University of Canberra

The project was approved during the period of the previous report, and implementation has progressed quite rapidly, especially since June 2010. All deadlines to date for specific activities have been substantially or fully met, and substantial progress has been made on a number that are not due until later in the project. Specifically, Value Chain Analyses have been completed and design of new chains is well advanced, and those aspects that can be implemented at an early stage are in progress eg gaining cooperation and inputs/actions by entrepreneurs. Research priorities for field experimentation have been identified, sites selected, partner activity commenced and the experiments will be planted in May-June 2011. Sociological work - interviews, meetings and workshops as planned have been completed, data analysis is well advanced and reports are being prepared. A number of conference papers have been published or submitted (awaiting acceptance), and training for one project participant is to be undertaken in late 2011. Initial Geographic Information Systems work has been completed.

Objective 1: Researching constraints to women's greater participation in horticulture and facilitate the development of women's business skills.
Objective 2: Improving institutional arrangements for PNG Women in Agriculture to assist in the enhancement of women's livelihoods.
The project commenced in January 2010 by reviewing past and present ACIAR R&D projects that focused on women in horticulture It was apparent that in several projects women had identified cultural, institutional and infrastructure constraints to their full participation in production, post-harvest and marketing of fresh produce from the Highlands of PNG.
From March 29 to 31 this year, the PNG Women in Agriculture (PNG WiA) held its first National Forum of the organisation with the purpose of reviewing and further developing their Strategic Plan. Cathy McGowan played a key advisory role to the executive, assisted in the review of the strategic planning process and planning for the immediate future.
Around 100 participants took part in the workshop, comprising 73 women from various agricultural groups in PNG and about 30 key partner organisations and stakeholders. It was financially and practically supported by AusAID through the Agricultural Research and Development Support Facility (ARDSF), ACIAR and the National Agriculture Research Systems (NARS) organisations, to name but a few. The Forum endorsed the following elements of the new PNG WiA Strategic Plan:
Vision
PNG women will be prosperous and have improved well being as equal partners in Agriculture for development.
Mission
Our mission is to be the voice of women to be recognized as equal partners and provide a platform that encourages innovation by women in agriculture for development.
Organisational Purpose
To be an effective and efficient voice for women as equal partners and a platform for innovation by women in agriculture for development.
Key Areas
Policy Advocacy; Information and Communications; Partnership and Networking; Organisational Capacity Development and Women in Agriculture Innovations Grant Facility.
The third key area, Organizational Capacity Development is one that this project has as a key objective and Cathy McGowan, a partner member of the project will act as a coach and mentor to PNG WiA and provide Leadership Training to the executive.

An initial workshop of approximately 60 women from Morobe, Highlands and Central Provinces was held in Lae on the afternoon of 30 March 2010 as part of the PNG Women in Agriculture National Forum. It was facilitated by Barbara Chambers. Women were asked to identify what success they have had as a result of training programs in horticulture; what hasn't worked so well when they have tried to implement new knowledge, technologies and skills in horticulture and what lessons had they learned that might help to improve training programs for women smallholders in horticulture.
Factors leading to success were identified as immersion (from nursery to collection in floriculture); farmer to farmer training; support in the field post-training and partnership with government agencies. Constraints were identified as lack of follow-up by trainers; lack of complementary training (e.g. in farm and office management, finance); poor literacy affecting comprehension of training manuals; lack of practical hands-on training; training in the control of the taro beetle and food-flies; and lack of materials or resources to implement training outcomes (e.g. coconut oil for soap in the Momase region). An emergent cultural constraint is the belief that groups are too competitive and are reluctant to share information and engage in knowledge networking.
Priority training needs identified, apart from strategies identified in factors leading to success, were capacity building in planning, monitoring and evaluation of training programs; leadership (and gender) training for those leading women's groups; business management training, including office skills such as computing; submission writing for funding of women's agricultural groups (especially from women in the Southern Region); marketing skills; food and nutrition training; financial management and accessing micro-finance; in Momase, especially, nursery establishment was identified as a desirable training need.
Norah Omot and Barbara Tomi from NARI are in the process of surveying rural women in selected Morobe villages who had previously participated in NARI training courses in horticulture and marketing. Cathy Wali (Highlands FPDA), Debrah Bubun (Morobe FPDA) and Poela Utama (Central FPDA) are currently reviewing FPDA training programs in horticulture as they impact on women and identifying models of best practice in women smallholder's horticultural businesses with a view to their possible replication. Once these results are known, Norah Omot and Barbara Tomi from NARI will act as knowledge brokers to disseminate research findings to other key R&D organisations working in horticulture in PNG.

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.

The project ASEM/2006/130 "Enhancing production and marketing of maize and soybean in north-western Cambodia and production of summer crops in north-eastern Australia" commenced in May 2008. The overarching aim of the project is to improve the functioning of the production - marketing system for maize and soybean in north-western Cambodia as a key to increasing cash income, sustainable growth and poverty reduction for smallholder farmers. The project will facilitate the sharing of knowledge and information at all stages of the value chain from farmer to end-user. This will deliver practical benefits including improved food security, increased income, and reduced vulnerability to disruptions for rural poor farmers. In north-western NSW, the aim is to address lack of adoption of conservation farming practices, increase summer crop diversity and to develop strategies for adaptation of farming systems to climate change.
Eight village clusters were established, four in the district of Samlaut and four in the municipality of Pailin. A total of nineteen trials of improved varieties, rhizobium inoculation of legumes and nitrogen nutrition of maize were successfully completed. The yields of maize, soybean, peanut and mungbean in experimental plots exceeded the predicted maximum yields for Cambodia and were more than double the average farmer yields. The project has identified 6 production technologies to help farmers increase crop yields. The technologies under study are improved varieties, rhizobium inoculation, nitrogen nutrition of maize, crop rotation, reduced tillage and integrated pest management.
Farmer workshops investigated key socio-economic issues related to adoption of the improved crop technologies. Village workshops were completed in December for 2 villages in each of the Pailin and Samlaut districts. The gross margin budgets from these workshops were presented to the project meeting in Battambang in February 2009. Gross margin budgets were completed for experiments in Samlaut and Pailin. Return on investment calculations were completed for inoculation and nitrogen fertiliser application to maize.
Based on case studies and interviews of farmers and middlemen, a value chain map was developed for maize in Pailin. Key on-ground issues were identified for each value chain participant (farmer, middleman, silo manager), followed by establishing a suitable case study for the project. A case study was set up in Pailin region based on CARE farmer clusters, supply chains to silo and Thai markets. By far the largest task in the first year was gathering information to map out the supply chains. It has involved extensive farmer and middlemen surveys and interviews as well as visits to observe the different supply chain activities.
A review of marketing arrangements in the Pailin area revealed that there is essentially a single buyer for upland crops in northwest Cambodia (i.e. CP Foods based in Thailand). The Northwest Agricultural Marketing Association (NAMA) was established as a marketing organization of upland crops and already its members account for about 20% of the crop in that region. NAMA will seek to develop alternative export markets as well as farmer hubs for inputs, outputs and communications. We developed a background paper on NAMA and held two participatory workshops with NAMA members to explore their issues and potential actions. In addition to this work with NAMA we are exploring the possibility to develop a strategic plan for developing farmer associations/cooperatives in the second year of the project. We are also continuing to work with the Ministry of Commerce to carry out research to support the development of the operations of NAMA and its initiative on export market development.
A SMS communication system (EMCS), developed by Dr Rob Fitzgerald, adopted the open source application Frontline SMS. Worked with the newly formed NAMA to develop the SMS Field Communication System to install a server in Pailin with particular focus on the provision of information (rated top priority by members) and the exchange and sharing of silo association price and market information. A server has also been installed with MJP in Battambang with particular emphasis on basic market information and health alerts.
Field crop manuals for maize and soybean have been compiled and are currently being translated into Khmer language. Weed and insect field guides have also been compiled and are being translated to Khmer language. These publications will be made available to PDA extension staff and other information providers. The GDA Directorate of Agricultural Extension will also use the publications as resources for production of farmer extension materials. We also plan to liaise with the Royal University of Agriculture and Agricultural Colleges to update curricula on upland crop production and marketing information.

ASEM/2006/130 commenced in May 2008. The overarching aim of the project is to improve the functioning of the production - marketing system for maize and soybean in north-western Cambodia as a key to increasing cash income, sustainable growth and poverty reduction for smallholder farmers. In north-western NSW, the aim is to develop strategies for adaptation of farming systems to climate variability and climate change.
Down-scaled future climate scenarios were completed for sorghum in NW NSW and APSIM simulation runs were completed for farming systems options for sorghum. Economic analysis of farmer preferences were completed and submitted for presentation/publication in the Australian Summer Grains Conference June 2010. Linear programming will be used in conjunction with @Risk to analyse the outcomes of farming systems options for adaptation to climate change.
In Cambodia, the trial and demonstration program in 2009 included improved varieties, rhizobium inoculation of legumes and nitrogen nutrition of maize. In 2009, feedback from farmers highlighted the need for trials on herbicides for weed control in maize and soybean because the cost of labour had become too great to allow for hand-weeding. The production technologies being evaluated now include: improved varieties, rhizobium inoculation, nitrogen nutrition of maize, crop rotation, reduced tillage, integrated pest management and weed management.
Farmer workshops investigated key socio-economic issues related to adoption of the improved crop technologies - the major issue in 2009 has been the increasing cost of farm labour. In June 2009 the village workshops developed partial budgets for return on investment for the application of nitrogen fertilizer to maize and inoculation of legume seeds with rhizobium. In October 2009 further partial budgets were developed for weeding of crops - hand weeding versus chemical sprays.
A review of marketing arrangements in northwest Cambodia revealed there is essentially a single buyer for upland crops in the region (CP Foods, Thailand). Thus, Professor Spriggs provided assistance to establish the Northwest Agricultural Marketing Association (NAMA) to improve the marketing arrangements in the region. NAMA is anchored by three major silos (Pailin, Kamrieng and Malai) which are important potential crop marketing hubs for inputs, outputs and communications in the region. An action plan was developed with NAMA with two components: (1) to help NAMA with export market development and (2) to help NAMA develop its vision for the future.
A SMS service was developed based on a simple, robust framework for contact dissemination which includes the potential for peer-submitted and peer-reviewed content. A prototype system was completed in January 2010, using a more modular architecture and popular open-source software solutions. Field research in February 2010 resulted in a revised focus for the system towards mapping and disseminating information about market players relevant to users. The FrontlineSMS server is being hosted at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).
Value chain mapping has been completed including a grain trader survey in 2009.These data will add significantly to the knowledge about the farmer/grain trader relationships. A social network analysis (SNA ) was carried out to identify the key actors in the farmer/grain trader network. The main immediate opportunities to address constraints in the value chain include the creation of a farmer's association, a grain trader association and the investigation of grain storage facilities at the farmer and trader level. A farmer association has been established by the CARE Pailin team in cooperation with the local Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA). Preliminary work has also been done to establish a grain trader (middleman) association. Planning has been in cooperation with the Pailin Department of Commerce (DoC).
The Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, North-East Thailand was identified as a source of liquid rhizobium and supplies were obtained to provide farmers with inoculants to try out in their own fields in EWS 2010. A TOT activity was developed to assist with the roll out of the technology.
An illustrated children's book "Jorani and the Green Vegetable Bugs" was published in Khmer language to teach children about integrated pest management (IPM) in upland crops. A pilot activity involved introducing the concept to school directors and teachers; development of a teacher guide; implementation in schools; celebration and public launch. The pilot was a success and further units are being considered for the Life Skills program. The concept will be presented to the MoEYS for endorsement and roll-out to primary schools in Cambodia. Negotiations are now underway to publish a Lao version of the book in collaboration with the Lao/Japanese NGO "Action with Lao Children."

This project aims to bring about positive socio-economic change in the Cambodian soybean and maize marketing systems through the use of community-based decision-making where, for each marketing system, the community of interest includes the various participants of that marketing system. It involves three main sub-projects: (i) a macro- and a micro-mapping of the two marketing systems to gain an understanding of the major constraints; (ii) the facilitation of a change process through collaborative problem-solving involving representatives of the various participants of the two marketing systems; and (iii) capacity-building. The year began with a significant capacity-building exercise (sub-project (iii)) for the four Cambodia-based members of the research team. They participated in a two-week research workshop put on by Australian members of the research team - John Spriggs and Barbara Chambers. The workshop covered three subject areas: marketing, supply chain management and group facilitation (see Attachment A - Section 1). An important outcome of the research workshop was the development of a research action plan by the research team (See Attachment A - Section 4.)

Two major decisions made during the workshop and reflected in the research action plan were:
That the research team should focus only on the market catchment (i.e. production) area in eastern Cambodia during 2005, while in 2006 we would focus on the market catchment area in western Cambodia. The eastern catchment area produces primarily soybeans for the South Vietnam market, while the western catchment area produces both maize and soybeans for the Thai market.
That the mapping of the marketing systems should contain both a macro component (looking from the system-wide perspective) and a micro component (looking from the perspective of a particular farmer association trying to develop group marketing). To this end, we divided the four Cambodia-based researchers into two teams: Team A (macro component) and Team B (micro component).

In February 2005, Professor Spriggs visited the two teams. Details of this visit are presented in Attachment B - Cambodia Trip Diary: February 2005. Both teams had produced a preliminary report on their research activities. Team A reported that the most important issues for the eastern catchment area appeared to be: lack of cheap credit, farmers not organized, lack of extension/training, lack of market information, not enough good quality seed and high fuel cost (due to the high fuel tax). Team B reported on their survey of the Ta Ong Soybean Association in Chamcarleu, Kampong Cham. This Association was one of only two such Associations in what is the centre of soybean growing in the eastern catchment area. The main issues for this Association were the lack of good quality seed and the lack of low-interest credit. The Association had attempted, in the past, to access a government-run low-interest credit program but found this a difficult experience. Team B is working with the Association to help them access this and to write up their experience in this as a case study. Team B is also undertaking a survey of buyers of Cambodian soybeans in South Vietnam.

In May 2005, Professors Spriggs and Chambers visited the two teams to plan for the upcoming stakeholder workshop for the eastern catchment area (See Attachment C - Cambodia Trip Report: May 2005). The workshop is planned for July 28-29, 2005. During this visit, the research team agreed that the workshop would be conducted in Khmer with one of the Cambodian-based members of the research team acting as lead facilitator (Sothea), and the others acting as workshop recorder or table facilitators. An interpreter would be hired for Professors Spriggs and Chambers. The workshop would begin with three presentations (See Attachments D1 to D3) :
The Marketing System for Cambodian Soybeans (Team A)
The Market for Cambodian Soybeans in South Vietnam (Team B)
Strengthening the Ta Ong Soybean Development Association (Team B) and then proceed through a process of large and small group discussion to develop a collaboratively-based action plan for socio-economic change for the eastern catchment area.

Following the workshop, the focus of this action research project will shift from research to action as the research team attempts to facilitate implementation of the action plan.

This is the second year of an action research project which aims to bring about positive socio-economic change in the Cambodian maize and soybean marketing systems. In the first year of the project, the focus was on the soybean marketing system of eastern Cambodia, while during the second year, the focus of the project has started to shift to western Cambodia. Our decision to treat the eastern and western marketing systems separately was because the situations in the two parts of the country are very different. Two obvious differences are: (1) the relative importance of soybeans in the east and maize in the west; and (2) the relative importance of Vietnam as a market for the east and Thailand as a market for the west. However, a more fundamental (and perhaps less obvious) difference is that the marketing system in western Cambodia is dynamic while that in eastern Cambodia is not. (A good illustration of the dynamism in western Cambodia is the construction in recent years of 4 modern large scale commercial silos, with a fifth on the way.) Because the situation is so different in these two regions of the country, the nature of the appropriate research and action interventions is also different.

During the second year of this action research project, we moved from a research phase to an action phase in eastern Cambodia. This involved two initiatives:
A macro initiative - writing a concept paper on the idea for an agricultural market development zone for eastern Cambodia and presenting this to a panel of government policy decision-makers (June 2006). The panel gave a strong endorsement to the concept and this is now being further developed in the form of a full feasibility analysis
A micro initiative - develop a successful soybean marketing association in eastern Cambodia. The project team has been working with the Ta Ong soybean Association (TSA) in Kampong Cham province. When we began work with TSA it was a non-functioning association with only 14 members. It now has 160 members (membership has been limited at this level). It is operating successfully as a micro-finance institution, having made low-interest loans to about 1000 farmers and is now looking to build its own dryer-silo and market its members' produce in Vietnam.

During this year, we also began the research phase in western Cambodia (involving mapping research on the marketing systems for maize and soybeans in this region). At the end of the year under review (in June 2006), we held a stakeholder workshop in western Cambodia to present our research findings and also to gain an understanding of what the stakeholders consider to be the major issues facing them. This stakeholder workshop represents the main transition point from research to action in our project in western Cambodia. According to general consensus of the workshop participants, the major issues were: (1) existence of border fees; (2) lack of access to good quality market information; and (3) lack of access to low-interest credit. The main action advocated by the workshop participants was the development of a silo association comprising the 4 new silos of western Cambodia (plus the fifth one when it is built). Such an association was viewed as an important catalyst for positive change on the major issues confronting the industry. Hence, our project team is now focused on facilitating the development of this association.

The original project operated for 2 years from July 2004 to December 2006 with a broad focus on improving the marketing system for maize and soybeans in Cambodia and thereby improving the well-being of rural households and other participants in the non-rice cropping industry. The project was subsequently extended to the period January 2007 to April 2008.

General Approach
The general approach taken in this project has been participatory action research which includes both a research phase and an action (implementation) phase. In this action research process, participants are taken to be representatives of the various types of participants in the relevant value chains. These include farmers, village collectors, district traders, interprovincial traders, exporters, importers, and relevant government officers. As a result of initial research, it was decided to divide the country into two parts: eastern and western Cambodia. This was because we found substantial differences between these regions in the types of crops grown, the nature of the dominant markets involved (i.e. Vietnam and Thailand), and the quality of the production-marketing systems. In particular, the production-marketing system in eastern Cambodia was found to be static and fragmented with relatively old marketing infrastructure and less fertile land, while western Cambodia was found to have highly fertile land, with dynamic and well-organized marketing infrastructure through the development of 5 large grain drying/storage operations throughout the growing area.

Following on from the research phase which included the use of participatory workshops in eastern Cambodia and western Cambodia, we developed action plans that we believe are well-suited to the differing regions. The action plans involved three major initiatives; two in eastern Cambodia and one in western Cambodia.

Major Initiatives (eastern Cambodia)
In eastern Cambodia, we took both a micro and a macro approach. The micro approach was to work with a single farmer association to see what we could do to help this association become more successful in marketing crops on behalf of its members. The macro approach was to explore the potential for developing an Agriculture Marketing Development Zone (AMDZ) for eastern Cambodia.

Major Initiative (western Cambodia)
In western Cambodia, our background research and a participatory workshop revealed that the major concerns of value chain participants (along with credit concerns) were: (a) lack of access to markets; and (b) lack of market information. These are the result of poor communications between different levels of the supply chain. At a Battambang workshop of participants, we proposed to address this issue through the development of an Electronic Marketing Communications System (EMCS) based on the use of SMS technology and mobile phones. The idea of using SMS to communicate is workable in Cambodia where the country enjoys 75 % coverage of mobile phones and 85% coverage of SMS. There was enthusiastic and consensus support at the workshop for a pilot project on the EMCS to be introduced. As a result, and under the direction of Dr. Rob Fitzgerald, we have undertaken a pilot project involving traders in Western Cambodia as well as the Battambang Chamber of Commerce to receive price information via SMS. To make this work, we purchased and established an SMS server at the Price Office, Ministry of Commerce where it is being maintained by Ms. Mam Many. We are now at the stage where we have proof of concept and plans are under way to move to a larger-scale implementation of the EMCS. Dr. Fitzgerald held a second workshop in Phnom Penh in August 2007 with traders, producers, government and local university representatives to initiate the design and development of the information structure for the EMCS. This workshop addressed: (a) identifying basic stakeholder information including regions, supply chain roles, language capabilities and SMS skill levels (self assessed); (b) determining stakeholder needs regarding market information (What price information do you need?; How could this be conveyed via alphanumeric code?; How will we link buyers and sellers?; What farm/production information do you want?); and (c) obtaining stakeholder views on the nature of the training and extension work that should be considered. A series of EMCS training workshops are tentatively scheduled for November 2007 to help familiarise users with the system and training materials in English and Khmer are currently under development.