply with the generally costly requirements of food safety and product quality.

This third training workshop aims to generate a deeper understanding of LSFM by looking into the potentials of commodity-based associations of small producers for achieving economies of scale and in getting a stronger bargaining strength in the market. In particular, this training workshop envisions to catalyze the stage of forming structures and mechanisms that will facilitate the productive, successful and sustainable engagement of small farmers with markets.

LSFM is implemented by AsiaDHRRA in partnership with the Center for Study for the Development of Agriculture in Cambodia (CEDAC), the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA), the Viet Nam Farmers Union (VNFU), and Bina Desa/InDHRRA to implement the project in four pilot countries, namely: Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

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The participants consisted of LSFM implementers from Indonesia (Bina Desa/ InDHRRA), Cambodia (CEDAC), Vietnam (VNFU) and the Philippines (PhilDHRRA). AsiaDHRRA members from Thailand (SorKorPor), Taiwan (TaiwanDHRRA), Vietnam (VietDHRRA), and Myanmar (MyanDHRRA) also attended.

Also present were resource persons and guests from PDAP and AADC. A big number of participants from the recently-launched network of calamansi producers in the Philippines, which included NGOs and people’s organizations from all over the country, also attended. Welcome remarks was given by Ms. Nestor Carbonera, Chair of PhilDHRRA Mindanao which hosted the training workshop.

ASEAN Foundation sent a representative to deliver an inspirational message in behalf of Dr. Filemon Uriarte Jr . Keynote address was given by the director of Department of Agriculture Region X, Ms. Lealyn Ramos. Archbishop Tony Ledesma hosted the closing ceremonies in his residence.

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