Agribusiness Masterclass: Outcomes Report   A summary of outcomes generated by the Agribusiness Masterclass September 2019 Nadi, Fiji.     2nd October 2019 pardi.pacificfarmers.com 

 

   

 Key Objective 3 

Program 4 

Observations Summary 5 

Key Observations & General Outcomes 5 

Additional Masterclass Benefits 6 

Next Steps 6 Vanuatu 7 Tonga 7 

Recommendations 7 

Gallery 9 

Theme Information 10 Honey 10 AgriTourism 11 Papaya 12 Kava 14 Forestry 16 

Appendices 17 1. Program 17 2. Participant List 22 3. Participant Evaluations 23 

Logistics 23 Program 24 Planning and Implementation 29 Other Comments 30 

 

 

  

   

  Key Objective  Increase agribusiness research and development capacity in academia, government, 

private and development sectors in Fiji   The Fiji Agribusiness Masterclass (AMC) was six days of intensive learning, research                       activities, site visits and presentations. It gave participants the opportunity to learn value                         chain concepts in advance, through an online course, and had a learning-by-doing approach                         where participants conducted value chain research and analysis in small multi-disciplinary                     teams as a key part of the training.  This event complements PARDI 2’s Objective 2 on the theme of identifying market and value                             chain constraints, opportunities and solutions for selected Pacific products.   The Masterclass was facilitated by Craig Johns and Prof Wendy Umberger, of Centre of                           Global Food & Resources from The University of Adelaide. Craig Johns introduced the                         masterclass with an introduction to value chains and value chain analysis on Day 1. Prof                             Wendy Umberger focussed on markets, market segmentation and market research on Day                       2. The remainder of the masterclass focussed on participatory active research into the                         chosen value chains of participants. The full programme is available at Annex 1.  The AMC was delivered through a partnership between The University of Adelaide, PARDI 2                           Team, and supported by the Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network (PIFON).   

  

   

Gallery  

           

   

  

   

Theme Information  This report is structured according to the research themes participants chose as part of the                             AMC. Each section presents a summary of the initial research presented, including photos of                           value chain maps, opportunities, constraints, target markets and research outcomes.  Honey  

● The research team chose to conduct retailer and consumer surveys to better                       understand the Fiji honey market. The team were very active, interviewing 12                       retailers and 20 consumers including interactions with honey vendors in the local                       market.  

  

   

● Valuable insights included:  

○ Smaller sized and well-branded packaging attracts tourists which allows a                   much greater price per kilogram return 

○ Honey retail products are found in many different and obscure locations                     within retail stores which is partly due to the threat of theft. Some small                           merchandising efforts could significantly improve sales. 

○ Packaging, labelling and branding all have significant upside in how the Fijian                       honey industry can be improved and promoted. 

○ Local consumers are particularly interested to know the region where the                     honey is sourced. This marketing angle needs to be explored in further detail. 

AgriTourism  

● The team used a very valid research approach to combine and analyse various set of                             secondary research data with primary interviews to represent an array of existing                       and current case study examples. 

● One of the biggest opportunities for this small but rapidly developing industry is to                           influence government policy so it can cover agritourism land use. At the moment,                         land use can only be classified as either Agricultural or Tourism and the tourism                           leasing and licensing arrangements were initially designed for the larger resorts and                       involve a detailed, lengthy and costly processes that are unsuited to village based                         applications. 

  

   

 Papaya  

  

   

● This research team included representatives from the management of the Nature’s                     Way Cooperative which owns the treatment facility needed for exports to NZ and                         Australia and also has membership of most of the Papaya farmers and all the                           Papaya exporters. 

 ● One of their key insights was the opportunity for a new income stream from their                             

current seconds papaya which are mainly given away or dumped. Through initial                       scoping, desktop analysis and key informant qualitative interviews, they discovered a                     lucrative market for papaya seed oil in the cosmetics industry. A few phone calls to                             local and Australian cosmetic companies actually generated some real interest in                     exploring this further and providing samples. 

  

   

     

  

   

Kava  

● This sector has strong local demand and significant potential growth, particularly                     into export markets. 

● Due to the composition of the team, the relevance to the processing company                         involved in the workshop and the logistics of what was close to Nadi, the group                             focussed their research effort on a significant constraint and risk in the value chain,                           which is the supply of kava from villages.  

● The semi-structured interviews conducted with farmers focussed on the natural                   resource currently being grown, capital, technology, the constraints and incentives                   from a farmer’s perspective and the potential quality and codex guidelines right                       along the chain to mitigate the risks associated with producing products that are TGA                           approved in a foreign country. 

● The research insights confirmed and enhanced a lot of their existing understanding                       of how farmers are struggling to find good quality source material to plant and how                             local demand and high prices is leading to mass plantings with little thought on who                             they are going to sell to. There are also few examples of contracts between                           processors and farmers which will make quality certification difficult. 

  

   

  

   

Forestry  

● This team collaborated across the other 4 themes to provide insights into their own                           policy and tree selection process, while offering some practical activities and                     solutions to the other 4 themes. 

● This topic was not part of the original planning but it was good to have the flexibility                                 to allow this type of innovation to our original plans. 

  

   

Observations Summary  Overall, the learning week went really well and achieved the overall outcome of building                           research capacity, markets and value chain awareness among participants.  There were 49 participants, including trainers, resource persons and key note/guest                     speakers (see Appendix B). The groups were fully engaged and the final presentations                         highlighted indicate how much effort went into each of the 5 theme projects.   The masterclass only started with 4 themes but the Ministry of Forestry morphed into a 5th                               theme so they could not only focus on their 4 million trees in 4-year program, but also                                 collaborate with the other 4 themes on identifying opportunities and constraints relating to                         their Ministry.  Videos taken during the training will be edited to document the activities and some of the                               impacts of the training.  

Key Observations & General Outcomes  Some key observations from this Masterclass which will also be used to feed into the next                               Masterclass in Tonga and Vanuatu for the Pacific are:  

● Theme and participant selection are critical.  

● All the themes had significant market opportunities, but the maturity of these                       sectors differed greatly, which gave some good contrast to the groups research                       focus, methodology and outcomes. 

● The teams comprised of people with good industry knowledge from different                     perspectives – production, processing, retail and policy. Experience levels also varied                     between participants which enabled the teams to work quite independently, while                     still building significant capacity within and between the groups. 

● Content for the Tuesday and Wednesday on value chains, value chain analysis and                         markets, delivered in a ‘lecture style’, was well received.  

● Guest presenters also worked really well. They helped break up the training and                         offered some interesting, relevant and current examples of the theory being                     discussed. 

● The flexible approach employed meant that at the beginning of the week, the                         facilitators were not entirely sure what direction the research projects were going to                         head in. Nevertheless, the groups handled this challenge very well, given the time                         allowed to determine this, conduct the research and present back key insights and                         

  

   

next steps, in the end, worked out extremely favourable. This was one of the                           strengths of the program. 

● Time allocation for presentations on the final day was 20 minutes and 10 minutes for                             questions and discussion for each of the themes. Each theme took at least 45 mins                             each, but there was flexibility to allow this and the extra time allowed each of the                               team members to have their say. 

Additional Benefits  There were great amounts of benefits and new networks formed that were outside of the                             AMC initial expectations. Just a few examples included:  

● Participants like Susan Pocock who are involved in the very early stages of producing                           mushrooms were able to begin discussions with the Exec Chef, Lance Seeto and his                           network of local hotels. 

● The Ministry of Forestry team, not only formed the extra 5th theme but they used                             the other 4 themes to feed information into their tree selection process for the 4                             million tree program and even organised tree planting at some of the participant                         locations. 

● The role of Kava in agroforestry systems was discussed and the FijiKava company will                           present opportunities back to the Ministry of Forestry in the coming week. Kenneth                         is preparing a scope of work for traceability in FijiKava value chain (including                         modification of app to be used by Fiji Kavas farmers). 

Next Steps  Next Pacific Agribusiness Masterclasses:  Vanuatu 

● Tentatively earmarked for March 2020 

● Potential themes: Agritourism, Kava (useful to compare to Fiji), sandalwood, cocoa,                     beef 

 

 Tonga 

● Tentatively earmarked for May 2020 

● Potential themes: Sandalwood, pearls, coconuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus  

  

  

   

 

Annexes  1. Program  WHEN  Monday 2nd to Saturday 7th September 2019  WHERE  Nasau Resort and Villas, Nadi, Fiji Islands  Time  Topic  Speakers 

DAY 1 | Monday 2nd September 

Focus: Welcome & Project Preparation 

3:00 PM  Registration   

3:30 PM  Welcome and introduction  Dr Wendy Umberger (University of Adelaide) 

4:00 PM  Research & Project Preparation ● Introduce participants to their 

other teammates ● Allocate each group their problem / 

issue / opportunity to research ● Outline research project activity 

Mr Craig Johns  (University of Adelaide) 

LATE PM  Interactive Session Panel discussion, followed by Q&A with           experts of four focus areas - honey, papaya,               agritourism and kava. 

Ms Lavinia Kaumaitotoya | Moderator  

Mr Cooper Schouten| Honey 

Mr Timote Wainiqabete | Papaya  

Ms Marita Manley | AgriTourism 

Mr Sanfred Smith | Kava 

DAY 2 | Tuesday 3rd September 

Focus: Value Chains & Value Chain Analysis 

8:30 AM  Introduction to Value Chains Refresher, recap of principles based on MOOC | What is value chain thinking? 

Mr Craig Johns  (University of Adelaide) 

  

   

9:30 AM  Value Chain Analysis ● What is it, why do it and basic techniques? ● Assess the flow of material from input 

supply to final consumption. ● What does each individual business do           

in effecting the product at each stage             in the chain? 

● Assess information flows from consumer all the way back to the primary producer. 

● At each link in the value chain, explore customer relationships. 

● Chain mapping, using local case studies ● Identify blockages / barriers / opportunities ● Identify secondary research required 

Mr Craig Johns  (University of Adelaide) 

12.30 PM  Fiji Kava Value Chain Analysis (PHAMA)  Guest lecture – Ms Losalini Leweniqila (PHAMA)  

2.00 PM  Country Assessment of the National System of Agricultural and Rural Statistics in Fiji  

Value Chain Analysis cont’   Session includes breaks for morning tea & lunch 

Guest Lecture – Ms Amelia Tungi and Mr. Samuela Buadromo (Fiji Bureau of Statistics)  Mr Craig Johns (University of Adelaide) 

5.30 PM   Guest Lecture - The Art and Science of Making it Happen. 

Dr Richard Beyer (Food Scientist) 

6.30 PM  Opening Dinner at South Sea Orchids (take bus)  Ms Aileen Burness DAY 3 | Wednesday 4th September 

Focus: Markets 

8:30 AM  Introduction to Markets Refresher, recap of principles based on MOOC | What are the market basics? 

University of Adelaide 

  

   

9:30 AM  Market Research ● What is it, why do it and basic techniques? ● Purpose ● Definition of Problem ● Objective setting ● Population ● Research Design ● Instrument design ● Procedure ● Data collection ● Data processing ● Publication ● Analysis ● Reporting and recommendations 

University of Adelaide 

10 -10:30 AM  Morning Tea   

11 am     1:00 PM 

Tyson Mayr and Elijah Social marketing – tourism experiential travel…  Markets & Value Chains Explore how markets integrate with overall value chains 

Tyson travel (ecochallenge participants/social media influencers/Instagram /You tube/FB)  University of Adelaide 

3 PM   Guest Lecture – Reimagining Pacific Fisheries and Agriculture, Traceability in Pacific Is Value Chains. 

Kenneth Katafono (TraSeable Solutions Pte Ltd) 

3:30 PM  Breakout Groups / Participants break into groups and collaborate to: ● Conduct desktop research into 

allocated theme ● Gather background on the opportunity / 

issue ● Develop a Research Plan 

Session includes break for afternoon tea 

University of Adelaide 

 

DAY 4 | Thursday 5th September 

Focus: Research & Site Visits 

  

   

8:30 AM  Breakout Groups Participants break into groups and collaborate to: ● Complete Research Plan ● Develop plan for capturing data. ● Identify and test research instruments 

University of Adelaide 

11:00 AM  Learning from the Survivors: Success factors and constraints for Pacific Agribusinesses 

 

Marita Manley, PARDI2    

11:30 AM  Breakout groups continued…   

12:00 PM  Lunch   

1:00 PM  Site Visits Each group visits businesses and/or chain participants related to their topic of research and conduct their primary research. 

Site Partners 

DAY 5 | Friday 6th September 

Focus: Talanoa & Initial Analysis 

8:30 AM  Talanoa Groups share experiences around individual site visits and data collection. 

Thematic Groups 

9:00 AM  Site Visits Opportunity for additional site visits and data collection. 

Site Partners 

12:00 PM  Lunch   

1:00 PM    2.00 PM 

Data Analysis ● Receive tips from instructors on 

processing and analysing the raw data collected. 

● Breakout into groups to conduct analysis  Fanny Fiteli 

Session includes break for afternoon tea 

The University of Adelaide    Mama’s Mushroom brand (Mushroom farming enterprise – Women’s business opportunities) 

6 PM  Guest lecture and farm to plate dinner at Stice Farm, Voivoi 

Lance Seeto (Fiji’s Culinary Ambassador) speaker  

  

   

DAY 6 | Saturday 7th September 

Focus: Talanoa & Final Analysis 

8:30 AM  Breakout Groups Participants break into groups and collaborate to: ● Analyse their research. ● Compile final findings and identify 

possible solutions to their issues / opportunities. 

Thematic Groups 

10:30 AM  Presentations Each group outlines their theme, opportunity / issue being explored, what the research indicated and their recommendations. Followed by Q&A session. 

Thematic Groups 

 

   

  

   

2. Participant List  

 

    

  

   

3. Participant Evaluations  Logistics  1. How did you find the venue, Nasau Resort and Villas?  

 

 

Additional Comments:  ● Spacious but location quite inconvenient ● Staff need attitude improvement ● Great place ● Would have been good to be close to a 

convenience store  ● Been living in the area for a long time so 

it’s the best place to live ● Great accommodation and great room ● Good resort but poor sound/music 

management ● Great, clean and free WiFi 

 

 2. How did you find the food at Nasau Resort?  

 

 

Additional Comments:  ● They should cover the sandwiches with a 

paper towel ● Great ● Alright ● Needs improvement ● Could be better, very salty! ● Nice food ● Breakfast needs improvement ● Good pizza and curries ● OK 

  3. Comment on the organised transport?   

  

   

  

Additional Comments:  ● Bad traffic ● Although there were delays, destination 

reached ● Great ● We had our own ● Ok ● Needs improvement ● Late! 

 4. How were the organised dinners?  

 

Additional Comments:  ● Excellent ● Great to see two different set ups for 

dinners ● Very very excellent ● Awesome salads ● Lovely and good healthy food ● Very good ● Amazing dinner hosts with great food ● The venues were a beautiful experience ● Awesome food 

  Program  1. How satisfied are you with AMC?  

 

Additional Comments:  ● Really really happy for my staff ● Learnt alot of ideas on value chains ● Learned alot ● Very good ● Great and informative ● Good recap hope to go into the next level 

soon ● Good base adapted to forestry  

  

   

  ● Satisfied ● It was a very good seminar as I have 

learnt many new things 

 2. How valuable were the sessions on value chain?  

  

Additional Comments:  ● Good ● Valuable allowing me to relook at what 

we offer ● Good to have framework and 

reinforcement of knowledge I have  ● Great information ● Great activities. Great people with alot of 

experience. Lots of info from stakeholders.  

● Informative and opened understanding ● Very good ● Networking, sustainable and must be 

truthful/trustworthy ● Impressive, alot of ideas brought in ● Now my staff can understand me ● A refresher from my undergrad years 

 3. How much has your understanding on Value Chain concepts increased?  

  

Additional Comments:  ● Increased cannot measure it ● Needs to go more into detail and 

experience  ● Yes has increased and is important  ● Need to go into more details ● 100% ● Valuable ● Well this will allow me to apply it into my 

organization 

    

  

   

4. How valuable were the sessions on Markets, Market segmentation and Market Research?  

  

Additional Comments:  ● It was an excellent session as for me I 

was able to learn new things from other organizations 

● We made many new tree establishment partnerships 

● Market segmentation was great. Targeting specifically, I know now what can be applied across the product range. 

● They were valuable. It was a refresher that I should seriously add to my checklist. 

● Have received alot of good feedback ● Gives me understanding about how good 

you are in your product ● Alot of ideas and experience, learnt great 

feedbacks too. ● Good ● A refresher from my undergrad years 

 5. How would you change anything you do in your business or work as a result of the things                                     you learnt at Masterclass?  

  

Additional Comments:  ● More Pacific examples ● Not too soon but will change when time 

is right ● Yes definitely, we’ll be applying all the 

lessons we learned to our agriculture project 

● I would change ● Use value chain always and update my 

data ● I usually provide business training and 

this will add more value to knowledge impartation 

● Yes, adding value to building relationships with all the stakeholders in the value chain. Market customer-oriented production. 

  

   

● Much more specific on gaps. Forestry to be included on chain. 

● Yes ● Expanding the mentoring participants in 

developing their product through Agribusiness. 

● Yes at the moment we are trying to build a place for the travelers who want to come and spend two nights on the farm. 

● Yes, create farm tours or tours from the norm. 

● More Pacific examples in the general slides if possible 

● Continuously assess relationships ● To be a reliable farmer ● Diversification of Agroforestry systems 

and partners! 

 6. How was the learning interaction in your group?  

  

Additional Comments:  ● New ideas and concepts shared with 

more interaction ● Learned so much from our kava group 

who were more than willing to share about their operations 

● To work towards reliability and to be able to produce the product on time. 

● Very interesting ● It was wonderful, there was a good 

exchange of knowledge and experience and lots of learning 

● Loved my group, there was lots of experience and information shared. 

● Immense! ● Very interesting! 

 7. Was the field trip relevant to your groups research?  

  

   

  

Additional Comments:  ● Yes definitely, I managed to visit two 

places ● Tremendously! ● Field trip was excellent ● Yes, we saw the honey business in action, 

Ian Smith was great in storytelling. ● Yes! ● Yes, very interesting, to see prices in the 

market. ● Very relevant ● Yes it’s the only way to get feedback to 

the end product ● Very interesting! 

 8. How is the duration of the AMC days?  

 

 

Additional Comments:  ● It was short but gained alot ● Need more days for analysis work from 

field study ● Would have preferred from Mon to Fri so 

as not to go into weekend but not a big deal 

● Quite long to be away from kids who are 4yo 😊 

● Friday should have finished with everything 

● Good break from work…lol ● Bit too tiring ● Learnt alot in a short time ● Rather short. Economics was wordy but it 

was a refresher and of relevance ● Good for us ● Excellent 

    

  

   

9. Would you recommend others to attend the Agribusiness Masterclass?  

  

Additional Comments:  ● Definitely more practitioners and people 

from TLTB, iTaukei Affairs and Rural Local Authority 

● Need a thorough assessment of participants and their level of understanding on value chain to better handle the course. 

● Particularly for govt. officials involved in VC strengthening 

● Trainers and resort managers ● Especially to other women’s groups 

 Planning and Implementation  1. Please give an example of how you might apply Value Chain approaches to your day to day work. 

 Example  Number of 

Respondents 

Good planning tool  1 

Writing paper  1 

Good material to be used in delivering training, teaching and community development programs 

6 

For Business consultation  1 

To be used for forestry agribusiness  1 

Understanding actors in the value chain and understanding how to assist each other  

10 

Building trusting relationships  2 

Craft our digital products to better suite agricultural value chains  1 

Improve market research design  2 

  

   

Inspired to produce value added products and diversify  1 

 2. Give an example of something that you have learnt through your research project that you did not know before the training. 

 Example  Number of 

Respondents 

Visiting new places and learning new ideas I can apply  1 

Market research, marketing and labeling of products  3 

Process of research and depth of analysis  1 

Challenges faced by farmers  1 

Other potential opportunities and value- added products   3 

Understanding mentality of farmers  4 

Customer preferences and perceptions  6 

Retailer perceptions  5 

Value chain concepts  5 

All farmers want trees  1 

Various types of agribusiness  1 

 Other Comments  Feedback not previously mentioned:  

● Great interaction between researcher, govt officials and private sector participants                   but many people cannot afford to have a week out. Would be great to have a couple                                 of sessions, even public seminar, that would allow more people to engage and                         connect with each other. 

● More industry related challenges: 

○ Market entry requirements, labelling, standards 

○ Potential markets and pathways 

  

   

○ Inventory management and customer focused business strategies 

○ Resource management 

● Learned a lot. How to have a product and the importance of who are going to be                                 involved in buying your product. You have a business going and what you are going                             to do in the value chain  

● Some presentations could have had more images (too much text) 

● Excellent and organized very well 

● Met good contacts and learned alot about Fiji Agritourism potential 

● I have no farming background and this workshop has been an eye opener for me on                               the opportunities and seriously thinking of going into mushroom growing 

● The course was very good but would have appreciated if we had gone into depth a                               little on the value chain and marketing 

● I have utilized the opportunity to form a network with other stakeholders and                         eventually came up with a workplan 

● Thank you for inviting MITT to this meeting, we are also able to hear from the                               practitioners on the issues faced and most had solutions which could be further                         probed. The academics provided a refresher and it is important even though it may                           seem like EC101, we revisited the foundation of building a successful business,                       understanding the supply and demand curve.