University of Melbourne

The project began with a kick-off workshop held at the CIFOR campus on 11 - 12 August 2008 (Annex 1). The 37 participants in attendance included project partners, representatives from the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), local government agencies, Perhutani, local NGOs, the Indonesian Furniture Industry and Handicrafts Association (ASMINDO), small-scale furniture producers and other related stakeholders. During the workshop, a memorandum of understanding was signed between CIFOR, represented by Dr Bruce Campbell, and the Jepara District Government, represented by Jepara District Head, Drs Hendro Martojo (Annex 2).
A livelihood survey was undertaken to gain an overview and understanding of people's livelihood strategies in Jepara, particularly those living in areas that rely on the furniture industry. The questionnaire (Annex 3) covered data on demography, assets, and income from different sources as well as respondents' perceptions of the furniture industry. The survey commenced in October 2008 by collecting secondary data at the village, subdistrict and district levels. Findings revealed that incomes earned by furniture producers were generally higher than those of average households, while urban and semi-urban areas have varied sources of income.
A furniture workshop study aimed to determine the efficiency of small-scale furniture producers in Jepara District and identify the constraints they face. A questionnaire (Annex 4) was developed to collect data for efficiency and constraints analyses. The data collected covered workshop characteristics, production, capital, labour, inputs, growth, credit and support, constraints, marketing and networks. Findings revealed that around 30% of the workshop owners surveyed in 2005 had abandoned their businesses as a result of high input costs and low selling prices for their products. Many workshop owners were unaware of how to calculate production costs and profits, and none kept financial accounts.
An international market survey (Annex 5) identified seven main export destinations - France, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Philippines, the United States of America, Hong Kong and Spain - accounting for 91% of wooden furniture exports from Jepara. Marketing and raw material supplies were identified as the main problems facing exporters. A domestic market survey revealed a potential opportunity for Jepara's furniture industry, free from the problems caused by fluctuating exchange rates.

Project partners have produced a number of papers; the Faculty of Forestry at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), for example, produced a background paper entitled "Domestic and International Market of Indonesian Wooden Furniture" (Annex 6). Teams and individuals from the Jepara Multi-stakeholder Forum (Forum Rembug Klaster (FRK) have written their own personal stories, which provide a different perspective of Jepara's furniture from that of its real actors (Annexes 7 - 11). The Ministry of Forestry's Forest Research and Development Agency (FORDA) has produced papers relating to value chain studies.
A multi-stakeholder workshop was held in Jepara on 22 - 23 December 2008 to communicate the ongoing results of project activities to Jepara stakeholders, (Annex 12). At the request of participants during the workshop, and supported by results of the study, we facilitated the establishment of the Association of Jepara Small-scale Furniture Producers (APKJ).
To ascertain appropriate roles for APKJ and develop scenarios for more equitable power and income for sustaining both forests and the furniture industry, we carried out a value chain study. The research used ILO's Guide for Value Chain Analysis and Upgrading in identifying the nature of relations between actors within the chain. Study findings revealed finishing companies/exporters and producers to be involved in a hierarchical type of value chain governance, as indicated by vertical integration and extremely limited autonomy for making decisions at the producer level. Exporters, however, are driven by importers and global brokers, which are in directed network relationships with international retailers. Small-scale producers too are in directed network relationships with domestic brokers, as indicated by their main customers taking at least 50% of output; customers defining products and providing technical assistance; and an information imbalance. On the other hand, mechanised furniture producers are in a better position and have balanced network relations with those higher up the chain, indicated by intense information flows in both directions between producers and buyers, problem solving through negotiation, and both sides having capabilities which are hard to substitute. Four scenarios were devised to improve the furniture industry in Jepara for the benefit of small-scale producers. These were called: Collaborating Down, Moving Up, Green Product and Small-scale Association, the last of which is being implemented at the moment by small scale producers in Jepara.
On 22 December 2008, CIFOR officially launched the local Furniture Value Chain (FVC) project office, located in the Jepara Trade and Tourism Centre (JTTC) building, to facilitate research activities and stakeholder engagement. The office is an in-kind contribution from the Jepara District Government.

Although the Project start date was 1 January 2009, delays in obtaining signed Project Agreements between the contractual parties meant that research activities of the project did not commence until the beginning of May 2009. Despite the delayed start, the project has made an impressive progress during Year 1 with active participation of all project partners.

The major activities and achievements during the first year are as follows:
1. The Project Steering Committee was formed consisting of two representatives from each partner organisation.
2. The assessment of research capabilities of each partner organisation involved in the project was undertaken to facilitate the development of networking arrangements between the project members. This knowledge and experience will be essential in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the project outcomes and will enable the participating organisations to take the role of the "value-adding experts" after the project is completed.
3. The criteria for the selection of the Industry Champions were developed by the project partners. Sixteen companies were selected as the members of the Industry Champions representing various types of sizes and models of the Jepara furniture industry and various aspects of wood processing and manufacturing. The Industry Champions will be the first beneficiaries of the project outcomes as the improvements and implementation of manufacturing methods, designs and products, will be firstly undertaken by these companies.
4. The Project Field Officer, Mrs Nurul Izza, was appointed to the project and is based at the project office in Jepara. The Field Officer is playing an important role of linking the project researchers with the Industry Champions.
5. Five teams of researchers conducted a detailed analysis of the current capabilities of the 16 Industry Champions, which included all major processing and manufacturing stages of the production process:
 Sawing.
 Preservative Treatment.
 Drying.
 Manufacturing.
 Finishing.
A detailed report was prepared on each specific aspect of the production process for each Industry Champion. The individual reports were then combined into five final assessment reports: Sawmilling, Treatment, Drying, Manufacturing Process and Finishing. The reports provide details on the assessment of all aspects of processing and manufacturing processes applied by the Industry Champions, as well as provide general comments on the current industry practices and recommendations for improvements and changes. A General Assessment Report has been developed which provides the summary information on the assessment of five processing and manufacturing stages of the wood products production process without revealing any confidential information on the Industry Champions. The report will be made available to the government organizations, all industry stakeholders, NGOs and other relevant organizations.
6. Priority research projects were identified and teams of researchers to carry out the studies were formed. The projects include the study on alternative species which could be used for high value wood products, research on preservative treatment and developing drying schedules for teak and mahogany. The review of standards related to furniture products, both Indonesian and Australian standards, has commenced.

Although the Project start date was 1 January 2008, delays in obtaining signed Project Agreements between the contractual parties meant that research activities of the project did not commence until the end of May 2008.
Village Development Trust (VDT), which was included as one of the partner organisations in the Project Proposal, did not sign the agreement and withdrew from the project.
Good progress has been made in overcoming the delayed start-up of the project and the work is on track for the delivery of the planned outcomes.
The project commencement trip to PNG was undertaken by members of the project team from the University of Melbourne, in October - November 2008, when the following activities were undertaken:
Visits to PNG partner organisations to assess their facilities, discuss the project program and budget.
Visits to selected timber processing and manufacturing companies, small landowners and portable sawmills to develop an understanding of current major issues and strategic directions of PNG forestry and timber sectors.
One day intensive workshop "Project Introduction Workshop" involving all project partners and invited industry members which was organised at the PNG Timber and Forestry Training College. The workshop introduced the project program and detailed activities, and addressed wood processing and manufacturing topics, such as product design and development, portable sawmilling, wood drying, wood preservation, furniture production, OHS and product quality. The workshop allowed its participants to openly discuss the project research program as well as brainstorm various options that should be adopted in order to maximize benefits to PNG timber industry and small communities.
The formation of the Project Steering Committee. The Committee was established at the workshop to represents the interests of all interested parties.
The visits and discussions allowed development of the recommendations on enhancement of PNG education, research and training programs and improvements in forest and wood products industry. The outcomes have been presented in the Project Report No1 "Project commencement visit to PNG and recommendations on improvements in PNG downstream processing forest and wood products industry".
The Steering Group has directed researchers to meet with the Minister of Forests and his staff with the objective of discussing vision statements and recommendations so that they are consistent with the National policy. This will take place during the next planned visit to PNG.
An important part of the project is a research study undertaken by a Master's postgraduate student at the University of Melbourne, Peter Edwin, a staff member of PNG Timber and Forestry Training Centre. The objectives of this research study are:
to develop methods for assessing the PNG timber species for various wood products and wood service conditions (e.g. indoor, outdoor) under different climatic conditions (e.g. tropics, sub-tropics, and dry climate),
to carry out the laboratory tests on PNG timber species to determine their technological characteristics,
to develop protocols for testing of PNG lesser used hardwood timbers.
So far a qualitative analysis of field data was undertaken based on questionnaires, field visits and interviews with three stakeholders namely; training institutions, wood processing industries, and community - based forest resource owners. The field visits and interviews were conducted to collect data on the utilization of forest resources, the processing and manufacturing facilities and types of wood products produced for various markets. This study was conducted in Morobe and Madang provinces in PNG. The selection of timber species for testing was based on the outcomes of the survey that indicated which timber species would be in demand from both the timber millers and the forest resource owners' views. The study will have significant values to the ACIAR project and consequently to the PNG timber industry as knowledge of the species' properties will enable the determination of their potential applications and markets.
The development of a detailed program for enhanced training, education and research to support the development of wood value-added industries is in progress. A detailed inventory and technical status of research equipment available at PNG FRI has been completed. This information will enable the determination of priorities for the equipment that needs to be repaired and renovated as well as for new equipment that needs to be purchased.
PNG partners identified wood bending as the priority value-added technology to be introduced to PNG training and subsequently to the industry production methods. A research study is being carried out by Paul Aoae of TFTC with the aim of investigating the suitability of PNG timbers for wood bending. An intensive program of tuition on the fundamental and practical aspects of wood bending will be provided to Mr Aoae by the researchers at the University of Melbourne in the coming weeks.

Recent ACIAR research on trade reform and Indian agriculture found that trade policy reform must be complemented by 'behind-the-border' reforms if government objectives of improved productivity, higher rural employment and incomes and enhanced food security are to be met. Project ADP/2007/062 titled 'Facilitating Efficient Agricultural Markets in India: An Assessment of Competition and Regulatory Reform Requirements' therefore focuses on facilitating the development of agricultural policy settings which will enable Indian farmers to efficiently adjust to a less regulated marketing environment including an appropriate competition policy regime.
The project is being undertaken collaboratively between the NSW Department of Primary Industries, India's National Council of Applied Economic Research, La Trobe and Melbourne Universities and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.
Project objectives include:
Assessing agricultural marketing and competition policy settings in a selection of high profile developing countries to identify policy objectives, policy change processes and the 'market failure' principles driving those changes.
Undertaking a policy comparison across those same developing countries of trends in agricultural sector regulation more broadly to identify and assess efforts being made to facilitate farm level adjustment. Successes and failures will be identified to evaluate the scope for lessons learnt to be applied in an Indian context.
Using the country comparisons and an appropriate public policy framework, undertake 2-3 industry case studies which examine the application of current policy settings at the industry level and how an alternative competition policy regime would apply. These will focus on wheat in Punjab and horticulture products in West Bengal.
Formulate a set of policy recommendations with options that guide the introduction of necessary competition and regulatory reforms for consideration by policy makers.
The project commenced in May 2008 and finishes in October 2010. In the reporting period to 31 May 2009, collaborators focussed on Objectives 1 and 2 involving the preparation of a report comparing agriculture policy settings in the BRICs countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, as well as South Africa.
This involved significant information gathering, but at the same time provided the opportunity to develop a shared understanding among collaborators of relevant microeconomic reform and 'role of government' principles as they relate to pro-competition policy. It has also provided the opportunity to engage with key Indian Government agencies.
Preliminary findings from the BRICs country comparison were reported in a paper presented to the 2009 Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Conference. Findings included that the outcomes from policy reform have been mixed in terms of their consistency with accepted microeconomic reform principles:
emphasis has often been placed on privatisation initiatives, rather than on broader regulatory reform;
direct regulation in agriculture (industrial policy) appears to have reduced government incentives to progress competition law initiatives in the agri-food chain;
similarly, direct regulation in agriculture appears likely to be reducing government incentives to consider alternative approaches to poverty and the maintenance of socially acceptable levels of farm family welfare; and
strong growth in the non-agricultural sectors in most developing countries may also be having the effect of making direct regulation and transfer payments more 'affordable' and less of a priority for reform.
Of some further concern was that reform efforts to date appear largely to represent a set of responses to economic crises and WTO pressures, and for the most part, have failed to provide a legacy of ongoing, internally-driven, policy reform processes.
The Stage 1 Report comparing agricultural policy settings in the BRICs economies will be finalised following stakeholder feedback at an 'agricultural policy reform conference' tentatively scheduled to be held in Delhi in November 2009. Professor Allan Fels AO, Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, will provide a keynote address on competition policy in developing countries.

Recent ACIAR research on trade reform and Indian agriculture found that trade policy reform needs to be complemented by 'behind-the-border' reforms if government objectives of improved productivity, higher rural employment and incomes and enhanced food security are to be met. Project ADP/2007/062 titled 'Facilitating Efficient Agricultural Markets in India: An Assessment of Competition and Regulatory Reform Requirements' therefore focuses on facilitating the development of agricultural policy settings which will enable Indian farmers to efficiently adjust to a less regulated marketing environment including an appropriate competition policy regime.
The project is being undertaken collaboratively between NSW Industry & Investment, India's National Council of Applied Economic Research, La Trobe, Melbourne and Exeter Universities and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.
Project objectives include:
1. Assessing agricultural marketing and competition policy settings in a selection of high profile developing countries to identify policy objectives, policy change processes and the 'market failure' principles driving those changes.
2. Undertaking a policy comparison across those same developing countries of trends in agricultural sector regulation more broadly to identify and assess efforts being made to facilitate farm level adjustment. Successes and failures will be identified to evaluate the scope for lessons learnt to be applied in an Indian context.
3. Using the country comparisons and an appropriate public policy framework, undertake 2-3 industry case studies which examine the application of current policy settings at the industry level and how an alternative competition policy regime would apply. These will focus on wheat in Punjab and horticulture products in West Bengal.
4. Formulate a set of policy recommendations with options that guide the introduction of necessary competition and regulatory reforms for consideration by policy makers.
The project commenced in May 2008 and finishes in October 2010. In the reporting period to 31 May 2010, collaborators focussed on Objectives 1, 2 and 3.
The Mid-term project workshop in Delhi was postponed from May 2009 to 24 November 2009 due to the unforseen scheduling of the Indian national election in April 2009. The December Workshop was an important project outcome and milestone and provided the opportunity to discuss the project and its future policy reform and methodological directions with Indian Government officials, stakeholders, the Project Steering Committee and collaborators. The Workshop titled 'Achieving Food Security in India: Improving Competition, Markets and the Efficiency of Supply Chains', was a significant event for ACIAR and other project collaborators, being opened by the Australian High Commissioner, Mr Peter Varghese, and having Professor Allen Fels AO, Dean, Australia and New Zealand School of Government as Keynote Speaker and Professor Ramesh Chand, National Professor, NCAP as the Chief Guest.
The Mid-term Workshop focussed on the regulatory reform case studies being undertaken throughout 2010. The case studies focus on wheat and horticulture and involve supply chain analysis whereby regulatory restrictions on competition are being documented and subject to a 'market failure' assessment. Following discussions among project collaborators it was also decided that the regulatory supply chain assessment will also involve estimation of price correlations between farm-gate, wholesale and retail to assess the relative significance of regulatory impediments to competition.
An important Mid-term Workshop outcome was the opportunity to link the need for regulatory reform to food security and declining productivity in India agriculture which is of significant interest to Indian policy makers. The idea that regulatory reform could facilitate adjustment in a way that enables India's comparative production advantages to be better achieved as well as enhanced productivity and food security, now represents an important project theme which has created significant interest in the case study outcomes and the lessons that can be applied more broadly.
The Mid-term Workshop and interactions with the Project Steering Committee also gave rise to an unplanned project outcome in the form of the opportunity to draft a paper for inclusion in the 2010 'India Infrastructure Report' prepared by the Infrastructure Development Finance Company. The paper titled 'Is there a Role for Agricultural Offsets in Sustainable Infrastructure Development: A Preliminary Assessment of Issues', is a policy discussion paper which identifies issues associated with Indian agriculture potentially becoming a provider of carbon offsets to other greenhouse gas emitting sectors of the Indian economy. The paper is directly relevant to the broader project in that it identifies new policy settings for agriculture, such as the repositioning of input subsidies to promote carbon-based farming systems.
The Stage 1 Report comparing agricultural policy settings in the BRICs economies is currently being finalised following stakeholder feedback at the Mid-term Project Workshop in November which indicated a need to further consider the impact of agricultural policy reform on agricultural productivity in the BRICs economies. Recent World Bank reviews of agricultural policy in the BRICs economies are also being incorporated.

This project commenced in April 2010 and an inception workshop was held one month later in Melbourne. This workshop was attended by all the participants in the project, along with representatives of the other ACIAR cluster funded projects in India. In this workshop a detailed project plan was developed and methods for integrating the various components of this project together, both internally and externally with other related ACIAR projects were established. In addition, a project collaboration strategy was discussed that provides for the direct communication between interested parties on methodology, data sharing and publication issues.
The main aim in this project is to assess the combined impacts of watershed development and climate change adaptation strategies on the long term water security for agriculture in the Krishna river basin and compare them with the forecast of impacts and adaptation strategies in the Murray-Darling basin. This project is designed to operate at two scales - sub-basin and whole-of-basin.
Initially, an investigation of the historical changes in key climatic inputs such as temperature, relative humidity and rainfall, was undertaken in the study area. It was found that no substantial change in the southwest monsoon rainfall occurred during the last 60 years. However, over that period the number of extreme 1-day rainfall and heavy rainfall events (>70 mm/day) were found to increase significantly, while low rainfall events (2.5mm-10mm) did not show a statistically significant trend. The analysis of average annual temperature shows a significant increase (0.08 C/decade) in the Krishna basin. A similar analysis in the Murray-Darling basin shows that a temperature increases of 0.9 C since 1950.
Three climate simulations corresponding to the IPCC-SRES A1B scenario were downscaled for the period 1961-2098 using "Providing REgional Climates for Impact Studies" (PRECIS) regional climate modelling system. These simulations were based on three versions of the HadCM3 global climate model which showed realistic results for the Indian summer monsoon. These global simulation results were extracted from the program on Quantifying Uncertainty in Model Predictions (QUMP). The simulations predict a 2% to 6% rise in the rainfall by 2020 compared to the model baseline (1961-90). However, rainfall is predicted to increase further towards the middle of the century. The model also predicts a mean annual temperature rise of around 2.50 C by the mid 2080s.
Remote sensing has been used to map land use, dynamic vegetation information, surface water reservoirs and evapotranspiration. This information will be integrated into the hydrologic modelling framework in order to constrain the models' parameters, to provide inputs and to calibrate and verify model outputs. This information is collected and analyzed at two different scales -medium-resolution land use and evapotranspiration products over the whole Krishna River Basin and high-resolution products in the Musi catchment. In addition, a field experiment was conducted in the Musi catchment to measure high-quality spectral libraries using multispectral radiometers in the field. These will be combined with the satellite images to better understand the region-specific features of the crop species and their spectral characteristics.
Detailed data collection is currently being undertaken to characterise the key hydrological processes. The required variables (daily rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, wind speed, solar radiation and relative humidity) have been obtained from the Indian Meteorological Department stations. Collection of watershed structures and groundwater flow data is currently in progress.
The lumped hydrological model SimHYD was used to undertake a preliminary assessment of climate change and watershed development impacts on the hydrology of the region. It was found that the impacts are not spatially uniform across the basin. The development of the distributed model SWAT for the catchments is currently being undertaken.
At both central and state levels we have undertaken a mapping of the institutions and the identification of the programmes and policies on water that are currently promoted in the basin. Organograms have been developed which allowed the preparation of an initial database of various policies at the national level (including the National Water Policy and the National Water Mission) and at the State level for Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. This review forms the basis to understand the overarching framework that governs water use in the basin and to identify the relevant stakeholders at all levels in the basin. This review together with the study of socio-economic aspects and water utilisation patterns at sub-basin and basin levels were undertaken in preparation for the development of adaptation scenarios and concomitant adaptation responses.
Overall, the work undertaken in this first year of the project largely provides the basis for subsequent project activities. Once the hydrological models are built, it should also be possible to evaluate the economic activities using cost effectiveness analysis and provide a real options tool to policy makers.

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."