Mapping the social, economic and physical components of sweet potato supply chains was a key research focus for year 1 of the project. We started the project with a planning workshop in February 2008. The basic aim of the workshop was to determine activity plans for undertaking an initial mapping of the sweet potato postharvest/marketing system. The workshop participants (members of the project team and stakeholders) were divided into 3 groups:
Group 1 - Economic component (chaired by John Spriggs);
Group 2 - Technical component (chaired by Suzie Newman); and
Group 3 - Social component (chaired by Christie Chang).
At the planning workshop, the economic and technical teams worked together and came up with an interdisciplinary approach to supply chain analysis. A work plan was developed for each component and the first year was spent by the project team on completing these work plans. On the economic side, Interviews with the various participants in the supply chain from the Highlands to coastal markets were conducted, based on sets of semi-structured interview questions and after pilot studies. On the physical side, consignment trials, utilising three different supply chains, were undertaken to determine where the major losses were occurring and looked at where intervention was warranted. The environment around the sweet potato was also monitored using temperature, humidity and impact sensors. Consignment trials are still on-going and are expected to be completed in late May. On the social side, two women focus groups were conducted in Western Highlands Province and Easter Highlands Province. The discussions focussed on gender division of labour, income distribution and problems encountered by women farmers in relation to sweet potato marketing.
In addition to the above activities prioritised at the planning workshop, a sweet potato database for price, shipment and volume was constructed (led by Dr. Christie Chang) and preliminary analyses of marketing margins and price movements over time and their seasonal variations were conducted. The database will be updated continuously throughout the project life. The Australian component (led by Dr. Elena Lazar) is looking at the potential for using 'softer alternatives' to manage the major postharvest diseases of potato. Alternative control measures being trialled include a mix of near-ready technologies (commercial biocontrol agents) and novel technologies (Australian essential oils). This year's work has focussed on in vitro trials using Australian essential oils to control potato fungal pathogen Fusarium spp. In vitro methodology for Erwinia spp. has also been established. In vitro trials are still on-going and are expected to be concluded by the end of December 2009.
In 2008, training was provided to junior team members at Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA) and National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) on consignment trial and postharvest physiology by Dr Suzie Newman (NSW DPI Postharvest Scientist) and Dr Guinevere Ortiz (NARI, Principal Postharvest Scientist). In addition, members of economic research team received instructions and coaching from Professor John Spriggs (University of Canberra) on supply chain mapping; how to conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups; how to prepare and give Powerpoint presentations; and how to write reports.
Progress review meetings among Australian activity leaders (Chang, Spriggs, Newman and Lazar) were held in April, August, October and December 2008. Dr. Lemerle was in our October meeting). In PNG, two meetings were held with activity leaders (Lutulele, Ortiz and Bang) and team members in June (with Spriggs and Newman) and in September (with Chang). During the meetings, individual activity reports were given and issues were discussed and resolved.
The year-end progress review was done at the first stakeholder workshop in January 2009; the workshop was attended by project team members and key stakeholders (including Dr. Lemerle). The purpose of this workshop was to present our understanding of the sweet potato post-harvest/marketing system and major constraints, to listen to what stakeholders had to say about the major issues facing them and thus to develop a project work plan for the second year.
One of the strengths of this project is its interdisciplinary approach, bringing together economic and biophysical scientists, and its participatory approach, bringing together researchers and stakeholders together. Through the exchange of ideas and perspectives it has led to a greater appreciation of each other's contribution and the benefits that each bring to the table. The resulting closer linkages and collaboration between different disciplines and different organisations will be an asset for future project activities for this project and other projects.

The first stakeholder workshop was held in January 2009 and priority issues to be actioned upon were identified with stakeholders.
Three priority issues fell under the heading of "economic component" were: Lack of credit facilities; lack of coordination between suppliers and transporters; and lack of understanding of consumer/buyer preferences for sweet potato. Detailed action plans for the economic component were developed and a training workshop on survey design and development of semi-structured questionnaires was held in July for team members. This was followed by a stakeholder workshop in November whereby the research findings were presented and another set of priority issues and action plans to be followed up were identified. In general terms, they were related to organising farmers for the purposes of improving access to marketing services and lobbying government for support for the fresh produce sector. For the social component, training workshops for women were held in Mt Hagen and Goroka in June/July whereby gender issues, marketing issues, basic marketing concept and how to calculate marketing costs were discussed with the workshop participants. In addition, farmers were taken to the buyer's' depots and shown how sorting and grading were done and buyers' requirements were discussed.
For the "technical component", the stakeholder workshop identified 6 priority issues and action plans were developed under two themes - postharvest management and value addition. Key research achievements thus far have been:
The completion of the supply chain mapping activities enabling key points in the chain to be identified where losses are occurring and solutions proposed;
The undertaking of a disease survey in Lae and Port Moresby to determine the relative importance of each of the postharvest pathogens, which will enable effective control strategies to be developed. In addition to this significant training and capacity building activities have taken place on the pathology side;
A continuation of the trial work to evaluate the postharvest performance of sweet potato varieties;
The commencement of work looking to improve postharvest handling with large scale packaging trials currently underway to compare the effectiveness of different packaging materials and also the economic implications of using different packaging types.
On the Australian side of the project, the appointment of Ms Kylie Crampton (Professional Officer) in September 2009 has led to rapid progress on the Australian component. Interviews were conducted to determine the major postharvest issues and opportunities for improvement. In vitro trials to screen alternative control options have been completed for Lemon Myrtle, Tea Tree, Carvone and also Aniseed Myrtle oils against two species of Fusarium, and Erwinia. The results for these trials are currently being analysed by I&I biometricians. The remainder of 2010 will focus on the in vivo trials including treatment delivery methods, and dissemination of project findings to the scientific and wider community.
On training and capacity building, Professor John Spriggs continued to coach the economic team how to identify survey participants; how to conduct semi-structured interviews; how to prepare and give Powerpoint presentations; and how to write reports. Similarly, pathology training was provided by Dr Elena Lazar to the technical team on microbial techniques and pathogen identification and the quantification of the impact of major diseases on sweet potato and the development of disease-control methods. The project team were also involved in research training of a PhD student on consumer preferences for sweet potato and two postgraduate students on credit facilities.
Progress review meetings among Australian activity leaders (Chang, Spriggs, Newman and Lazar) were held in Australian in July and December 2009 and April 2010. In PNG, three meetings were held with activity leaders (Lutulele, Ramakrishna and Chang) in July and November 2009 and February 2010 and technical team leaders (Bang, Komolong, Newman and Lazar) in September 2009. During the meetings, progress against action plans and any associated issues (staff shortage and budget sharing) were discussed and resolved.
Both the multidisciplinary approach, bringing together economic and biophysical scientists, and its participatory approach, bringing together researchers and stakeholders together, continue to produce tangible results for the project. For example, the cost implications of packaging trials and consumer preference for developing processed products. We all learn from each other and begin to ask "I wonder what the economics (or in other cases, the technical) team would think about this idea?" The result is a more comprehensive and useful analysis that looks at both technical and economic feasibility of any innovation.