Sustainable Development of Peri-urban Agriculture …...1 Sustainable Development of Peri-urban...

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Sustainable Development of Peri-urban Agriculture in South-East Asia Project (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam)

CIRAD – AVRDC – French MOFA

Vegetable market information and consultation systems

in the Mekong region Workshop proceedings RIFAV, May 9-13, 2005

Editors: Hoang Bang An, RIFAV, and Paule Moustier, CIRAD

Project N°2002- 56 funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, implemented by:

• Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC)

• Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)

• Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, Lao PDR

• Department of Agronomy and Agricultural Land Development; Department of Planning, Statistics and International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, Kingdom of Cambodia

• Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetable (RIFAV), Vietnam

• University of Agriculture and Forestry, HCMC, Vietnam

• Markets and Agriculture Linkages for cities in Asia

Website: www.avrdc.org/susper

http://www.avrdc.org/susper

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© 2006 RIFAV and CIRAD Hoang Bang An and Moustier, P. (eds). Vegetable market information and consultation systems in the Mekong region- Workshop proceedings, RIFAV, May 9-13, 2005. Hanoi, 191p. Picture: Kuadin market in Vientiane (by P. Moustier) For more information contact Mr. Hoang Bang An Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables (RIFAV) Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi Email: [email protected] Dr. Paule Moustier Food market researcher CIRAD-Malica 19 Han Thuyen, Hanoi Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Publishing permit: Nr. 171/GP-CXB, delivered on June 25, 2006 Printed at Hong Tam Co. Ltd., Vietnam

mailto:[email protected]



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Vegetable market information and consultation systems in the Mekong region Workshop proceedings RIFAV, May 9-13, 2005 CONTENTS

SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 10

INTRODUCTION OF MICS WORKSHOP........................................................................ 12

HOW TO MAKE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS USEFUL? EXPERIENCE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES AND OF SUSPER’S MARKET INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION SYSTEMS............................................................................................... 13

I. DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................................. 13 II. OBJECTIVES OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS............................................ 13 III. MIXED RESULTS OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS.................................. 15

A. Limited use of MIS........................................................................................................ 15 B. Reasons for limited use................................................................................................. 16 C. Limited efforts to disseminate data to farmers ............................................................. 18 D. Unsustainability ........................................................................................................... 18

IV. CONDITIONS FOR THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS............................................................................................................................. 19

A. Preliminary assessment ................................................................................................ 19 B. Investing in data reliability and speedy dissemination ................................................. 20 C. Keeping the systems simple and low-cost..................................................................... 20 D. Combine information with stakeholders’ consultation................................................. 20 E. Conduct impact assessment .......................................................................................... 21 F. Combine public and private funding............................................................................. 21

V. APPLICATION TO THE VEGETABLE/FISH MARKETS IN THE MEKONG REGION.............................................................................................................................................. 22

A. Clarifying objectives/beneficiaries ............................................................................... 22 B. Having a rigorous protocol for reliable/fast data collection/dissemination................. 24 C. Combining stakeholders’ information and consultation............................................... 25 D. Preparing conditions for institutional sustainability.................................................... 25

DEBATE .................................................................................................................................. 28

METHODOLOGY OF HANOI VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION SYSTEMS............................................................................................... 29

I. OBJECTIVES.................................................................................................................... 29 II. SEASONAL VEGETABLE INFORMATION SYSTEM (2002-2003) .......................... 29 III. STAKEHOLDERS’FEEDBACK ON REQUIRED MARKET INFORMATION.......... 33 IV. PRICE INFORMATION SYSTEM IN 2004-2005 ......................................................... 35

1. Methodology.................................................................................................................. 35 VI. CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................. 39

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DEBATE .................................................................................................................................. 40

APPENDIX.............................................................................................................................. 41 MEMO STAKEHOLDER MEETING ON SEASONALITY OF MARKET SUPPLY....... 41

Organization ..................................................................................................................... 41 Main objectives ................................................................................................................. 41 Participants....................................................................................................................... 41 Contents ............................................................................................................................ 42 Workshop evaluation......................................................................................................... 45 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 45

VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO1 .................................................................................. 47 VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO2 .................................................................................. 52 VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO3 .................................................................................. 56 VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO4 .................................................................................. 60 VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO5 .................................................................................. 65 VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO6 .................................................................................. 70

ICARD INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MARKETS IN SOUTH AND NORTH VIETNAM.................................................................................. 75

I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 75 II. OBJECTIVES OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MIS ....................................................... 75 III. HOW IS FRUIT AND VEGETABLE INFORMATION COLLECTED?....................... 76

1. The selection of products and location.......................................................................... 76 2. Method of information collection.................................................................................. 79 3. Data processing ............................................................................................................ 79 4. Data dissemination........................................................................................................ 80 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 84 6. Suggestions.................................................................................................................... 85

DEBATE .................................................................................................................................. 86

APPENDIX.............................................................................................................................. 87 SETTING SURVEY PROTOCOL ON FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS................................................................................................ 87

Context and objectives ...................................................................................................... 87 Some guidelines for establishing MIS ............................................................................... 88 Some insights into the supply and demand for fruit and vegetable MIS in South Vietnam90 Proposed work plan .......................................................................................................... 94 Proposal for a fruit and vegetable market information system ......................................... 98

APPENDIX............................................................................................................................ 100 MEMO ON MISSION TO HCMC ..................................................................................... 100 FROM SEPTEMBER 17TH-19TH, 2003 .............................................................................. 100

1. Objective ..................................................................................................................... 100 2. Mission calendar......................................................................................................... 100 3. Main results................................................................................................................. 101

MARKET INFORMATION DISSEMINATION FROM THE HANOI AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO FOUR PROJECT SITES......... 107

I. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITY....................................................................................... 107 II. RESULTS OF THE FIELD TRIP................................................................................... 111 III. CONCLUSIONS AND COMMENTS.......................................................................... 112

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DEBATE ................................................................................................................................ 114

IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE SUSPER VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEM ................................................................................................................................ 115

I. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD ........................................................................................ 115 II. MAIN RESULTS........................................................................................................... 116

Farm characteristics ....................................................................................................... 116 Marketing strategy .......................................................................................................... 117 Access to market information.......................................................................................... 118 Use of vegetable price information ................................................................................. 120 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 121

III. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION........................................................................... 121 SUMMARY OF SUSPER HANOI VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION SYSTEM............................................................................................... 123

I. DEFINITION................................................................................................................... 123 II. RATIONALE ................................................................................................................. 123 III. OBJECTIVES AND BENEFICIARIES ....................................................................... 123 IV. METHOD ..................................................................................................................... 125

1. Summarised protocol .................................................................................................. 125 2. Method for price collection......................................................................................... 126 3. Method for price dissemination................................................................................... 127 4. Method for stakeholders’ consultation (stakeholders’ workshops)............................. 129

V. IMPACT ASSESSMENT .............................................................................................. 130 VI. COST AND MANAGEMENT..................................................................................... 130 VII. PROSPECTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................ 131

MARKET ANALYSIS FOR FRESHWATER AND MARINE FISH IN HO CHI MINH CITY ...................................................................................................................................... 132

THE BASIS OF A MIS......................................................................................................... 132 I. OBJECTIVES.................................................................................................................. 132 II. METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................... 132 III. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF WHOLESALE MARKETS IN HCMC................ 133 IV. MARKETING CHAINS OF FISH CONSUMPTION ................................................. 134 V. FISH PRICE VARIATIONS ......................................................................................... 136 VI. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................. 139

SETTING THE BASIS OF A VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION SYSTEM IN PHNOM PENH FROM SUSPER EXPERIENCE..... 140

A. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 140 B. RESULTS OF THE STUDY ON VEGETABLE MARKET FLOWS AND CHAINS. 140

I. Survey method.............................................................................................................. 140 II. Main results of surveys............................................................................................... 141 III- Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 147

C. DISSEMINATION OF VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION............................ 148 I. Stakeholder meeting on market seasonality (May 29th, 2003 Kien Svay district, Kandal province) ......................................................................................................................... 148 II. Survey on stakeholders’ needs for market information .............................................. 151

APPENDIX............................................................................................................................ 153

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ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS FOR MARKET INFORMATION BY TRADERS AND FARMERS IN AUGUST 2003........................................................................................... 153

Objective ......................................................................................................................... 153 Method ............................................................................................................................ 153 Results ............................................................................................................................. 153 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 155

REPORT ON VEGETABLE PRICE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEM IN CAMBODIA.......................................................................................................................... 157

I. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 157 II. OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................ 157 III. COVERAGE................................................................................................................. 158 IV. METHOD OF PRICE COLLECTION ......................................................................... 158 V. STORING AND PROCESSING DATA ........................................................................ 160 IV. DATA DISSEMINATION ........................................................................................... 160 VI. SOME RESULTS ON VEGETABLES PRICES .......................................................... 161

A. Cabbage...................................................................................................................... 161 B. Tomato........................................................................................................................ 162

VII. PROBLEMS................................................................................................................ 164 VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION........................................................................... 164

DEBATE ................................................................................................................................ 166

COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION IN VIENTIANE (LAO P.D.R) ............................................................................................. 167

A. SOME INSIGHTS ON THE STUDY ON VEGETABLE MARKETING IN LAO...... 167 I. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 167 II. Method of SUSPER survey ......................................................................................... 169

C. DISSEMINATION OF MARKET INFORMATION- STAKEHOLDER VEGETABLE WORKSHOP IN 2002 ........................................................................................................ 172 D. PRICE COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION.......................................................... 173 E. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................... 173

PRICE STATISTICAL ANALYSES AND USE FOR DEVELOPMENT PURPOSES. 174 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 174 II. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 174

1. Trend calculation ........................................................................................................ 175 2. Calculation of seasonality index ................................................................................. 175 3. Calculation of instability............................................................................................. 177 4. Graphic analyses......................................................................................................... 178 5. Examples of use of statistical analyses........................................................................ 180 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 184

III. THE EXAMPLE OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN FRANCE.............. 185 APPENDIX.............. 186Comparison of price seasonality and instability between different vegetables ............................................................................................................................... 186

WORKSHOP EVALUATION............................................................................................. 188

LIST OF ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................ 191

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TABLES

Table 1- Adapting collected information to various needs ....................................22 Table 2- Achievements of SUSPER MICS............................................................23 Table 3- Protocol for Hanoi vegetable price system ..............................................24 Table 4- Nature of participants to the stakeholder workshops ...............................33 Table 5- Needs for vegetable market information as expressed in the stakeholder

workshops........................................................................................................34 Table 6- Quality factors affecting the price............................................................36 Table 7- Average grade considered for vegetable price collection ........................37 Table 8- Comparison of two methods of price collection ......................................39 Table 9- Selected points in South Vietnam for wholesale price collection............77 Table 10- Selected markets in North Vietnam for wholesale and retail price

collection .........................................................................................................78 Table 11– The ten selected types of fruits and vegetables .....................................95 Table 12– Characteristics of production and market location for the selected

products ...........................................................................................................95 Table 13– The distribution of the proposed sample ...............................................96 Table 14– Characteristics of sample interviewees (fruit farmers and collectors) in

terms of production areas and products...........................................................96 Table 15– Characteristics of sample interviewees (vegetable farmers and

collectors) in terms of production areas and products.....................................96 Table 16- Market information system on fruits and vegetables ...........................103 Table 17- Forecasting for fruits market................................................................104 Table 18- Market Information System for daily vegetables prices ......................105 Table 19- Forecast of trends for vegetables market .............................................106 Table 20- Mode of dissemination of market information at each site..................108 Table 21- Some indications of surveyed farmers .................................................109 Table 22-Availability and use of disseminated market information ....................110 Table 23- Satisfaction with market information dissemination ...........................111 Table 24-Areas where flyers informing about TV broadcast times were distributed

.......................................................................................................................113 Table 25-Sample distribution for MIS impact evaluation....................................116 Table 26-Nature of farmers’ buyer.......................................................................117 Table 27-Percentage of farmers with access to vegetable price information .......118 Table 28-Means of access to vegetable price information ...................................119 Table 29-Television channel used for vegetable price information .....................119

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Table 30- Adapting collected information to various needs ................................124 Table 31- Protocol for Hanoi vegetable price system ..........................................125 Table 32-List of SUSPER vegetable market newsletters .....................................128 Table 33- Fish quantities distributed by wholesale markets in 2002 ...................133 Table 34- Fish price variation ..............................................................................137 Table 35-Price differences according to quality categories .................................138 Table 36- Calendar of vegetable production ........................................................142 Table 37- Percentage of vegetables transaction by origin in three years of surveys

.......................................................................................................................143 Table 38- Amount of daily vegetables transactions by origin in the three markets

(tons/day).......................................................................................................143 Table 39-Market information preferred by traders...............................................154 Table 40-Market information preferred by farmers .............................................155 Table 41-Retail Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004...............161 Table 42- Wholesale Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004 .....162 Table 43- Retail Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004............163 Table 44- Wholesale Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004....163 Table 45- Sample for survey on vegetable origin ................................................170 Table 46-Trend calculation ..................................................................................175 Table 47-Calculation of rudimentary index of seasonal variation (tomato).........176 Table 48- Calculation of moving average ............................................................176 Table 49- Calculation of seasonality index ..........................................................177 Table 50-Calculation of instability.......................................................................177 Table 51– Price trends for various vegetables (1996-2001).................................186 Table 52-Summary of workshop evaluation ........................................................188

FIGURES

Figure 1- Disproportion between collection, analysis and dissemination in MIS..18 Figure 2- Vegetable price collection and dissemination network in Hanoi ...........38 Figure 3- Agroviet website.....................................................................................80 Figure 4- Fruits and vegetables information page- Agroviet website ....................81 Figure 5- Vegetables prices- Agroviet website ......................................................82 Figure 6- ICARD’s network for price data collection and dissemination..............84 Figure 7- Vegetable price collection and dissemination network in Hanoi .........127 Figure 8- Freshwater fish and marine fish market share in wholesale markets ...134

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Figure 9- Fish marketing chain ............................................................................134 Figure 10- Origin of freshwater fish sold in Ho Chi Minh City...........................135 Figure 11- Mekong Delta provinces supplying freshwater fish to HCMC ..........135 Figure 12- Fish supply from the peri-urban areas of HCMC ...............................136 Figure 13- Marine fish supply to HCMC .............................................................136 Figure 14- Price of some marine fish on wholesale markets................................138 Figure 15- Price accumulation in the red tilapia chain in 2002............................139 Figure 16– Variation in tomato transactions in the 3 selected Phnom Penh markets

(kg/day) .........................................................................................................144 Figure 17- Variation in cabbage transactions in the 3 selected Phnom Penh markets

(kg/day) .........................................................................................................144 Figure 18-Marketing chains of vegetables in Cambodia......................................145 Figure 19- Marketing chain of tomato in 2004 ....................................................146 Figure 20– Retail prices in 2003-2004 .................................................................147 Figure 21-Retail Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004 .............161 Figure 22- Wholesale Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004 ....162 Figure 23- Retail Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004...........163 Figure 24- Wholesale Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004 ..163 Figure 25- Location of Vientiane Province..........................................................168 Figure 26-Trend in retail tomato prices (1996-2002)...........................................178 Figure 27- Seasonality index of tomato retail price (1996-2001) ........................179 Figure 28- Instability of tomato retail prices (1996-2001)...................................179 Figure 29-Plantain price variation in final consumer market and producer market

.......................................................................................................................180 Figure 30-Plantain price seasonality in Douala (consumer prices) and in

production areas (producer prices) ................................................................181 Figure 31-Comparison of seasonality index of some food products in Douala ...182 Figure 32-Comparison between price and rainfall variation in Miles area

(Cameroon)....................................................................................................182 Figure 33-Retail price seasonality index of plantain............................................183 Figure 34- Plantain retail price in Miami and Central America...........................183 Figure 35-Price seasonality of plantain in Miami and Central America ..............184

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SUMMARY

From May 9th-13th, 2005 a regional workshop on Market Information and Consultation System (MICS) was held at RIFAV (Hanoi). The workshop used SUSPER experience in presenting methods for collecting, processing and disseminating market information suitable for use by private and public stakeholders involved in vegetable marketing to make decisions. Dr. Paule Moustier gave the presentation on objectives, method and problems of MICS at the international level. Various authors in the economics and marketing field have raised the importance of market information for adjusting supply and demand and enhancing farmers’ bargaining power in the face of traders. Yet an overview by the FAO showed that most market information systems around the world are little used, especially by farmers. The reasons include the low reliability and timeliness of collected price data, especially for perishable products and the poor dissemination of information. Certain conditions explain the success of some market information systems, e.g., the Indonesian MIS or MANOBI in Senegal. These include speedy dissemination, keeping the system simple and inexpensive and combining market information with technical information. Equally important are consultations with stakeholders’ about strategies to take advantage of market opportunities, conducting a preliminary and an impact assessment, and combining public and private funding. Vegetable MICS from 3 participating countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) were presented. The SUSPER Market Information System in Hanoi was presented by the 3 institutes involved. They are RIFAV for data collection and system management. ICARD for data storage and dissemination on TV and websites. And HDARD for data dissemination to farmers in 4 Hanoi project sites, as well as an impact assessment (a summary of the system is available in the annotations of the individual presentations). Fruit and vegetable market information systems in South Vietnam were also presented by ICARD and results on fish marketing, which can serve as a base for establishing a fish market information system in Ho Chi Minh City, were presented by the HCMC University of Agriculture and Forestry. Vegetable price market information from the Agriculture Marketing Office (MAFF) of Cambodia was presented, as well as a stakeholders’ workshop organised by SUSPER to disseminate and discuss vegetable marketing opportunities, in Cambodia and Laos.

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The presentations for the three countries showed a combination of market information collection for medium-term planning objectives (a supply calendar for crop planning) and information for short-term decision-making (daily price data for price bargaining). In the two first years of the SUSPER project, we particularly focused on medium-term planning objectives by gathering information on market seasonality, in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; then consulting with farmers and traders through stakeholder workshops. This enabled us to identify the demand for short-term decision-making information, which led to the establishment of the daily price information system in Hanoi. Parallel to this ICARD/MISPA was setting up fruit and vegetable market systems in the South and later in Northern Vietnam with CIRAD methodological support. In Cambodia and Laos, weekly price information was gathered by the Planning Division of the Ministry of Agriculture with the support of the FAO (and the ADB in Cambodia), so SUSPER focused on trying to improve methods in collection, analysis and dissemination of price data. The tools of price statistical analysis presented by Dr. Ludovic Temple from CIRAD enable us to go further in terms of the analysis of trends and seasonality and instability of prices. This price information can help influence public and private decision-making on production and marketing. The AgriMarket software from the FAO introduced by Mrs. Chan Sipana (MAFF) is another tool that makes the presentation of price data more user-friendly. The participants had also a night market visit in Hanoi to discuss with contact traders involved in SUSPER MICS and practiced the control of price information in working groups and compared data with that collected by RIFAV via telephone on the same day. The workshop enabled us to establish some clues to avoid the various pitfalls involved in the setting up and running of market information and consultation systems. These pitfalls explain the present limited use by farmers of these systems. The positive feedback from farmers using the Hanoi vegetable MICS set up by SUSPER shows the efficiency of having an adequate protocol for data collection, particularly in terms of frequency of collection (daily prices) and a grading system that takes account of quality variations. Also highlighted was the preferential method for data dissemination adapted to the capacities of stakeholders (television for Vietnam, radio in Cambodia and Laos).

Introduction of MICS workshop

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INTRODUCTION OF MICS WORKSHOP (Vegetable Market Information and Consultation systems)

May 9th - 13th, 2005

In the framework of the sustainable development of peri-urban agriculture in South-East Asia project, the market development component collects and disseminates vegetable and fish market information to:

(i) Policy makers to design strategies supporting these sectors. (ii) Farmers to make more appropriate decisions on marketing. (iii) Consumers to know where and at which price the products are sold.

The workshop on Market Information and Consultation Systems (MICS) took place for 5 days from May 9 to 13, 2005 in the Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables (RIFAV) to discuss and exchange experience in collecting and disseminating information on vegetable and fish origins, quantities and price variation. Collaborators from 3 Indochina countries participated in the workshop, they represented; the Department of Agriculture from MAF (Laos), Agricultural Marketing Office (Laos), Department of Planning Statistics and international Cooperation from MAFF (Cambodia), Research Institute of Fruits and vegetables (RIFAV), HCMC University of Agriculture and Forestry (UAF), Information Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (ICARD), Vietnam Agricultural science Institute (VASI), Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (HDARD) (Vietnam), finally CIRAD and SUSPER as the host organizers. The workshop gave an opportunity to participating groups to learn from each others’ experiences in the collection and dissemination of market information, as well as providing training on statistical analysis software to help participants get a more accurate estimation of price variation and make more effective decisions to reduce it.

The Workshop was a great opportunity to summarize all the activities and experiences of 3 years implementation of the MICS component in the SUSPER project. It was also the preliminary step for the further development of MICS as a key contributor to more profitable food marketing in Vietnam.

Hoang Bang An, head of Economics and Market Department, RIFAV

Note: In addition to the presentations given during the workshop, and some of the debates that followed, the present report also contains the most recent impact assessment of SUSPER’s vegetable market information system and a summary of the system.

“How to make market information systems useful” Experience from other countries and SUSPER’s Market Information Consultation Systems

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HOW TO MAKE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS USEFUL? EXPERIENCE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES AND OF SUSPER’S MARKET INFORMATION AND

CONSULTATION SYSTEMS

Paule Moustier, CIRAD

I. DEFINITIONS

Market information systems can be defined as systems of regular collection, analysis and dissemination of information relevant for public and private decision-making on marketing. Market information systems are usually focused on price collection, as prices are convenient indicators to collect, easier to collect than stocks or flows. Importantly, they summarize a lot of information on the state of supply and demand; although they have some limitations (see III). Prices act concurrently as signals, aggregating information, and as incentives, changing marketing behaviour according to the profitability of sales (Egg and Galtier, 1998). The three main targets of MIS are: (i) national and international administrations; (ii) development supporting bodies; (iii) private farmers (mostly), traders and consumers. We use the term consultation systems when the system of information is combined with the organization of debates amongst/between farmers, traders and development agents to implement strategies to use the disseminated information for decision-making.

II. OBJECTIVES OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The rationale for setting up market information systems is generally related to the improvement of conditions for competition in market-places. This is achieved by market transparency; allowing adequate arbitrages of product allocation in time and space and by strengthening market agents’ bargaining power.


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Perfect information on the conditions of supply and demand is one of the pre-requisites for perfect competition as defined by Walras and Marshall at the end of the nineteenth century:

- Maximisation of utility and profits by buyers and sellers; - Perfect freedom of entry; - Availability of perfect information to buyers and sellers about events in the

market; - Product homogeneity; - Large numbers of sellers and buyers, handling small units of commodities,

so that each market participant has no weight on price formation (they are price-takers).

- In a competitive market, all information about supply and demand should be accurately reflected in prices (Timmer et al, 1983:154-155; Jones, 1968:139).

- Seasonal rise in the price of an agricultural commodity should be approximately equal to the cost of storage minus the returns necessary for maintaining transaction balances.

- Prices at major markets should move in concert, except when the cost of transport between them changes.

- The spread between prices in two markets should approximate the difference in costs of moving supplies to them.

- Prices should change only when new information enters the system.

In the 1970s, the Food Research Institute located at Stanford (USA) conducted analysis of structure (concentration, barriers of entry), conduct (price setting, discriminatory tactics) and performance (competitive pricing) of food marketing systems of four African countries. The conclusion was that conditions of competition are reached in the sense that the number of sellers and buyers is large and that they are price-taking; yet the arbitrage of supply and demand through space and time is limited by the small scale of business and imperfect access to information especially for distant suppliers. The studies conclude that government interventions should be limited to making market information more easily available to all market participants, e.g., through radio


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marketing reports; developing and maintaining transport structures and developing and maintaining physical facilities in market-places1.

The use of the perfect competition model as a benchmark to assess market efficiency has been heavily criticised, in particular because of the lack of clear relationships between varying levels of competition and allocation (productive) performance. Also cited are the difficulties in interpreting price data (Lipsey and Lancaster, 1957; Harris, 1979). Yet a lot of analysts agree that access to information influences the distribution of bargaining power and the flexibility of supply and demand adjustments (Guyer, 1987).

The interest in market information systems has been strengthened following the liberalisation policies of the 1980s as the movement away from state-sponsored marketing has been accompanied by a recognition of the need for government support to promote the creation of a competitive market (Shepherd, 1997). Market information is indeed a public good: people cannot be excluded from its use, so it makes it un-profitable for private business people to invest in. The efficient provision of MIS to farmers, traders and policy-makers is considered to have positive effects on:

- Farmers’ bargaining power. (In Sri Lanka, a positive correlation was found between farmers’ receiving information on vegetable prices, quantity and quality, and farm-gate prices, Mahaliyanaarachci, R.P., 2003.) - Spatial distribution of products from rural areas to towns and between

markets - Planning decisions on crop (for farmers) and storage (for traders) - Early warning of shortage problems (for policy-makers)

III. MIXED RESULTS OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS

A. Limited use of MIS

As acknowledged by the FAO itself, who advocated the establishment of MIS, the record of MIS around the world has not, on the whole, been very 1 Similar conclusions were obtained for Kinshasa by Goosens, Minten and Tollens (1994).


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satisfactory. FAO surveys showed that out of 120 countries, only 53 had functioning market information services. The utility of most of these systems being subject to question (Shepherd, 1997). In Senegal, wholesale prices of onion and potato were collected in rural and urban markets and broadcast weekly, however a survey showed that only 19% of producers in the targeted areas use the information, although 47% listen to the broadcasts (Wade, David-Benz, Egg, 2004).

B. Reasons for limited use

The main reasons given for explaining the limited development of MIS are presented below.

1. Other marketing bottlenecks

The margin of manoeuvre to use market information effectively may be limited due to bottlenecks more binding than market information; especially transport and credit. It is recognized that the major marketing problem in developing countries is lack of adequate transportation, both in terms of road infrastructure and in terms of available transport means available to farmers. The information of prices being more profitable in a more distant market is of little use for farmers who cannot move to this market.

2. Personal relationships between farmers and traders

The problems of risk in marketing chains leads to entrusted relations and interlinked transactions, so that market stakeholders cannot make fully free choices. Personalized relationships make individual access to information easier, but they segment the market and complicate access to an overall view of the market. Interlinked transactions between input and output markets, or between credit and output markets, reduce the freedom of choice of the participants (Galtier and Egg, 1998; Moustier, 1995). Jones wrote of personalised relationships between buyers and sellers in marketing systems as imperfect compensations owing to the lack of public market information: they create some barriers of entry but at the same time they enable exchange of information "the system provides each trader with a limited semiprivate market news service because of the exchange of information with agents and customers" (1974:250).


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3. Low reliability of collected data

The lack of accuracy for collected market data explains why private stakeholders are unwilling to use it. The two main reasons quoted are:

- Daily price fluctuations whilst collection/dissemination are not daily

- Delays in data processing and transmission leading to out-of-date information: only 13 out of 120 countries have daily price information dissemination. Weekly dissemination is one of the quoted reason for not using onion and potato price data in Senegal, while information provided by “coxers” (commission agents) is more relevant (Wade, David-Benz and Egg, 2004)

- Varying quality of products for which prices are collected

For farmers to be able to use price data they need to compare what is sold in the market with what they produce; this requires a grading system. Among seven countries in Asia (Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand), only Japan had a national grading system in 1994 (FFTC, 1994).

Other reasons that are more local-specific include:

- Irregular collection and control

- Lack of staff training

- Lack of motivation to collect data in early morning wholesale markets

- Problem of unit of sale (not all sales are based on metric quantities i.e., a bunch of bananas.)

- Bargained prices not reflected in declared prices

- Prices collected in the visible markets not reflecting the bulk of transaction prices, when transactions take place outside visible markets. In Taiwan for instance, where wholesale markets charge a fee of 3-5% of the sale price, farmers are selling an estimated two-third of their vegetables through other channels (FFTC, 1994).


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C. Limited efforts to disseminate data to farmers

1. Imbalance between collection and dissemination

MIS tend to become bulky, with inflation due to the variety of products and geographical coverage (Egg and Galtier, 1998). Human and financial resources are absorbed by the process of price collection rather than analysis of the data, writing of comments, and adequate dissemination to farmers. This is reinforced by the fact that the staff assigned to the running of MIS are often statistical department staff and they may have little knowledge and/or motivation to work with farmers.

Figure 1- Disproportion between collection, analysis and dissemination in MIS

2. Difficulties in reaching scattered farmers

Dissemination of market information to private stakeholders is made difficult by the following constraints:

- Diverse profiles of stakeholders, and the lack of a representative organization

- Problems of language: if information is given in kilos and traders do not use scales; in Guinea Bissau, reports are in Portuguese while farmers speak Creole

- Problems with broadcast times: this is the reason given for only 47% listening to radio prices in Senegal (Wade, David-Benz and Egg, 2004).

D. Unsustainability

Market information systems have been characterized by the FAO as unsustainable due to lack of maintenance once the donors left. The lack of resources to train staff and to pay for transport (to control data collection)

Collection

Analysis Dissemination


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creates poor quality data collection, which reinforces minimal use and lack of staff motivation. Problems with paying telephone or fax bills and problems with having to pay radio stations to disseminate information reinforce reduced dissemination to farmers.

This problem may be made more acute by the lack of a clear institutional mandate as regards MIS and the duplication of activities. In Benin, four national institutions are involved; in Cambodia also, four national institutions were involved in 1996 (The Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce, Statistics Service for Retail Price Index, local radio station). Duplication between The Ministry of Agriculture and statistics services is especially common (Shepherd, 1997).

IV. CONDITIONS FOR THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Despite all these shortcomings there are examples of market information systems with indications of positive impact:

- the Indonesian Market Information Service, which has run since 1978 (Shepherd, 1997)

- the MANOBI system in Senegal (www.manobi.sn/sites; Wade, David-Benz and Egg, 2004)

- other examples include the vegetable price information systems in Sri Lanka and China (Shepherd, 1997; FFTC, 1994); the vegetable market information system working in Congo-Brazzaville by Agrisud/CIRAD (Moustier, 1995)

Conditions explaining these successes are listed below:

A. Preliminary assessment

In Indonesia, detailed research has been conducted into the needs of those involved in the marketing system in terms of the type of information required, and the best form for dissemination. As farmers do not necessarily spontaneously appreciate the value of information, a participatory assessment of the need for this information has been conducted. The assessment also involved a cost/benefit assessment.


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B. Investing in data reliability and speedy dissemination

Improving reliability of data involves collecting produce of “fair average quality” and explaining what it is; updating unit conversion rates; making averages of at least 3 prices and computing variations; controlling time of collection and dissemination. In Indonesia, training of staff regarding these issues takes place annually. The vegetable MIS disseminates daily farm-gate and wholesale prices, which is the data most requested by farmers, on all days except Saturday and Sunday. The system covers 19 production areas and 20 wholesale markets in 11 provinces. Broadcasting is by radio at 19:30 on the same day of collection (quarterly and annual reports are also made).

C. Keeping the systems simple and low-cost

Market Information Systems have to be kept as simple as possible:

- Avoid a long list of products: select the ones that are of most interest for farmers; long lists are boring; resist the temptation of adding too many products and markets;

- Keep data processing simple: data filed with weekly information for all commodities/markets. Use data base solutions only when staff have adequate training;

- Keep data dissemination simple: simple means are preferable to sophisticated means; radio vs. internet (FFTC, 1994);

- Decentralise collection and dissemination as farmers are interested mostly in prices in local markets where they sell their goods. Provincial collection and dissemination has been achieved in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand (FFTC, 1994).

D. Combine information with stakeholders’ consultation

The FAO recommends associating information with analysis. Combining information given with comments in particular helps farmers to understand the difference between farm gate and retail prices. The MIS should be positioned within a management unit which has concern for farmers’ needs rather than in one which has experience in statistics only.

In Congo-Brazzaville, information on the seasonality of vegetable markets is disseminated and debated in annual stakeholder workshops that gather a panel of farmers, traders and extension agents. These workshops enable all actors to have a common vision of the market opportunities and to develop common strategies, in particular to avoid the periodic surplus of cabbage and deficits in


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tomatoes by better crop planning in conjunction with input suppliers (Moustier, 1995).

Consultation systems enable actors/ agents to identify information that may be more useful than prices (Galtier and Egg, 1998):

- Demand for quality, grading system - State policies on imports/exports - Dynamic vision of demand

E. Conduct impact assessment

The impact assessment should get answers to the following questions:

- Is the information available to the intended beneficiaries? - Is the information used by the intended beneficiaries? - What did the use of information change for the intended beneficiaries? - Did it translate into changes in incomes? - Is the system financially sustainable? - What do the beneficiaries propose to improve the system?

The impact assessment should allow modifying the system according to the users’ feedback.

F. Combine public and private funding

Having established market information as a public well it is legitimate in situations where farmers have lean incomes that the national government funds the systems, if they are convinced of the benefit of these systems for farmers and decision-makers. In Indonesia, the vegetable MIS received the technical assistance of the German government in its initial years of operations and since then has been adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture and extended to meat and fish. The cost is 850,000$/year, which represents 0.1% value of vegetable production (Shepherd, 1997).

In situations where private farmers and traders gain more than survival incomes, private funding can supplement public funding – or the MIS can be entirely private. In Colombia, the basic information is free and private users pay for more detailed bulletins. In China information is disseminated through a dedicated phone line, and the MIS Company receives revenue from the phone company. In Sri Lanka vegetable wholesale prices are broadcast on a commercial station, sponsored by a private fertilizer company (Shepherd, 1997). In Senegal, MANOBI has been operated since 2002 by a private


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company, the financial recovery ensured by fees charged to the users; market information on fruit, vegetable and fish is obtained by WAP (wireless application protocol that connects a mobile phone to the internet). Information includes prices, availability and individual offers. It has now 150 users who are farmers equipped with WAP-adapted to SMS in 2003. Surveys show that MANOBI users are satisfied with the information provided, which helps them in the negotiations with their buyers, especially in areas where “coxers”, i.e., commission agents, are absent (Wade, David-Benz and Egg, 2004).

V. APPLICATION TO THE VEGETABLE/FISH MARKETS IN THE MEKONG REGION

A. Clarifying objectives/beneficiaries

Market Information Systems developed by the SUSPER project tried to focus on two objectives (Table 1):

(i) Medium-term planning for farmers and development agents of targeted crops, markets and periods. This was achieved by identifying untapped opportunities reflected in timely variations of origin, quantity and prices. Additionally to encourage producers to supply the demand for quality characteristics desired by purchasers. Finally and more generally, strategies to improve the competitiveness of local chains relative to imports

(ii) Short-term decision making, mostly by farmers, in terms of price bargaining and their choice of final markets

Table 1- Adapting collected information to various needs

Medium-term planning Short-term decision Nature of decision Targeted crops

Targeted markets Targeted period

Bargaining prices Choice of final markets Harvest versus storage

Beneficiaries Farmers Extension agents Input suppliers Policy makers

Farmers (esp.) Consumers Traders

Nature of market information

Calendar of prices/quantities/origin Quality preferences of purchasers

Daily prices Indicators of surplus/deficits

Nature of non market information

Technical information Information on credit programmes


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In the two first years of the project, we focused particularly on medium-term planning objectives through the gathering of information on market seasonality in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Secondly we consulted with farmers and traders through stakeholder workshops to identify the demand for short-term decision-making information. This led to the establishment of the daily price information system in Hanoi (see Mr. An’s presentation) while in parallel ICARD/MISPA was establishing fruit and vegetable market systems first in the South then in Northern Vietnam with CIRAD methodological support (see Mrs. Hoa’s presentation). In Cambodia and Laos, weekly price information was gathered by the Planning Division of the Ministry of Agriculture with the support of the FAO (and ADB in Cambodia), so SUSPER focused on trying to improve methods in collection, analysis and dissemination of price data.

Table 2- Achievements of SUSPER MICS

Medium-term marketing decisions

Short-term marketing decisions

Hanoi, vegetables, SUSPER

Analysis, dissemination and debate of market seasonal opportunities (2002-2003-2004)

Daily price dissemination (since May 2003)

Fruits and vegetables, ICARD/MISPA

Daily price dissemination (since late 2003)

HCMC, fish, SUSPER

Analysis of fish price variability (2002-2003)

Cambodia, vegetables, SUSPER

Analysis, dissemination and debate of market seasonal opportunities (2003-2004)

Twice-weekly price dissemination by AMO/ADB

Lao, vegetables, SUSPER

Analysis, dissemination and debate of market seasonal opportunities (2002-2003-2004)

Support to twice-weekly price dissemination (2005)

In Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao, a preliminary assessment of stakeholders’ desire for access to market information was assessed by stakeholders’ workshops (5 in Hanoi; 1 in Cambodia followed by a survey; 1 in Laos). This consisted of gathering a panel of farmers, traders and extension agents. The analysis of market structures and organization, in terms of relationships between farmers and traders was also conducted in the three countries (Hoang Bang An, Vagneron and al, 2003; Vagneron, Bui Thi Thai, Moustier, 2004; Sokhen, Danika, Moustier, 2004; Sipana and Moustier, 2004). It showed that vegetable exchange is characterized in the three countries by a combination of spot, small-scale, occasional interactions, and regular relationships, but without rigid commitments in terms of priority sales, volume or pricing. Interlinked


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transactions between input and output transactions were observed between farmers and collectors of vegetables in Lam Dong Province (Cadilhon, 2005). Priority sales/purchases were observed in the case of the safe vegetable chains in Vietnam, which are also characterized by farmers’ collective action in terms of direct retail sales, product labelling and quality control (mostly informal). According to these observations, excluding Lam Dong province, the relationships between farmers and traders are loose, so the margin of manoeuvre to use market information in negotiations with traders and the choice of market is quite high. In the case of Hanoi, the night markets are dominated by farmers and collectors (themselves commonly farmers) and it is expected that providing price information may reduce the movements of farmers from production areas to night markets, and encourage grouping of sales. Less than 100 kg/day are sold by farmers in wholesale markets in Hanoi; small quantities are also sold by collectors in Vientiane and Phnom Penh (less than 300 kg/day). This is due to the small size of vegetable farms (less than half hectare in the three countries except in Lam Dong Province) and means of transport: motorbikes or bicycles in Hanoi, tuktuk, carts and motorbikes in Vientiane and Phnom Penh.

B. Having a rigorous protocol for reliable/fast data collection/dissemination

The example of the protocol of Hanoi vegetable MICS is given below (see Mr. An’s presentation for more details).

Table 3- Protocol for Hanoi vegetable price system

Nature of data Wholesale prices, retail prices Frequency Daily Products vegetables = tomato (local + imported), cabbage

(local + imported), Choy sum; Chinese cabbage; kangkong; wax gourd; green bean; eggplant; cucumber; fit weed Grading system for all vegetables

Markets Wholesale prices: Long Bien, Den Lu, Dich Vong Retail prices : Thang Cong (prices are intermediary between Mo, popular market, and 19-12, wealthy market); Cuu Viet (peri-urban market)

Method of collection Collection by one contact trader in each market Price collection: 3 traders/market At 4 a.m. for wholesale markets and 9 a.m. for retail markets

Method of data dissemination from contact traders in the market to RIFAV

Telephone


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Nature of data Wholesale prices, retail prices Method of data dissemination from RIFAV to ICARD and HDARD

Transfer by internet (on the same day than data collection) the tables with prices plus simple comments on price trends: and why

Method of data storage Excel and Oracle (ICARD) Method of data dissemination to farmers and development agents

- Transfer by fax/internet from ICARD to television and from ICARD to HDARD and from HDARD to farmers (on the same day of data collection). - Disseminate the results by three newsletters (one for rainy season 2004, one for winter 2005, one for rainy season 2005), and debate the results of rainy season 2004 in a stakeholder workshop

C. Combining stakeholders’ information and consultation

The information gathered on market opportunities was presented and debated at stakeholders’ workshops that gathered a panel of farmers, traders and development agents (one in Vientiane in 2002; one in Phnom Penh in 2003; two in Hanoi in 2003 at the city level, plus four in each project sites- see country presentations for details)

D. Preparing conditions for institutional sustainability

In Hanoi, the sustainability of the system is prepared in the following ways:

- First, the system is made low-cost by relying on contact traders based in the markets.

- Second, the system is run in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture/ICARD, as they have a mandate for information systems on agricultural systems (although it still has to be confirmed due to reform of the institutes sub-ordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture), Additionally the Hanoi People’s Committee Department of Agriculture is tasked with ensuring contact with agents and farmers.

- Third, an impact assessment has been initiated.

In Laos, there are constraints in terms of human resources. The Ministry of Agriculture explains that there are frequent changes in the staff assigned to marketing at the moment, which makes the establishment of long-term systems difficult. Hence the objective is to disseminate the information gathered during the project largely by radio programmes and newsletters. In Cambodia, the main objective is also to expand the scope of dissemination to farmers of the market information collected so far. In all three countries, we aim to increase


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the capacity to establish and run efficient market information and consultation systems. The workshop for this week has been organized for this purpose to help the staff from The Ministry of Agriculture currently in charge of such systems.

REFERENCES

Hoang Bang An, Isabelle Vagneron, Le Nhu Thinh, Paule Moustier, Ngo Van Nam, Le Thuy Hang, Dang Dinh Dam, Trinh Quang Thoai. 2003. Spatial and institutional organisation of the vegetable market in Hanoi. SUSPER project, AVRDC/CIRAD, Hanoi, 75 p, http://www.avrdc.org/susper.

Cadilhon, J.J. 2005. Business-to-business relationships in the vegetable marketing system of Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 370 p.

Egg, J., Galtier, F., 1998. From price reporting systems to variable geometry oriented market information systems. In : Kuyenhoven, H.A.J. Moll, A.V. Tilburg, Agricultural markets beyond liberalisation, proceedings of the 57th seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economics, pp. 187-189.

FFTC (Food and Fertilizer Technology Center), 1994. Agricultural marketing information systems in Asian and Pacific Countries, http//www.agnet.org.

Galtier, F. and Egg, J. 1998. From price reporting systems to variable geometry oriented market information services. In Agricultural markets beyond liberalisation, Wageningen, Netherlands, 23-26 Sept.

Jones, W.O., 1972. Marketing staple food crops in tropical Africa. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Jones, W.O. 1974. "Regional analysis and agricultural marketing research in tropical Africa: concepts and experience", Food Research Institute Studies, 1:3-28.

Kethongsa, S., Khamtanh Thadavong and Moustier, P., 2004, Vegetable marketing in Vientiane. 56 p., SUSPER project, AVRDC/CIRAD, Hanoi, http://www.avrdc.org/susper.


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Goosens, F., Minten, B. and Tollens, E. 1994. Nourrir Kinshasa. L’Harmattan.

Guyer, J., (ed.), 1987. Feeding African Cities. Studies in Regional Social History, Manchester University Press.

Harriss, B. 1979. "There is a method in my madness, or is it vice-versa?", Food Research Institute Studies, 17(2):197-218.

Lipsey, R.G., and Lancaster, K., 1957. "The general theory of second best", Review of Economic Studies, 24(63):11-32.

Mahaliyanaarachchi, R. 2003. Market-information systems for the up-country vegetable farmers and marketers in Sri Lanka, Journal of Agriculture and extension.

Moustier P. (ed.), 1999.Filières maraîchères à Brazzaville : quantification et observatoire pour l’action. Montpellier, France, CIRAD-FLHOR, 163 p.

Moustier, P., Vagneron, I. and Bui Thi Thai, 2004. Organisation et efficience des marchés de légumes approvisionnant Hanoi (Vietnam). In : Cahiers Agricultures, vol.3, pp. 142-148.

Shepherd, A., 1997. Market information systems. Rome, FAO, 58 p.

Sipana, C. Moustier, P., 2004. Socio-economic strategies and results of vegetable traders in Phnom Penh, 50 p.

Sokhen, C. Diep Kanika, Moustier, P. 2004. Vegetable market flows and chains in Phnom Penh, SUSPER project, AVRDC/CIRAD, Hanoi, http://www.avrdc.org/susper.

Ho Thanh Son and Bui Thi Thai, 2003. Strategies of stakeholders supplying Hanoi vegetable markets, SUSPER project, AVRDC/CIRAD, Hanoi, http://www.avrdc.org/susper

Wade, I., David-Benz H., Egg, J. Information et regulation des filières maraîchères au Sénégal. Cahiers Agricultures, 2004, 13 :148-57


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DEBATE

Q1: In the presentation on SUSPER MIS, you mentioned only wholesale prices. What about prices that are not wholesale, e.g. farm gate price? (Mr. Boun-Tieng Ly, SUSPER coordinator)

A1: Prices are indeed diverse at the different level of the chain: wholesale, retail, farm gate. However, collecting farm gate price takes a lot of time and is complicated. In SUSPER, we collect only wholesale and retail prices, as they were declared as the most useful by the farmers (P. Moustier).

Q2: Does MIS in SUSPER provide information about foreign markets for vegetable products or is it only concerned with domestic consumption? (Mrs. Thanh Nhan, ICARD, MISPA)

A2: If we want to get information about the demands of international markets, e.g. Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia we need to have staff based there. SUSPER is a regional project covering Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. However, we also study the export of vegetables from South Vietnam to Cambodia or from Thailand to Lao or from China to Vietnam (P. Moustier).

Q3: Among the reasons for the mixed results of MIS around the world is the fact that MIS can have a negative effect in the sense that the information on a good price may generate surplus of supply and thus a fall in prices. How can we deal with this? ((Mr. Boun-Tieng Ly, SUSPER coordinator)

A3: Yes, this may be an unexpected negative effect. Nevertheless, this situation can be good for consumers. The ideal situation is when farmers cooperate so that not all of them produce the same crops in the same period (P. Moustier).

Methodology of the Hanoi vegetable Market Information and Consultation Systems

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METHODOLOGY OF HANOI VEGETABLE MARKET

INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION SYSTEMS

Economics and Marketing Dept., RIFAV

I. OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the vegetable market information and consultation system (MICS) established by SUSPER is: “To provide individuals and organizations in the vegetable sector in Hanoi, including farmers, policy makers, media and agriculture extension workers, with information about market opportunities for vegetables”. This includes the periodic supply by imports and the variation of retail prices of some vegetables, as indicators of periods when products are in deficit. In the first operational period of MICS (2002-2003), the main information related to seasonality of vegetable supply (variations in origin and quantities of products). This was gathered using direct interviews with a prepared questionnaire. Then, following stakeholders’ workshops, the dissemination and collection of daily price data was organized in 2004-2005, through telephone contacts with traders in retail and wholesale markets.

II. SEASONAL VEGETABLE INFORMATION SYSTEM (2002-2003)

The direct interview method was used in 2002 – 2003 because at that time, traders in daily and night markets in Hanoi were unused to providing information for surveys. The following steps to conduct the survey were taken:

1. Prepare the questionnaire 2. Select the market; select samples of retailer and wholesaler; select the

products for survey 3. Select frequency, time to survey 4. Pre-test 5. Adjust the questionnaire according to pre-test 6. Conduct survey 7. Synthesize and process collected data 8. Disseminate results of the vegetable market survey


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More specifically, the following questions had to be answered before starting the survey2:

1. Which data to collect?

- Quantitative information: o Number of traders o Minimum and maximum quantity of vegetables sold a day by one

person o Number of market sessions in a week o Prices

- Qualitative information: o Organization of marketing channels (nature of suppliers and buyers,

origin of products) o Characteristics of vegetable quality in different periods o Preferences of consumers and traders, comparison of different

vegetable origins in terms of prices, quality, quantity based on assessment and analysis …

In this presentation, related to the seasonal market information system, we focus on information gathered on quantities, origin and prices. Information on consumption and marketing chains is available in other reports of Component 2 of SUSPER project (see http://www.avrdc.org/susper).

2. Where to collect information?

We have to select markets for the survey.

To select representative survey points for residential areas and income levels, before starting to collect data, we read about markets available in Hanoi. Also we visit the markets to select those which are highly representative of the different locations (residential quarters, new urban areas, high income areas, peri-urban areas, workers’ residential areas, residential areas of state staff and foreigners). In 2002 and 2003, we selected:

o 6 wholesale markets, in which 4 are spontaneous(Long Bien, Bac Qua, Cau Giay, Nga Tu So), 2 are planned (Den Lu, Dich Vong)

2 See P. Moustier- Setting vegetable market information system in Vietnam. Presentation to ICARD/ MISPA, 27 March 2003, Hanoi, CIRAD, internal document.


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o 7 retail markets (Hang Be, Hang Da, Buoi, Mo, 19/12 and Cuu Viet – peri-urban market). In 2003, we dropped Hang Be, Hang Da and Buoi as retail price variations are small between the urban retail markets3.

3. Which products to be surveyed?

In each market, there are more than 40 vegetables, with variations in supply and price. We selected 10 to 15 vegetables which account for more than 80% of vegetables sold in that market to study quantities traded, organization of marketing chains and product origin. Among these product samples, tomato, cabbage and kangkong are 3 fixed kinds. The other vegetables are: pakchoy, lettuce, yard long bean, wax gourd, green bean, green mustard, welsh onion, Indian spinach, loofah, kohlrabi, star gooseberry, radish, water drop wort, spring onion, Ceylon spinach, and coriander. In the months June, July and September we focused on surveying vegetables that are imported during these months: tomato and cabbage to assess the variation in their origins and wholesale price. As regards information on prices collected daily in 2004, we selected ten vegetables, which were the most represented in the market, and were of the main interest for the farmers of the project sites (for example fit weed, an aromatic vegetable, for Dong Du). For price collection, it was necessary to grade the quality of vegetables: prices vary according to quality characteristics of each vegetable. The criteria that are preferred by sellers and consumers; product size, shape and colour, was divided into level 1, 2, 3, corresponding to various damage, ripening, regularity, size.

4. When to collect information? - In 2003, market surveys in Hanoi were carried out in: November, January,

March (winter – spring season) and June- August (summer – autumn season)

- In 2004 and 2005, they were conducted everyday - Time of survey: at peak hour of the markets. Night market (wholesale): 3-

5 a.m. Retail market (daily): 9-10 a.m. and 4-5 p.m. 5. From whom to collect information?

3 See P. Moustier- Setting vegetable market information system in Vietnam. Presentation to ICARD/ MISPA, 27 March 2003, Hanoi, CIRAD, internal document


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- Information on vegetable origins, quantity, price and transportation was collected from wholesalers. In 2002-2003, data were taken from 1/5 of total traders of each kind of vegetable in each market with a minimum of 3 traders per kind of vegetable and per market. The interviewees were randomly selected in different locations of the markets.

- In regard to daily price collection, prices are given by three contact traders located in three scattered areas of the market

6. How to collect reliable data?

During the survey, the investigator must take into account:

- Differences in quality of vegetables - Seasonal variations - Lack of goodwill or honesty from interviewees and inaccuracy of their

answers, e.g., tomato and cabbage from China are said to be from Da Lat.

To reduce errors in the survey, it is necessary for the investigator to:

- Explain clearly the objective of the survey to the interviewees - Check the accuracy of the collected information, by asking the

neighbouring trader, and also by observation (for instance, tomato and cabbage from China have a different appearance than the same vegetables produced in Vietnam).

- Give some compensation to the interviewees

7. Synthesize and process collected data using Excel or SPSS

8. Write a report and hold a workshop to disseminate results of the seasonal vegetable market study in Hanoi

Workshops were organized to disseminate the results of the seasonal vegetable market study in Hanoi to different stakeholders involved in the Hanoi vegetable sectors: producers, collectors, wholesalers, retailers, extension workers, market managers, and consumers’ association. In these meetings, we also collected participants’ opinions about their demand for market information, at which frequency, and in what form. Market information was also disseminated by the way of newsletters, which are attached as appendix.


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III. STAKEHOLDERS’FEEDBACK ON REQUIRED MARKET INFORMATION Five workshops were organised to disseminate results of vegetable market information to stakeholders involved in the Hanoi vegetable sector: Participants: Representatives of producers, extension workers, managers of wholesale markets, input suppliers, consumer’s association, and the SUSPER project (see table 4). A common difficulty is the attendance of such meetings by traders, around 10 of them had accepted to attend the first meeting, but in the end only one turned up. - Content: dissemination of collected market information; survey on the

demand for market information (nature, frequency, means of dissemination)

- Time and location: A first workshop was organized in RIFAV on April 18th, with participants of the four project sites. Then a workshop was organized at each project site to gather more farmers and traders at the village level. A second general workshop on vegetable seasonality was held on December 8th in RIFAV and included presentations on the situation of the market, and on techniques for off-season production.

Table 4- Nature of participants to the stakeholder workshops

Date Nr of farmers

Nr of traders

Nr of extension workers/input

traders

Total

General (RIFAV), with participants of the 4 project sites

18/04/03 7 (1 head of cooperatives/project site, plus 1/project site except Dong Du)

2 wholesalers (1 Den Lu, 1 Long Bien)

7 extension workers (1 district and 1 commune officer for each site except Tien Phong commune officer) and 3 input traders (1/project site except Dong Du)

43 (including research and administra-tion staff)

Dong Du 18/06/03 20 20

Vo Cuong 16/06/03 18 2 (collectors)

Incl. 2 input traders 20

Tien Duong 06/06/03 21 21

Tien Phong 29/05/03 16 4 20


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The main outputs of these workshops are indicated below:

The workshops enabled us present and discuss the information on market seasonality, in particular the times of the year when it is the most profitable to grow the different crops. They enabled us to reach a consensus on the market opportunities that these periods of deficits represent, on the constraints faced to produce and market during these periods of deficits, and on the ways to overcome these constraints. Technical problems to produce tomato and cabbage in the rainy season are core constraints. Also competition with tomato and cabbage from China is a constraint. The visual quality of which is higher than the Vietnamese vegetables, although the safety of these products is under question (see Appendix on the results of the first seasonality meeting). Hence there is a need for technical support to produce off-season, especially for tomato and cabbage (for farmers to get the highest prices, sowing should take place between June to August for tomato, and from August to February, in particular for access to adapted varieties). The lack of local collectors has also been mentioned by Tien Duong farmers.

As regards the needs for the provision of market information, they are summarized in table 5. Access to daily prices is quoted the most often, for the following uses: targeting the periods of high prices in terms of cultivation and harvest (same purpose for calendar data); better negotiation with traders. Finally, to help better accounting and calculation of farmers’ profits (quoted by Vo Cuong farmers in regard to farm gate prices).

Table 5- Needs for vegetable market information as expressed in the stakeholder workshops

Most useful information Preferred mode of dissemination

General 1. Quantities (once/week) 2. Prices (f.g., wh., ret), esp. for

farmers 3. Calendar (4 times/year) 4. Origins (esp. for traders)

1. Telephone (quantities, prices) 2. Radio (calendar, quantities) 3. Television (all information

Dong Du (Gia Lam)

1. Prices/day (f.g.,wh,ret) 2. Origin 3. Calendar (4 times/year) 4. Quantities (twice/week)

1. Television (esp. for prices and quantities)

2. Extension workers (for calendar)

3. Radio (for origins) Vo Cuong (Bac Ninh)

1. Calendar (4 times/year) 2. Prices (f.g.) 3. Origin (4 times/year) 4. Quantities (twice/month)

1. Television 2. Megaphone 3. Radio


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Most useful information Preferred mode of dissemination

Tien Duong (Dong Anh)

1. Prices/day (f.g.,wh,ret) 2. Quantities (twice/week) 3. Calendar (twice/year) 4. Origin (1/month)

1. Television 2. Leaflets 3. Radio

Tien Phong (Me Linh)

1. Calendar (4 times/year) 2. Prices/day (f.g., wh, ret) 3. Origin 4. Quantities (twice/week)

1. Leaflets 2. Television 3. Radio

Prices: f.g. (farm gate), wh (wholesale), ret (retail)

There are a few differences across the project sites. Vo Cuong farmers sell a large quantity of vegetables in southern Vietnam, this is why they are little interested in prices in Hanoi markets.

While in the general meeting, the preferred means of dissemination turned out to be the telephone as participants to the general workshop may be ones with easier access to telephone than the rest of farmers and traders. Television was more often quoted in the village meetings.

IV. PRICE INFORMATION SYSTEM IN 2004-2005

1. Methodology

While in 2002-2003 researchers collected data by direct interview with a standard questionnaire, in 2004-2005, when interviewees were already familiar with vegetable information collection, the method changed to telephone interviews with retailers and wholesalers. Price information was checked every week by investigators.

a. Site selection

In 2004-2005 the following markets were chosen for site selection: (1) The main wholesale markets for vegetables: Dich Vong located in the West, Den Lu in the South, Long Bien in the East in Hanoi; (2) Retail markets: Thanh Cong representative for urban area, Cuu Viet (Gia Lam) representative for peri-urban area.


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b. Sample selection

Three contact traders were selected in different locations of the market to serve as price informants: they daily supply information about vegetable origins and by telephone to the interviewer, and note this information in a daily monitoring book.

c. Vegetables selected

In 2004, the price information of 3 vegetables, tomato, cabbage and pakchoy was collected. This was the pilot year to test the collection and dissemination methodology. With the experience gained in 2004, and following the request of farmers in the project sites, price information of 10 vegetables was collected in 2005 (tomato, cabbage, pakchoy, Chinese cabbage, kangkong, French bean, wax gourd, eggplant, cucumber, fit weed).

We established a grading system to collect prices on a product of average quality (see table 6) and table 7), based on observations and interviews with traders to assess the quality criteria affecting the final prices.

Table 6- Quality factors affecting the price

Physical assessment Vegetable Good Medium Bad Wax gourd Smooth, slim fruit,

young, fresh, no stains from insects or damage

Smooth, relatively slim fruit, few stains from insects, no damage

Rough, curved fruit, many stains from insects, damaged

French bean

Long and slim fruit, no stain of insects and diseases, regular shape, fresh, young, no damage

Average fruits, curved, no stain of insect, a bit old and hard, a bit damaged

Curved fruit, many stains from insects and damage, old, not fresh

Tomato Evenly ripe, succulent fruits, smooth and shiny, no scar, no stain of damage

Relatively ripe, few stains from scars and damage

Not evenly ripe, many scars, unsmooth, not shiny, irregular shape, many stains from damage

Cabbage Tight rolling, no stain of insect and disease, young and fresh

Normal rolling, few stains from insect, fresh

Leaf rolling, many stains from insect and disease, begins to rot

Choy sum Green, no stain from insect damage, young and fresh

Dark green, few stains from insect and damage, fresh

Old and waning leaf, many stains from insects and damage

Vegetable mustard

Green and long leaves, young and fresh, no stain of insect and damage

Green, few stains from insect, fresh, not damaged

Small leaves, many stains from insect, dark green, damaged


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Physical assessment Vegetable Good Medium Bad

Cucumber Long, big and straight fruit, no stain from insects, disease and damage, fresh

Average length and size, some stain from insects and disease, a bit damaged

Small and curved fruit, not nice appearance, many stain from insects and damage, not fresh

Spring onion

Dark green, no stain from insects, disease and damage

Normal green, few stains of insects and damage

Yellowish leaf, many stain from insect, disease and damage

Ceylon spinach

Young and fresh leaves, no flower, big stalk, no stain from disease and damage

Fresh leaf, small stalk, few stain from disease and damage

Small leaves, thin and small stalk, many stain from disease and damage, flower

Kangkong Fresh, young and green leaves, no stain from insects and damage

Fresh and green leaves, few stain from insects and disease, a bit damaged

Dark green leaves, peduncles rooted, stain from insect, disease and damage

Table 7- Average grade considered for vegetable price collection

Vegetable Shape Size Physical assessment

Wax gourd Short, long or crooked fruits

35 – 45 cm long Smooth cover, relatively chubby, few stains of disease, not damaged

French bean

Short, long or crooked fruits

10-16cm long Medium fruit, curved, no stain from insect or disease, a bit old, few damages

Tomato Round, oval, small

+ Diameter: 4.5 – 6.5cm + Height: 5- 5.5cm

Evenly ripe, few scars or damaged

Cabbage Round, oval, small

+ Diameter: 12 – 16,5cm + Height: 6- 8.5cm

Normal rolling, few stain from insects, fresh

Choy sum Dark green, few stain from insect, fresh, few damages

Cucumber + Diameter: 2 – 3.5cm + length: 15 - 20cm

Average length, regular size, few stain from insect or disease, little damaged

Kangkong 30 – 40cm long Fresh and green leaves, few stain from insects or disease, little damaged


38

d. Time to collect

At peak hour: 4-5 am in wholesale markets and 9-10 am in retail markets.

Time to supply price information: 10-10.30 am every day

e. Responsibility of the information collector:

- Discuss with contact traders about information requirement, make payments to them, supply notebooks and pens to them to take note for weekly monitoring purpose.

- Key the information into excel file and send to the Information Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (ICARD) for website dissemination and to Hanoi Department of Agriculture for dissemination to project sites.

Every 7 days the information collector has to check information in the monitoring books of traders, if there is anything wrong, it must be corrected immediately in order to have exact information disseminated.

f- Dissemination of price information

In addition to market newsletters, information is mainly disseminated by means of the website, television, fax and telephone to producers, traders and consumers.

Figure 2- Vegetable price collection and dissemination network in Hanoi

Web site of MARD

Wholesalers RIFAV

Retailers

IT Dept ICARD (MARD)

Hanoi Dept.of Agriculture

HTV Television

Private & public

Producers in project sites


39

The method of dissemination as well as the impact of the system will be presented by the Mrs. Phuong Anh and Mrs. Thuy.

VI. CONCLUSIONS

The market information and consultation system established by SUSPER has enabled identification of the periods when farmers can get high prices and when there are imports which could be reduced by local production. The consultation of farmers, traders, extension and research specialists has enabled discussion about possible ways to increase production in the time of deficits. Also it has resulted in the collection and dissemination of daily wholesale and retail price information.

If we compare the method of price collection before and after 2004, we can see that each method requires its own conditions to operate effectively, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages (table 8). It is necessary to take account of available financial resources and the education level to select the more suitable method.

Table 8- Comparison of two methods of price collection

Method of price collection

Suitable condition Strong point Weak point

Direct interview Apply for all conditions - direct collection, high accuracy of data, information collected easy to check

- high expenditure - a lot of manpower to collect information

Interview through telephone

Telephone network development and people with high education level

- Low cost Difficult to check the accuracy of information collected.


40

DEBATE

Q2: Is there any contract between RIFAV and the contact traders or is the relationship based on a verbal agreement? (Mrs. Tran Thi Ngan Hoa, ICARD)

A2: In the period 2002 – 2003, there were contracts. In 2004 – 2005, there has been no contract; contact traders were chosen based on trust and regular contact. In addition, each trader has a notebook and RIFAV can check the accuracy of the information. Besides, payments for contact traders are not released all at one time. RIFAV keeps a small amount to buy presents for contact traders on special occasions such as Tet, holiday, illness. That is also a way to build mutual trust (Mr. Hoang Bang An, RIFAV).

Q3: (1) Vegetables have different qualities, and for each quality has a different price. The prices are different also among different markets. So how can RIFAV select representative types of quality to collect price information? (2) For night market, how can you control? (Mrs. Chan Sipana)

A3: (1) Vegetables selected for price collection are based on the grading system of vegetables set by RIFAV along with discussions with traders, and illustrated by pictures of vegetables of different grades. (2) Each trader has a notebook to take note; RIFAV has its own notebook. RIFAV uses these notebooks to compare and check the price information. RIFAV spot-checks/ surprise inspects prices on a weekly basis without prior notice (Mr. Hoan Bang An, RIFAV).


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APPENDIX

MEMO STAKEHOLDER MEETING ON SEASONALITY OF MARKET SUPPLY

April 18th, 2003 – RIFAV – AVRDC/CIRAD project on peri-urban agriculture

Paule Moustier, Nguyen Thi Tan Loc, Mai Thi Phuong Anh, Ho Thanh Son, Hoang Bang An SUSPER project – 17/06/03

Organization

This workshop has been organised by AVRDC/CIRAD project on peri-urban agriculture (Component 2: Market development) by CIRAD, RIFAV, VASI and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hanoi. The workshop has Mr. Hoang Bang An, head of the Research Bureau on Economics and Markets and RIFAV as president, and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tan Loc, research fellow of this bureau, as workshop reporter.

Main objectives The main objectives of the meeting are presented below:

To provide information to private stakeholders involved in vegetable marketing and supporting technical bodies about untapped outlets corresponding to periods of deficits in the market, and about periods of excess supply

To check if farmers, traders, extension and research agents share the same vision of the market state of supply

To help in the setting of common action plans to overcome the problems of market seasonal supply. This includes the test of off-season production technologies, and/or increased organisation of collective assembling and distribution at the level of producers’ groups.

Participants A total of 43 participants attended the workshop. The list is attached to this memo. It includes the following stakeholders:


42

Farmers

Heads of cooperatives participating in the project (4): Gia Lam (Dong Du, 1 cooperative) ; Dong Anh (Tien Duong, 1 cooperative) ; Me Linh (Tien Phong, 1 cooperative) ; Bac Ninh (Vo Cuong, 1 cooperative).

Traders

1 wholesaler of Bac Qua market

1 representative of the management committee of Phia Nam market

Private traders of seedlings and pesticides (1/commune)

Administration

Heads of Agriculture and Rural Development services at district and commune level

Research

RIFAV staff (direction, Dept. of Science and International Relations, Dept. of Economics and Markets; Centre of Transfer of Technical Innovations) and CIRAD staff of SUSPER

Representatives of VASI, Hanoi Agricultural University, ICARD.

Contents

Working groups: farmers’ and traders’ knowledge of market seasonality (facilitator: Ho Thanh Son, VASI)

Three groups were formed to discuss market seasonality - Group 1: made of heads of farmers’ cooperatives - Group 2: made of agricultural extension workers - Group 3: made of traders A questionnaire was provided for the participants for them to present their knowledge of the periods of deficit/excess in the markets, variation of prices and origin, and how they explained these variations, for two selected vegetables: tomato and cabbage.

Presentation of the survey results on market seasonality (Le Nhu Thinh, RIFAV)

The results of SUSPER market survey on nature of vegetables, quantities and origin of tomato and cabbage in Hanoi night markets were presented for four


43

months (March 2002, June 2002, August 2002, November 2002, January 2003). In addition, the variation in the retail prices of cabbage, tomato, water spinach, green beans, cucumber, carrot, chives, Choy sum, was outlined, by using the data from the Price Division of Department of Trade and Price Statistics of General Statistics Office.

The main conclusions are indicated below:

- From July to September there is a shortage of tomato and cucumber from producers in the Hanoi peri-urban areas, most produce comes from Da lat and China. The prices then go up and are then twice as much as in the winter time (up to 7000 VND/kilo compared with 3000 VND/kilo).

- There is an excess of cabbage from January to March, retail prices are then around 1000 VND/kilo.

Debate on market seasonality

When asked to give explanations on the imports from China and the high prices of temperate vegetables from July to September, the following answers were given.

Traders The products are imported from China because (i) local production is not available during that time; (ii) the Chinese products are more attractive for consumers, so that consumers are ready to pay higher prices for them.

When asked about the reputation for bad sanitary quality of Chinese products, the traders said that it is true, and this is why they don’t tell the consumers the vegetables originate from China, they rather say it comes from Da Lat.

Another advantage of imported products compared with local ones is that they are easy to find (sold by a few wholesalers) while for the local products, traders need to take them from assemblers or farmers of several places of production.

Farmers Farmers are willing to produce off-season, as prices are then very high (more than 7000 VND/kilo for tomato) but at the moment it is not feasible technically. The other difficulties relate to transport by motorbike.

Input suppliers They would like to have access to new vegetable varieties for off-season production


44

Researchers The representative of VASI gave some illustrations of farmers’ difficulties by quoting Bac Ninh farmers giving up vegetable production due to a number of constraints (diseases due to insects, low prices). The authorities and farmers have discussed trying to find some solutions, including concentrating on some high market value products like potato and tomato.

The representative of the Hanoi Agricultural University stressed the importance of marketing studies. He also mentioned the problems of safety risks for consumers (the object of the next meeting).

Stakeholders’ demand for information (facilitator: Mai Thi Phuong Anh)

The participants were gathered in three groups (heads of cooperatives, traders, extension workers) and asked the following questions: 1) Do you think that the farmers (traders) in your commune have enough

information about the market in Hanoi? 2) If not what type of information would be most useful for them and at which

frequency (fill the table). The results are presented below.

Topic Frequency Order of priority Mode of dissemination

Calendar of product availability

3 times/year for traders, 4 times/year for farmers and extension workers

Important or very important

1. Radio 2. Television and

newspapers Quantities sold in night markets

1 time/week for farmers and traders, 2 times/week for extension workers

Very important 1. Telephone 2. Television and

radio Prices

Farm gate prices

1 time/day Important (traders) or very important (farmers, extension workers)

1. Telephone and television

2. Leaflets and newspapers

Night market prices

1 time/day Important (traders) or very important (farmers, extension workers)

1. Telephone

Retail prices

1 time/day for farmers and extension workers, 1 time/month for traders

Important (traders) or very important (farmers, extension workers)

1. Telephone

Product origin 1 time/10 days for extension workers and traders, 1 time/month for farmers

Important for farmers, very important for traders and extension workers

1. Television

Other Creating a service on vegetable price and origin dissemination


45

This shows that all the stakeholders are interested in the information on prices, quantities, and origin of products. Farmers and extension workers want high frequency for dissemination of prices (wholesale and retail) ideally daily reports. Also on quantities sold in the night markets (1 to 2 times per week). The information on origin of products is required 1 to 3 times/ month, and on a product calendar, 3 to 4 times/ year.

The preferred vehicle for dissemination of information on prices is the telephone. For product origin and calendar, the television, radio and newspapers are preferable.

Presentation of off-season technologies

A presentation was made by Mrs. Hien (RIFAV) on the technologies available for off-season production:

- problems of pest attacks diseases in rainy season due to humid conditions; yield decreases because of humid conditions preventing adequate pollinisation

- methods of tomato grafting on aubergine rootstocks, and plastic shelters, to make tomatoes more resistant to pests

Some questions were asked about the costs of plants, and also about the resistance of shelters with respect to strong wind. After the presentation, the participants visited the fields where off-season technologies are tested in RIFAV (grafting and shelters).

Workshop evaluation A questionnaire was distributed to the participants to assess whether they had found the workshop easy to understand and useful.

All the participants declared they had found the workshop useful, both in regard to information on markets and on production technologies. They think that this information can be useful for other farmers. They are interested in other meetings gathering farmers and traders to discuss about the marketing problems in the fruit and vegetable sector. They would like this type of meeting to be organised once per month (60%), or 4 times per year (10%) or once per year (30%).

Conclusion The results of market surveys and discussion with participants confirm the importance of market information on seasonality for all the stakeholders of


46

vegetable commodity chains. The periods of introduction for produce in the market are very important, as they have a strong impact on farmers’ incomes. Technologies for off-season production are new in Vietnam and require training (plus adequate assessment of costs and benefits).

As regards the follow-up, other meetings will be organised on the subject of market seasonality at the district level to gather more farmers. A bulletin with a summary of market information has been prepared for distribution to farmers and other stakeholders (see Appendix).

As for the daily dissemination of price information by telephone; it is difficult to organise and expensive. Hence it will require a specific study on its feasibility, costs and benefits for stakeholders.


47

VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO1

EconomICS and Marketing department

RIFAV

HDARD

Hanoi people’s committee

Department of Agricultural Production system

Vietnam Agricultural science institute

AVRDC/CIRAD/MOFA

SUSPER project

VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER No1 CONTENTS This newsletter is to provide those individuals and agencies involving in the Hanoi vegetable sector with information about vegetable markets, production areas, peak season and

price fluctuation based on seasonality. 1. Information about night markets (vegetable

wholesale markets) in Hanoi urban areas

At present, there are 6 night markets in Hanoi urban areas, namely Long Bien – Bac Qua, Dich Vong, Nga Tu So, Cau Giay, Phia Nam (Den Lu). Usually they operate from 2 to 7 am every morning. Of these markets, Dich Vong and Phia Nam are planned with separate vegetable selling areas, parking areas, good sanitation … which is very favourable for vegetable selling and purchasing activities.

2. Information about vegetable consuming channels (direct and indirect channels)

1. Producers Consumers

2. Producers Retailers Consumers

3. Producers Wholesalers Retailers Consumers

4. Producers Collectors/Wholesalers Retailers Consumers

5. Producers /Collectors/ Wholesalers Consumers


48

3. 10 types of best-sold vegetables of the year

3/02 Cabbage

Tomato pakchoy Cucumber French bean

Chinese cabbage

Lettuce Kangkong

6/02 Wax gourd

Tomato Pakchoy Cucumber Cabbage Loofah Yard long bean

Chinese mustard

Kangkong Lettuce

8/02 Tomato Wax gourd

Pakchoy Cabbage Welsh onion

Cucumber

Loofah Chinese mustard

Yard long bean

Indian spinach

11/02 Tomato Cabbage Kohlrabi Pakchoy Turnip Cucumber

Welsh onion

Chinese cabbage

Kangkong Lettuce

01/03 Kohlrabi Cabbage Cauliflower

Welsh onion

Cucumber Tomato Wax gourd

Pakchoy French bean

Carrot

10 types of vegetables mentioned above account for 80% of total vegetable sold in Hanoi markets. Of which, Cabbage, Tomato, Pakchoy and Cucumber are sold almost all year round. However, cabbage and tomato are not produced in Hanoi peri-urban areas from June to September so in this period, they are mostly imported from Lam Dong and China.

4. Production areas and time of supply of tomato and cabbage to Hanoi wholesale markets

4.1. Tomato

3/2002 6/2002 8/2002 11/2002 1/2003

Total sold volume (ton) 19 13 35 45 16

Hanoi (Dong Anh, Gia Lam) + - 0 - ++

Ha Tay (Hoai Duc, Thuong Tin) +++ 0 0 ++ ++

Hung Yen (Van Giang, Yen My) + 0 0 + +

Vinh Phuc (Me Linh) +++ - 0 - ++

Son La (Moc Chau) 0 0 - + 0

Bac Ninh (Que Vo) - 0 0 + 0

Bac Giang (Viet Yen) 0 0 0 - 0

Lam Dong (Da Lat) 0 +++ + 0 0

China 0 +++ ++++ - 0


49

4.2. Cabbage

3/2002 6/2002 8/2002 11/2002 1/2003

Total sold volume (ton) 21 7 18 36 30

Hanoi (Dong Anh, Gia Lam)

++++ 0 0 +++ ++

Ha Tay(Hoai Duc, Thuong Tin)

+ 0 0 +++ +++

Hung Yen(Van Giang, Yen My)

+++ 0 0 - +++

Vinh Phuc (Me Linh) 0 0 0 - 0

Ha Nam (Duy tien) 0 0 0 -

Hai Duong (Tu ky) 0 0 0 - 0

Lam Dong (Da Lat) 0 +++ 0 0 0

China 0 ++++ ++++ 0 0

Note: 1. Blank : No produce 2. - : Produce accounts for ≤10% 3. + : Produce accounts for 11% to 20% 4. ++ : Produce accounts for 21% to 30% 5. +++ : Produce accounts for 31% to 50% 6. ++++ : Produce accounts for >50%

5. Information about price fluctuation of some vegetables

Septemb

Fluctuation of average monthly prices of tomato and cabbage 1996 - 2002

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Janua Februa Marh

April

Ma Jun Jul Augu Octob Novemb

Decemb

Retail prices (VND/kg)

CabbaToma


50

6. Conclusions

• Areas which have the longest vegetable-supplying time are

+ Hanoi (Gia Lam, Dong Anh district)

+ Vinh Phuc (Me Linh district)

• Most vegetables in Hanoi markets are produced in Hanoi peri-urban areas.

+ Lettuce: 95 – 100% from areas within 20 km around Hanoi

+ Kangkong: 73 – 100% from areas within 10 km around Hanoi

In winter:

+ Tomato: 75% from areas within 30km around Hanoi

+ Cabbage: 92-100% from areas within 30 km around Hanoi

• From June to September (hot wet season), such vegetables as tomato, cabbage are not widely grown in Hanoi peri-urban areas.

• Vegetable growers should pay attention to the supplying time:

+ Period that tomato and cabbage are lacking: June – September

+ Period that cabbage is abundant: January – March

Fluctuation of average monthly prices of some vegetables 1996 - 2001

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

Th¸ng1

Th¸ng2

Th¸ng3

Th¸ng4

Th¸ng5

Th¸ng6

Th¸ng7

Th¸ng8

Th¸ng9

Th¸ng10

Th¸ng11

Th¸ng12

Ret

ail p

rice

s (V

ND

/kg)

Rau muèng

Rau c¶i

§Ëu c«ve

D−a chuét

Hµnh t−¬i

BÝ ®ao

Cµ rèt

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Kangkong Pakchoi French bean Cucumber Welsh onion Wax gourd Carrot


51

• Though from June to September, there is a large amount of tomato imported from China and Da Lat to supply to Hanoi markets, the tomato price still remains high, about twice as much as that in the period December to April. This fact reflects the chance for those farmers growing off-season tomatoes in Hanoi peri-urban areas to increase their income, provided that all difficulties in off-season techniques are solved.

Hanoi, May 2003

- -

Contact address:

ECONOMICS – MARKETING DEPARTMENT Research institute of fruits and vegetables

Trau Quy – Gia Lam – Hanoi


52

VEGETABLES NEWSLETTER NO2 Economics and Marketing Department

Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables HDARD

Hanoi People’s Committee

Department of Agricultural Production System Vietnam

Agricultural Science Institute SUSPER/MALICA Projects

AVRDC/CIRAD/IOS/VASI/RIFAV --------------------------------- ------------------------------------

Objective: This newsletter reports the contents of a meeting held at RIFAV on June 17th 2003 about quality management in the Hanoi vegetable sector. The main objective was to exchange information about vegetable quality and quality management in Hanoi’s vegetable markets among individuals and organizations involved. The data was collected by SUSPER – MALICA project’s staff.

CONTENTS PART I: INFORMATION ABOUT SOME SURVEY RESULTS 1. Demand for safe vegetables of Hanoi consumers

Some recent surveys (in 2000 and 2002) showed that Hanoi consumers are always worried about the quality of foodstuff, particularly vegetables. Specifically fresh produce, of which hygiene quality and food safety level are particularly important. Consumers especially pay attention to residue of agricultural chemicals, chemical fertilizers and other growth-stimulating substances in vegetables. However, they cannot themselves determine the quality of fresh vegetables and need to trust the sellers. It is necessary to build a close partnership between growers and traders to secure hygiene and safety. Some kinds of vegetables namely kang kong, cruciferae, beans and cucumber are popularly used in daily meals but they often contain poisonous chemicals, which are harmful to consumers’ health. Below are the opinions of consumers:

+ Good vegetables (Rau ngon) are firstly “clean vegetables” with nice (for the majority of customers) or not nice appearance (for some who are worried about chemical use), large size, fresh condition and are produced in suburban districts in the right seasons.

+ Clean vegetables (Rau sach) are safe for consumers’ health; with no strange smell in cooking process, no harmful bacterium, a clean appearance, no or few insects. They are grown with no use of chemicals and must be cultivated under net shelter or in clean environment.


53

2. Organization and quality management in vegetable markets

Below are some definitions of different vegetable types in Vietnam that consumers should know:

+ Normal vegetables (Rau thuong): growers often use pesticides, and chemicals, which are sometimes not adapted to the disease and harmful to consumers’ health.

+ Safe vegetables (Rau an toan): during production process, limited chemical, organic pesticides and fertilizers are used at the right time at reduced amounts. Notably, growers observe vegetables regularly during the growth process to give appropriate treatment on time.

+ Organic vegetables: Organic vegetables are grown in a site, which is isolated from other vegetable-growing areas. During the production process, they are fed with clean water, organic and micro organic fertilizers, and no chemical use.

According to specialists and consumers, organic vegetables are the safest vegetables and of highest price, followed by safe vegetables. Labour costs in production processes of Organic and Safe vegetables are directly proportional with their prices and are often higher than those of normal ones.

In Hanoi, though there is demand for organic and safe vegetables, there are only a few supply sources and retailing points. In 2002, there were about 23 shops and retail shops, 13 supermarkets, supplying just a small number of consumers and restaurants. The amount of safe and organic vegetables sold in retailing points is about 6 tons every day (in summer), accounting for less than 5% of total vegetable amount consumed in Hanoi’s inner areas.

Safe vegetables supplied to Hanoi markets are mostly grown in suburban districts and surrounding areas. Their growing areas are mainly in Van Noi, Van Tri, Nam Hong (Dong Anh), Duyen Ha, Linh Nam (Thanh Tri), Van Duc, Dang Xa (Gia Lam) … with a total growing area of 2500 ha (in 2002). The Hanoi Organics Company signed a contract with farmers in Yen Noi (Tu Liem – Hanoi) and Tien Duong (Chuong My – Ha Tay) to buy their organic vegetables, which are grown in a total area of 1.5 ha. A small proportion of safe vegetables in Hanoi are brought in by the Da Lat Golden Garden Company.

Safe vegetables still lack information about their origins and production process. At present, some safe-vegetable growing units receive the assistance of ADDA. During the vegetable production process, they have self-supervision and supervision from ADDA specialists. When selling vegetables, sellers of ADDA produce wear a name card to help consumers identify them. However there is still a lack of supervision over vegetable origins, except organic produce.

The example of Van Tri cooperative and safe vegetables is notable. Farmers are directly selling their labelled vegetables to consumers, gaining consumers’ trust and earning high marketing margins; also the production process is supervised by the organization’s manager and crosschecked by members of the team.


54

3. Remarks on costs and economic efficiency of some vegetable-growing models in Hanoi

There are 3 types of vegetables grown in Hanoi: normal vegetables, safe vegetables and organic vegetables. Results of surveys carried out on farmer households, collectors and retailers of cabbage and pakchoy show that:

+ Production cost tends to increase from normal vegetables to safe vegetables to organic. Of these costs, labour costs remain highest; the cost of materials is mainly due to increase in seeds and manure. Costs for plant protection chemicals tend to decrease against total production cost. Vegetable productivity tends to decrease from normal vegetables to safe vegetables finally to organic. However vegetable prices are inverted to production on the markets. Thus for the same cultivating area, organic vegetable growers gain the highest return followed by safe vegetables then normal vegetable.

+ Costs for collecting these 3 kinds of vegetables differ. Organic vegetables will not be taken into consideration here because of their specific requirements in the production, collecting and selling process. When comparing normal vegetables with safe vegetables, we see that the cost for one production unit of safe vegetables is higher than normal vegetables. This is mainly because collectors of safe vegetables have to pay higher taxes, telephone charges, and transportation costs. Another difficulty faced by individual safe vegetable collectors is that, his/her total income from collecting safe vegetables is lower than normal vegetable ones. The reason is that the amount of collected safe vegetables is often smaller than normal ones. This is one factor that constrains safe vegetable collectors to join the markets.

+ Selling is the final stage to bring the vegetables to the consumers. Based on interviewees’ opinions, it can be seen that retailers of safe vegetables pay higher costs than normal vegetable sellers due to higher monthly stall costs and taxation. But the final balance sheet shows that profit from one unit of safe vegetables is higher due to its higher price. This is one factor that encourages different economic sectors to be involved in the safe vegetable marketing process.

PART II: DISCUSSION RESULTS

Two groups were formed to answer two different issues.

1. How to improve the communication of vegetable quality in Hanoi

At present, consumers lack confidence in the quality of vegetables, even those produced in a quality-guaranteed process. This is due to the shortage of information about vegetable origin and the vegetable production process.


55

To help consumers identify the hygiene quality of vegetables, it is necessary to improve the dissemination of information, providing information about production and safe hygiene to consumers. This information relates to the vegetable production process, criteria for safe vegetables, vegetable origins and points of sale. National authorities, mass media agencies and private enterprises should be responsible for broadcasting this information on radio, on television, in newspapers. Also, this information can be disseminated at the meetings of associations and organizations.

To help consumers choose vegetables correctly, it is absolutely necessary label vegetables with a sticker or trademark. Labels should contain detailed information concerning: vegetable origin, name of producer (or name of the company doing business in safe vegetables), license issued by National authorized agency, and some basic information about the produce.

To protect consumers’ rights they themselves need to grasp the information correctly and sufficiently. Only in that way can information be the bridge connecting consumers and producers.

2. How to improve quality control activities in Hanoi

As we all know, it is impossible to control all of the vegetables produced in Vietnam. This is due to such specific characteristics as; small and scattered production, diverse vegetable varieties, diversity of chemicals used in production processes, and seasonality. Thus, control activities should be inexpensive and flexible.

Cross-inspection should be carried out among farmers and farmer teams (ADDA’s method). In addition, consumers should check the quality of vegetables themselves if they have a direct relationship with the producer. Some suggest using the Health Department, Department of Science and Environment, or Agency of Plant Protection to examine vegetables’ quality. However, the main obstacle is that, these agencies themselves don’t have enough human resources, professional knowledge or funding. Control activities should be carried out during the distribution process. These activities and the criteria for vegetable qualities should be revised frequently to suit changing production requirements.

Hanoi, August 2003

Contact address:

EconomICS – Marketing Department Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables Trau Quy – Gia Lam Hanoi Tel: 04 – 876 79 97 Email: [email protected]


56


INFORMATION ON VEGETABLE MARKETS MAIN OBJECTVE

This newsletter is to provide stakeholders of Hanoi’s vegetable markets with information related to the variation in product origins and seasonal price fluctuation.

1. INFORMATION ON WHOLESALE MARKETS INSIDE HANOI

Presently there are many vegetable wholesale markets in Hanoi. The following markets have the most intense activity: Long Bien - Bac Qua, Dich Vong, Nga Tu So, Cau Giay, and Den Lu. The working time of these markets is normally from 2am to 7am. Among them, Dich Vong and Den Lu have separated areas for selling and parking, and their environmental conditions are good. This situation facilitates the marketing of vegetables.

2. INFORMATION ON VEGETABLE SUPPLY CHANNELS FOR WHOLESALE MARKETS OF HANOI

The supply channels of vegetable for wholesale markets in Hanoi are varied. Also

the structure of supply channels is differentiated by each vegetable species and each period. The main supply channels are shown below:

Economics and Marketing Department

RIFAV

AVRDC/CIRAD/French MOFA

SUSPER project

No.3

Wholesale market

Producer

Producer/collector

Collector

Wholesaler


57

3. SUPPLYING AREAS, SUPPLYING PERIODS OF TOMATO AND CABBAGE TO HANOI MARKETS

3.1. Tomato

Criteria May June July August Sept. Nov. I. Supplying capacity (ton/day) 21,2 29,3 22,3 24,4 21,0 21,9 II. Supplying areas 1. Hanoi (Dong Anh) - + 2. Ha Tay (Hoai Duc, Thuong Tin)

++++ - ++

3. Hung Yen (Van Giang) - - + 4. Vinh Phuc (Me Linh) +++ + +++ 5. Son La (Moc Chau) - + + - 6. Bac Giang - 7. Bac Ninh - 8. Lam Dong (Da Lat) +++ - - - 9. China ++++ ++++ ++++ ++++

3.2.Cabbage

Criteria May June July August Sept. Nov. I. Supplying capacity (ton/day) 10,8 19,4 15,5 14,5 23,2 23,0 II. Supplying areas 1. Hanoi (Dong Anh) +++ - ++++ 2. Ha Tay (Hoai Duc, Thuong Tin)

- + + ++

3. Hung Yen (Yen My, Van Giang)

+

4. Hai Duong ++ - 5.Son La (Moc Chau) - 7. Lam Dong (Da Lat) - - 8. China +++ ++++ ++++ ++++ ++++

Notes:

1. Blank : No vegetable 2. - : Vegetable represents ≤10% 3. + : Vegetable products represent from 11% ÷ 20% 4. ++ : Vegetables products represent from 21% ÷ 30% 5. +++ : Vegetables products represent from 31% ÷ 50% 6. ++++ : Vegetables products represent >50%


58

4. INFORMATION ON PRICE FLUCTUATION OF SEVERAL VEGETABLES

Average monthy price's variation of tomato and cabbage in 2003

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Months

Vnd /kg

Cµ chua

B¾p c¶i

Average monthly price variation of several vegetables species in 2003

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Months

Vnd/kg

Cabbage

Choysum

Mustard

Welsh onion

CeylonspinachKangkong


59

5. CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS 5.1 Conclusions

- The daily turnover of off-season tomato and cabbage at wholesale markets in

Hanoi from June to September varies from 22 to 29 tons for tomato, and from

10 to 23 tons for cabbage.

- The supply capacity of tomato and cabbage of Hanoi and surrounding areas

from June to September is under 25%. During this period, the bulk of tomato

and cabbage sold in wholesale markets comes from China; the rest is supplied

from Son La and Lam Dong provinces.

- The supply channels for vegetables markets depend on vegetables varieties,

periods and supply regions.

5.2 Proposals

It is necessary to encourage off-season production in Hanoi and in

surrounding areas from June to September for the markets of Hanoi. This will

improve the income of vegetable farmers and decrease the consumers’ final price.

To this end, it is recommended that infrastructure be enhanced (shelters,

greenhouse, hydraulic system…). Also important are the use of adapted varieties

and plant protection techniques favourable to off-season production. This will help

limit the negative influences of natural conditions and of pests.

Hanoi, February 2004

- - Contact address

ECONOMICS – MARKETING DEPARTMENT RIFAV

Trau Quy – Gia Lam - Hanoi

℡Tel: (04) 876 79 97 E-mail: [email protected]


60


Vegetable market newsletter

RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES ECONOMICS AND MARKETING DEPARTMENT

AVRDC/CIRAD/ FRENCH MOFA SUSPER PROJECT

Main objective: To provide individuals and organizations involved in the vegetable sector in Hanoi with information about new market opportunities.

I. Time, markets and methods to collect price data

1. Time: June 1st to December 31st, 2004. 2. Locations: Major wholesale markets: Long Bien, Dich Vong and Den Lu

Middle-income consumer retail markets: Thanh Cong (urban) and Cuu Viet (peri-urban)

3. Vegetables: Tomato and Cabbage (vegetables with high price variation and/or imports) Pakchoy (leafy-vegetable)

Prices of tomato and cabbage are collected in two categories: domestic and imported from China. All are of even quality: Vegetable Shape Size Physical assessment

1. Tomato Olive + Diameter: from 4,5 -6,5cm + Height: from 5 – 5,5cm

Evenly ripen, few scars or damages

2. Cabbage Olive + Diameter: from 12 -16,5cm + Height: from 6 -8,5cm

Normal rolling, few stains of insects, fresh

3. Pakchoy - Length 30 - 35 cm Dark green, few stains of insects, fresh, few damages

4. Sample number: 3 contact traders are selected in each market. 5. Methodology: Daily telephone call to contact traders in markets

Control of prices every month

II. Information on price variation of some vegetables

1. Tomato Prices for tomato remained relatively stable from July to October 2004 at a high level (4000 to 6000 VND/kg wholesale, 7000 to 8500 VND/kg retail). Prices decreased

No. 4


61

greatly in November and December, reaching 2000 VND/kg wholesale and between 2500 and 4000 VND/kg retail in December. Tomato wholesale price was highest in June: 5202 VND/kg. At this time, there was limited supply from Hanoi peri-urban areas, and imports from China were still limited. Retail prices follow similar trends to wholesale prices – but retail prices decrease more sharply than wholesale prices in November and December.

Prices are similar among the three wholesale markets

2. Cabbage

Prices are similar among the three wholesale markets

CABBAGE PRICE VARIATION IN 2004

0100020003000400050006000700080009000

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Month

Pric

e (d

/kg) Average wholesale price

Thanh Cong market

Cuu Viet market

Tomato price variation in 2004

0

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2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000


Month

Pri

ce (®

/kg) Average wholesale price

Thanh Cong market

Cuu Viet market


62

Like tomato prices, cabbage prices were highest from June to September (4000 to 5000 VND/kg wholesale, 5000 to 8000VND/kg retail). Prices fell sharply from September to December when most cabbage is imported from China. The price reached between 1000 and 2000 VND/kilo wholesale, and 2000 to 2500 VND retail. The highest cabbage price is in July. The difference between the wholesale and retail price is small, especially for Cuu Viet market located close to cabbage producing areas.

3. Pakchoy

The price of pakchoy is also higher from July to September (off-season period). Prices of pakchoy and cabbage tended to decrease from September to December. During this period, the quantity of vegetables supplied by Hanoi peri-urban areas surged.

• Prices are similar among the three wholesale markets

III. Differences in prices according to origin and quality

1. Tomato wholesale price based on origins (vnd/kg)

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Average 1. Hanoi 4525 - - - 4333 2665 1851 3344 2. China 5473 4780 4931 4989 5205 4867 - 5041 3. Da Lat 5452 5025 4278 4563 4567 4288 - 4696 4. Son La - 3880 3330 3300 - - - 3503 5. Other provinces

- 4250 - - 3772 2686 1514 3056

- From Hanoi (Dong Anh, Gia Lam, Thanh Tri): in June, October, November and December

- From China and Lam Dong: from June to November.

Pakchoy price variation in 2004

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000


Month

Pri

ce (

®/kg

)

Average wholesale price

Thanh Cong market

Cuu Viet market


63

- From Son La: from July to September. - Other provinces such as Ha Tay (Hoai Duc, Thuong Tin), Hung Yen (Van Giang),

Vinh Phuc (Me Linh), Bac Ninh, Hai Phong and Lang Son: in July, October, November and December.

The quality, especially the appearance of the tomato is closely linked with its origin, thus it affects average price. In 2004, tomatoes from China had the highest price, followed by tomatoes from Da Lat, Son La and Hanoi. Tomatoes from other provinces were sold at the lowest price. Higher prices for tomatoes from China can be attributed to their bigger size (diameter more than 7 cm, height > 5,5cm), and their regularity in terms of maturity and shape.

2. Cabbage wholesale price based on origin (d/kg)

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Average 1. Hanoi 2728 - - 3500 2413 1727 1222 2318 2. China 4390 5335 5237 5056 4404 3568 - 4665 3. Da Lat - - 3000 - - - - 3000 4. Other provinces

3160 - 3167 3000 2654 1727 1215 2487

In contrast with tomatoes, there were not many cabbages from Da Lat, in 2004, except for some early days in August. However, they were not of high quality and could not compete with cabbages from China, Hanoi and other provinces. In the same period, the price of Chinese cabbage was higher than the price of local cabbage because they are denser and their appearance was shinier. IV. Comparison of retail prices in 2003 and 2004:

Tomato price variation in

2003 - 2004

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000


M onth

Cabbage price variation in 2003 - 2004

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000


Month

Pric

e (d

/kg)

Pakchoy price variation in 2003 - 2004

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500


M onth

2004

2003 2004

2003

2003

2004


64

Prices were higher (15 to 40%) for tomato and cabbage in 2004 than in 2003 between June and September while the inflation increase was 1.9% due to the chicken flu epidemic. Also, summer-autumn production of tomato was seriously upset by continual heavy rain. Between September and December, the increase in inflation was 1.1% and the supply of local and imported tomato in 2004 was higher than the same period in 2003. Prices were lower than 2003 by 20 to 30%. Similar trends are observed for cabbage. For pakchoy, except in November the differences between the two years are less than 20%. V. Conclusions: The highest prices in the market are obtained:

o Between June and October for tomato and cabbage ; o For big tomato, (more than 7 cm of diameter and more than 5,5 cm of height),

evenly ripened and regular in size o For dense and shiny cabbage

There is little difference in prices between the three wholesale markets (Den Lu, Dich Vong and Long Bien). On the other hand, the differences in prices between the peri-urban retail market and the urban retail market may be as high as 100%.

Hanoi, January 2005

EconomICS – marketing department

Research institute of fruits and vegetables

Trau Quy – Gia Lam – Hanoi Tel: (844) 8 767 997

Email: [email protected]


65


Vegetable market newsletter

Main objective: To provide individuals and organizations involved in the vegetable sector in Hanoi with information about price variation of some vegetables in the first semester of 2005 (winter/spring).

I. Time, markets and methods to collect price data 1. Time: January to May 2005 2. Locations: Major wholesale markets: Long Bien, Dich Vong and Den Lu Retail market: Thanh Cong (urban) and Cuu Viet (peri-urban) 3. Vegetables: - Fruit vegetables: Tomato, green bean, wax gourd, eggplant, and

cucumber - Leafy vegetables: Cabbage, Chinese cabbage, pakchoy, kangkong, eryngium

Prices of tomato and cabbage are collected for two categories: domestic and imported from China, Vegetable prices are collected for the following quality:

Vegetable

Shape

Average Physical assessment

1. Tomato Oval + Diameter: 4,5 – 6,5cm + Height: 5- 5,5cm

Evenly ripe, few scars or damages

2. Cabbage

Oval + Diameter: 12 – 16,5cm + Height: 6- 8,5cm

Normal rolling, few stains from insects, fresh

3. Chinese cabbage

+ Diameter: 15 – 19 cm + Height: 28 – 32 cm

Normal rolling, few stains from insects, fresh, white stems.

4. Pakchoy Length: 30 – 35 cm Dark green, few stains from insects, fresh, few damages

5. Kangkong

Length: 30 – 40 cm Fresh and green leaves, few stains from diseases or insects, few damages

6. Eryngium Length: 18 – 22 cm Dark green, few stains from diseases 7. Green bean

Length: 10 – 16 cm Medium fruit, curved, no stains of insects or diseases, a bit old, few damages.

8. Wax gourd

Length: 35 – 45 cm Smooth cover, relatively chubby, few stains from diseases, not damaged

Research institute of fruits and vegetables Economy and marketing department

AVRDC/CIRAD/ French MOFA SUSPER PROJECT

No.5


66

Vegetable

Shape

Average Physical assessment

9. Cucumber

+ Diameter: 2 – 3,5 cm + Length: 15 – 20 cm

Average length, regular size, stains of diseases or insects, few damages.

10. Eggplant

Round + Diameter: 6,5 – 7 cm + Height: 5 – 5,5 cm

Evenly violet, few stains from insects and diseases, relatively round.

4. Sample number: Three contact traders are selected in different locations in each market. 5. Methodology: Daily telephone call to contact traders in markets. In Cuu Viet, price data are collected directly from traders. Data is checked once every 7-10 days. 6. Information processing: - Wholesale price: average of 9 traders in 3 markets - Retail price: average of 3 traders in 1 market


1. Wholesale price of fruit vegetables

The Tomato wholesale price remains quite stable in January and February (2,261d/kg on average) but increases rapidly in March – May with average price of 4,673d/kg (2.1 times higher than that in January and February). In April, the price reached 4,907d/kg, tomatoes had to be supplied from China and Da Lat. Contrary to tomato prices, prices of eggplant, green beans and cucumber decrease after March. Wax gourd has quite stable prices, with a slight increase from January to May.

Variation of wholesale prices of fruit vegetables

0

2000

4000

6000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Th¸ng

®/kg

Tomato

Green bean

Wax gourd

Eggplant

Cucumber

Month


67

2. Retail price of fruit vegetables

Variation of retail prices of fruit vegetables

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Month

§/k

g Tomato

Green bean

Wax gourd

Eggplant

Cucumber

Retail prices of fruit vegetables have similar variations with wholesale prices. Yet the increase of tomato prices is more marked at the retail level than at the wholesale level (retail tomato price reached its highest value in April at 6,500d/kg) due to the fact that retail markets (especially peri-urban) suffer more difficult access to imported vegetables than wholesale markets.

3. Wholesale price of leafy vegetables

Variation of wholesale prices of leafy vegetables

0

5000

10000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Month

®/kg

Cabbage

Chinese cabbage

Kangkong

Pakchoy

Eryngium

In comparison with fruit vegetables, wholesale prices for leafy vegetables are relatively stable. The supply and demand do not vary much, thus there is little risk to producers from this kind of crop. However, wholesale prices of cabbage and Chinese cabbage tend to increase in May and are then imported from China.


68

4. Retail price of leafy vegetables

Variation of retail prices of leafy vegetables

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Month

®/kg

Cabbage

Chinese cabbageKangkong

PakchoyEryngium

Retail prices for leafy vegetables remained relatively stable January to May. In Cuu Viet, the peri-urban market, the cabbage price was even lower than the wholesale price because it was mainly supplied by farmers (removing the middle man). III. Information about vegetable prices according to origin and shape 3.1. Tomato wholesale price according to origin and shape (VND/kg)

Jan Feb Mar Apr May 1. North Vietnam - Round fruits 2310 2211 4076 4574 4320 - Oval fruits - - 5097 4977 - 3. Da Lat - - 5394 5027 4769 4. China - - 5477 5131 4526

Tomatoes in Northern provinces are mainly round and oval, round tomatoes are supplied more regularly than oval ones. Oval tomatoes are sold at a higher price thanks to their more attractive colour and shape. This type of tomato comes mainly from Thanh Tri (Hanoi), Me Linh (Vinh Phuc), and Hai Hau (Nam Dinh). In Hanoi wholesale markets from March to May, there was a large supply of tomato from Da Lat. Tomatoes from China mostly came to Long Bien market but irregularly, only 9 – 15 days in a month.


69

3.2. Cabbage wholesale price according to origin (Vnd/kg)

Jan Feb Mar Apr May 1. North Vietnam - Hanoi neighbouring provinces

1074 947 1357 818 1689

- Van Duc (Gia Lam – Hanoi) - 1977 2624 1582 3741 2. China - - - - 5340

Cabbage supplied to wholesale markets mainly originated from Northern provinces; Hanoi, Ha Tay, Vinh Phuc and Hung Yen. Notably there was cabbage in some early months of 2005 grown in Van Duc (Gia Lam – Hanoi) with price 1.5 – 2 times higher than that of other local cabbage. This cabbage has similar shape, size and weight with Chinese cabbage but it sold at a 30% lower price than cabbage from China. The reason is that Chinese cabbage variety grown in Vietnam is not as delicious as that grown in China due to differences in weather condition. Furthermore, in Vietnam, input costs are lower. V. Concluding remark: Vegetable area supply to Hanoi markets:

- Apart from tomato, cabbage and Chinese cabbage originating from China, other vegetables mostly come from peri-urban areas in Hanoi.

- Tomato from Da Lat and China was available earlier than in previous years. Da Lat tomatoes were available more regularly while Chinese tomatoes were available only 9 – 15 days a month.

• Vegetable price situation in the first 5 months of 2005

- Fruit vegetables, particularly cucumber, eggplant and tomato have large in price variation. April is the most profitable month to produce tomato in terms of price.

- Leafy vegetable price has small variation. - Oval tomatoes sell at a higher price than round tomatoes. - Cabbage grown in Van Duc (Gia Lam, Hanoi) with similar shape, size and

weight with Chinese product sells at a price 1.5 – 2 times higher than that of other local cabbages and 30% lower than cabbage from China. The production of this type of cabbage in Van Duc should be expanded to other localities to increase the supply capacity and replace imported cabbage.

Hanoi, June 2005

Economics and marketing department Research institute of fruits and vegetables

Trau Quy – Gia Lam – Hanoi Tel: (844) 8 767 997 Email: [email protected]


70


RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Economy and marketing department

AVRDC/CIRAD/ MOFA SUSPER PROJECT

VEGETABLE MARKET NEWSLETTER No.6, January 2006

Main objective To provide individuals and organizations involved in the vegetable sector in Hanoi with information about price variation of some vegetables in the last six months of 2005 I. Time, markets and methods to collect price data 1. Time: June to December 2005 2. Location:

- Major wholesale markets: Long Bien, Dich Vong and Den Lu - Retail markets: Thanh Cong (urban) and Cuu Viet (peri-urban)

3. Vegetables: - Fruit vegetables: Tomato, green bean, wax gourd, eggplant, cucumber - Leafy vegetables: Cabbage, Chinese cabbage, pakchoy, kangkong,

eryngium - Prices of tomato and cabbage are collected for two categories: domestic and

imported from China

Vegetable prices are collected for the following (average) quality Vegetable Shape Average Physical assessment 1. Tomato Oval + Diameter: 4.5 – 6.5cm

+ Height: 5- 5.5cm Evenly ripe, few scars or damages

2. Cabbage

Oval + Diameter: 12 – 16.5cm + Height: 6- 8.5cm

Normal rolling, few stains from insects, fresh

3. Chinese cabbage

+ Diameter: 15 – 19 cm + Height: 28 – 32 cm

Normal rolling, few stains from insects, fresh, white stems.

4. Pakchoy Length: 30 – 35 cm Dark green, few stains from insects, fresh, few damages

5. Kangkong Length: 30 – 40 cm Fresh and green leaves, few stains from diseases or insects, few damages

6. Eryngium Length: 18 – 22 cm Dark green, few stains from diseases 7. Green bean Length: 10 – 16 cm Medium fruit, curved, no stains of insects or

diseases, a bit old, few damages. 8. Wax gourd Length: 35 – 45 cm Smooth cover, relatively chubby, few stains

from diseases, not damaged 9. Cucumber + Diameter: 2 – 3.5 cm

+ Length: 15 – 20 cm Average length, regular size, stains of diseases or insects, few damages.

10. Eggplant Round + Diameter: 6.5 – 7 cm + Height: 5 – 5.5 cm

Evenly violet, few stains from insects and diseases, relatively round.


71

4. Sample: - 3 contact traders are selected in different locations in each market.

5. Methodology: - Daily telephone call to contact traders in markets. In Cuu Viet, price data

are collected directly from traders. Data are checked once every 7-10 days.

6. Information processing: - Wholesale price: average of 9 traders in 3 markets - Retail price: average of 4 traders in 2 markets


1. Wholesale price of fruit vegetables

VARIATION OF WHOLESALE PRICES OF FRUIT VEGETABLES

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Month

Pric

e (d

/kg)

Tomato

French beanWax ground

EggplantCucumber

Overall, there is no great variation of fruit vegetables’ wholesale price in Hanoi, except for tomato and green bean which have a higher price per kilo than the other fruit vegetables. Also, their price increases rapidly from June to October due to the lack of production in the peri-urban area and small quantity provided from Moc Chau- Son La, Da Lat and China with high transportation costs. At the end of the year, the price decreases gradually thanks to large quantities produced in the surrounding areas of Hanoi.

2. Retail price of fruit vegetables

VARIATION OF RETAIL PRICES OF FRUIT VEGETABLES

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000


Month

Pric

e (d

/kg)

Tomato

French beanWax ground

EggplantCucumber


72

Retail prices of fruit vegetables have similar variations to wholesale prices. The average retail price is normally 1.3 to 1.7 times higher than the wholesale price. The retail price in the urban market is 1.3 to 2.1 times higher than in the peri-urban market because the peri-urban market is located near production areas and producers sell products directly in the peak production season.

3. Wholesale and retail price of leafy vegetables

VARIATION OF WHOLESALE PRICES OF LEAFY VEGETABLES

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000


Month

Pric

e (d

/kg)

Cabbage

ChinesecabbageKangkong

Pakchoy

Eryngium

VARIATION OF RETAIL PRICES OF LEAFY VEGETABLES

0

5000

10000

15000

20000


Month

Pric

e (d

/kg)

Cabbage

ChinesecabbageKangkong

Pakchoy

Eryngium

The wholesale and retail price of kangkong and erygium are quite stable. On the other hand, there is much variation in the price of pakchoy and Chinese cabbage (pakchoy declines in price from June to December). Cabbage is quite stable apart from a sharp decrease in December (until more cabbage supply from peri-urban areas makes up the shortage).


73

III. Information about vegetable prices according to origin

3.1. Tomato wholesale price according to origin (d/kg)

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Average 1. North of Vietnam

- 2004 4525 4250 - - 3772 2686 1514 3056 - 2005 4469 - - - 4652 5942 6142 5456 2. Da Lat - 2004 5452 5025 4278 4563 4567 4288 - 4696 - 2005 6792 5700 4931 4683 6167 7951 7566 6157 3. China - 2004 5473 4780 4931 4989 5205 4867 - 5041 - 2005 5995 5734 4955 5009 6539 8304 8522 6292

From July to September, there is no tomato supply from the Northern provinces of Vietnam. Tomatoes from Da Lat and China fill this void and supply wholesale markets in Hanoi. One exceptional feature of 2005 was the occurrence of two storms, No.7 at the end of September and No.8 at the beginning of October which damaged tomato production areas in Hanoi, Hung Yen and Vinh Phuc. Tomatoes supplied to Hanoi market had to be mostly imported from Da lat and China during most of the year. Average tomato prices from June to December 2005 were higher than the price in the same period in 2004 (c.f. the table above). 3.2. Cabbage wholesale price according to origin (d/kg) Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Average 1. Surroundings of Hanoi

- 2004 3160 - 3167 3000 2654 1727 1215 2487 - 2005 2663 3750 - 3350 3616 3572 2658 3202 2. Da Lat 2004 - - 3000 - - - - 3000 3. China - 2004 4390 5335 5237 5056 4404 3568 - 4665 - 2005 5232 5331 4668 5350 5977 5879 4667 5356

Cabbage supplied to wholesale markets mainly originated from Northern provinces such as Hanoi, Ha Tay, Vinh Phuc and Hung Yen. Even in the off-season, the price of local cabbage was lower than cabbage from China. Due to the bad weather which had a negative influence on local production, Vietnam had to import cabbage from China even in the main productive season. The price of imported cabbage was much higher than the same period last year. In 2005, there was no cabbage from Da Lat due to its quality and appearance being less competitive than Chinese cabbage.


74

IV. Conclusion

1. Vegetable supply to Hanoi markets: - Tomatoes mostly originated from Da Lat and China during the last 6

months of 2005 due to storms in September and October in the Red River delta.

- The other vegetables were mostly supplied from peri-urban Hanoi areas and surrounding provinces

2. Vegetable price situation in the last 6 months of 2005:

- Fruit vegetables, particularly tomato and green bean show great variations in price

- Leafy vegetable price show less monthly price variation apart from pakchoy and Chinese cabbage.

V. Contact

Economics and marketing department Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables

Trau Quy, Gia Lam, Hanoi Tel: 04.8.767.997. Email: [email protected]

ICARD information systems for fruits and vegetables markets in south and north Vietnam

75

ICARD INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MARKETS IN SOUTH AND NORTH

VIETNAM

Tran Ngan Hoa and Vu Thi Huong Thuy-Informatics Centre of Agriculture and Rural

Development (ICARD) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)

I. INTRODUCTION

The Informatics Centre (ICARD) is a service unit operating under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). One of the ICARD’s functions is to collect and disseminate information, especially agricultural market information to public and private stakeholders.

MISPA is a French-funded project aiming at strengthening ICARD capacity in the field of information gathering for the design of agricultural policies, in particular by the means of working groups gathering experts on strategic topics. One of the groups deals with the competitiveness of Vietnamese agriculture. Setting up of a market information system tracking fruits and vegetables in South Vietnam has been identified as one activity of the group. This activity starts with a preliminary study on the present patterns of supply and demand for market information from the private and public stakeholders involved in the fruit and vegetable sector of South Vietnam. CIRAD expertise has been required to support the design of this preliminary survey. This is because it has experience in establishing vegetable market information systems in Hanoi and Phnom Penh, with the Research Institute on Fruits and Vegetables.

II. OBJECTIVES OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MIS

Recognizing the increasing importance of accurate information, market information systems (MIS) for fruit and vegetable were set up in South Vietnam in May 2003 and in the North at the beginning of 2004. The main objective of ICARD’s fruit and vegetable MIS is to systematically provide information about fruit and vegetable markets in Vietnam. This to be used by public and private stakeholders, for the following purposes: - Strengthening the skill of price appraisal and bargaining among fruit and

vegetable growers.


76

- Helping stakeholders decide what crops to grow and when, in which market to sell and at what price?

- Improving the stakeholders’ knowledge of supply and demand, the relationship between price and product quality that can enable them to choose appropriate cultivation and marketing methods.

- Providing fruit and vegetable market data for researchers - Providing timely and accurate price information for policy makers.

A study on the supply and demand for fruit and vegetable market information in South Vietnam was conducted by CIRAD with MISPA funding. The result established protocols for data collection and dissemination (see report in Appendix).

At present, the ICARD fruit and vegetable MIS has a total of 20 sites to collect market information. This includes 11 main fruit and vegetable wholesale markets in the South and 9 in North Vietnam. The market information collectors are staff of Provincial Agriculture Departments or Extension Centres who are experts in fruit and vegetables. Alternately they are people who have knowledge of fruit and vegetable markets; wholesalers or traders in selected markets. At the beginning of each year, ICARD directly signs contracts with them.

The ICARD fruit and vegetable MIS is supported by MARD Trade Promotion Programme.

III. HOW IS FRUIT AND VEGETABLE INFORMATION COLLECTED?

1. The selection of products and location

The 11 points in the South for wholesale price collection are in 9 provinces of the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands were selected after the preliminary survey conducted in 2003 with the support of MISPA and CIRAD (see Table 9).

In the beginning of 2004, based on experiences in fruit and vegetable MIS in the South and Hanoi (by RIFAV), some points for MIS of fruit and vegetable were set-up in North Vietnam (Hanoi, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Lang Son and Lao Cai). The SUSPER project has developed a vegetable Market Information System in Hanoi in collaboration with the Economics and Marketing Department (RIFAV), Department of Agriculture and Rural Department (HDARD) of the Hanoi People’s Committee and ICARD of


77

MARD. ICARD is responsible for disseminating data on the ICARD website and Vietnam television.

Table 9- Selected points in South Vietnam for wholesale price collection

Province Name of markets

Selected products

Tien Giang Vinh Kim Longan, orange, bananas, sapodilla, Star apple, durian, pomelo, mandarin, rambutan, mango.

Tien Giang Tam Hiep Sweet cabbage, green field cabbage, lettuce, watermelon, kangkong.

Vinh Long Tam Binh Orange, mandarin, pomelo, longan. Can Tho Phong Dien Orange, longan, mango, Sapodilla. Kien Giang Go Quao Pineapple. Long An Tam Vu town Dragon fruit, watermelon. Binh Thuan Ham Thuan

Nam Dragon fruit.

Lam Dong Da lat Tomato, cabbage, onions, carrot, potato, green peas, French bean, cauliflower.

Dong Nai Tan Phong Longan, pomelo, orange, rambutan, dragon fruit, cucumber, bitter melon, sweet cabbage, lettuce.

Ho Chi Minh City

Tam Binh-Thu Duc

Longan, mango, pomelo, dragon fruit, orange, star apple, durian, lettuce, pakchoy, kangkong, water melon, cucumber, mustard

Ho Chi Minh City

Tan Phu Trung safe vegetable Cooperative

Kangkong, pakchoy, mustard, cabbage, cucumber, bitter melon, sweet cabbage, lettuce.

In North Vietnam: there are 8 selected provinces for fruit and vegetable price collection: Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai, and Lang Son provinces. In Hanoi the following data are collected: - Wholesale prices of 14 fruits in Long Bien wholesale markets in Hanoi - SUSPER vegetable market price data: wholesale prices in Long Bien and

Den Lu; retail prices in Cuu Viet and Thanh Long. Wholesale vegetable prices were collected in Dich Vong between 2004 and June 2005 by SUSPER, and again in the same period until January 2006 by ICARD, but it stopped due to lack of funding.


78

Table 10- Selected markets in North Vietnam for wholesale and retail price collection

Province Nature of

market

Name of markets Selected products

W Long Bien 14 fruits including Longan, orange, bananas, sapodilla plum, Star apple, durian, mango, dragon fruit, mandarin orange

W Dich Vong (until 01/01/06)

Lettuce, water melon, pakchoy, mustard, kangkong, welsh onion, Ceylon spinach

Hanoi (funding from MARD)

W Dong Anh (until 01/01/06)

kangkong, pakchoy, mustard, cabbage, cucumber, bitter melon, sweet cabbage, lettuce.

W Den Lu, Long Bien Dich Vong4

Hanoi (funding from SUSPER project)

R Thanh Cong, Cuu Viet

Tomato, cabbage, pakchoy, Choy sum, mustard, welsh onion, Ceylon spinach, kangkong

Bac Ninh W Hoa Dinh Lettuce, watermelon, pakchoy, mustard, kangkong, welsh onion, Ceylon spinach, China squash.

Hai Duong W Nong San Mandarin orange, mango, Sapodilla plum, pineapple, Lettuce, watermelon, pakchoy, mustard, kangkong, welsh onion, Ceylon spinach.

Lao Cai

W Coc Leu

Tomato, cabbage, onions, carrot, potato, green peas. Mandarin orange, mango, Sapodilla, plum, pineapple, bitter melon, watermelon, cucumber, and tomato.

Quang Ninh W Mong Cai Longan, orange, bananas, sapodilla plum, Star apple, durian, mango. Tomato, cabbage, onions, carrot, potato.

Lang Son W Dong Kinh Orange, Longan, mango, sapodilla, pear, apple, grape, dragon fruit, plum, apricot. Tomato, cabbage, spinach, winter melon, cucumber, sweet cabbage.

4 This market was dropped in June 2005 to avoid duplication with ICARD price collection, and also because prices in Long Bien and Dich Vong are similar.


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2. Method of information collection

Work organisation

The method of collection for vegetable price data was presented by RIFAV. Other price data was collected by ICARD’s collaborators (staff of Provincial Departments of Agriculture or Centres for Agriculture Extension, wholesalers or traders). An average is taken of three wholesale prices from three big traders in the market at the most active business time for each fruit and vegetable. Grades

Prices are collected according to origin, product quality (super grade, grade I, grade II and grade III) classified into local categories. In fact, traders do have some quality grades according to size, shape and physical assessment but they differ from one trader to the others. Thus a uniform system had to be decided upon to ensure relevance and accuracy. Timing

Daily prices are collected mainly from 2am to 5am because the working time at fruit and vegetable wholesale markets is from 1a.m. to 5a.m. and 7a.m to 8 a.m for some daily markets.

ICARD collaborators send price data by means of fax, email or telephone between 9am to 10 am everyday except Saturdays and Sundays. The price data from 9 Mekong Delta provinces is collected and processed by ICARD’s Representative Office in Ho Chi Minh City. Then it is sent via email to ICARD’s headquarter in Hanoi. Control

The price data is scrutinised by ICARD’s collaborators from Provincial Departments of Agriculture or Centres for Agriculture Extension or other information sources (local relations, information users’ feed back, unexpected checks at the market).

3. Data processing Data collected by fax, email or telephone before 9a.m. from Mondays to Fridays is processed using Microsoft Excel from 9a.m. to 10a.m.


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4. Data dissemination ICARD website: Agro Viet Price data is loaded into ICARD’s website (http://www.agroviet.gov.vn) between 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. - Agroviet is the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

Development, (Vietnam) developed by the Information Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development.

- Agroviet has been licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Information to provide information on the internet (ICP).

- Agroviet is the bridge linking policy makers and sector managers with producers, businesses, consumers, investors and donors. This is the official information source on the Internet about agriculture and rural development and agricultural trade promotion in Vietnam.

Figure 3- Agroviet website


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The main contents of the site are as follows:

- Market information - News on production - Common issues on agriculture and rural development - Science -Technology and Application - Enterprises –Locations - Legal documents - Database - Publications - Commodity web page

The commodity web page deals with the main agro-forestry commodities such as rice, coffee, rubber, sugar, fruit and vegetable, cashew, pepper, livestock products, wood, tea. Each page provides daily updated information on the following:

- Prices - Import and Export - Forecast and analysis - Specialized bulletin - Trading opportunities Figure 4- Fruits and vegetables information page- Agroviet website


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Figure 5- Vegetables prices- Agroviet website

Television Price information is given to Vinh Long Broadcasting and Television from 10am to 10:15 am to broadcast at 12am, 6 pm and early morning on the following day. It is also given to VTV2 Television every Tuesday and Friday, three times per day (7.30 a.m., 6:30 p.m., and 23:30 p.m.). VTV2 broadcasts price data reports on a daily basis. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the price information broadcast relates to the previous Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, while on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, it relates to the previous Wednesday, Thursday and Friday5. The agricultural market report lasts about 7-10 minutes. The contents are as follows:

5 ICARD would like to transfer the price data to VTV2 so that it is broadcasted everyday, but due to technical problems in the implementation, VTV2 could not comply.


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Price of the agricultural produce (including sugar, coffee, vegetables, fruits, rubber, cotton, tea, fertilizer), in all the markets and for all the products indicated in Table 9 and 10

Factors affecting price (weather, supply and demand, season) Price forecast for the next week

On Thursday, agricultural export & import information is broadcast at 7:15a.m (or 7:30 am), 6:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m.

A Vegetable and fruit report is given to Hanoi Television on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday between 1pm to 1:15 pm to broadcast at 5 pm on the same day. On Tuesday, HTV broadcasts the prices from the same day, plus the price of the three previous days; on Wednesday, the price from the same day, and on Friday, the price of the day is broadcast together with the evaluation of price variation of the week.

The vegetable and fruit report belongs to the “Around the streets, around the markets” program. It provides fruit and vegetable market data for people in Hanoi and neighbouring provinces. The contents are listed below:

- Price of various fruits and vegetables (including wholesale and retail price) in Hanoi and other markets. The vegetable price in Hanoi originates from SUSPER.

- Factors affecting prices of fruits and vegetables (weather, supply and demand, season)

- Price forecast for the next week Other means Information is also sent to users upon request by fax, email or telephone, for instance to experts of MARD’s Planning Department, Agriculture Newspapers, and researchers. Methods for control of data dissemination - Check the dissemination of data on Agroviet website - Watching TV (Hanoi TV, VTV2) - Direct contact by telephone with staff of Television Station - Correct reports using (TV) audience participation For example, the price of oranges in HCMC were higher than in the other provinces, which raised questions from some auditors, so ICARD had provide an explanation on the price difference, including the differences in the type and quality of orange.


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5. Conclusion

The organization of the vegetable market information system is summarized in Figure 3.

Figure 6- ICARD’s network for price data collection and dissemination

Updated information on F&V in Hanoi is useful and highly appreciated by users; indicated by the feedback from users in workshops or researchers using this resource. Yet, most information is raw and lacks forecasting and analysis. Also noted were:

- The range of commodities quoted on the website and TV is limited; lack of information about agricultural inputs and other commodities.

- The range of F&V prices and markets quoted on the website and TV are limited.

The continued involvement of public and private experts is recommended to aid research, provide analysis and make short and long-term forecasts (seasons, outputs, and markets). This will benefit consumers, farmers and entrepreneurs.

Point of information collection in

Da Lat

Vietnam television (VTV2)

Point of information collection in Hanoi

Point of information collection in Hai Duong

Point of information collection in Bac Ninh

Point of information collection in DakLak

Hanoi television

Point of information collection in Lang Son

Point of information collection in Quang Ninh

ICARD/MARD

Point of information collection in KienGiang

Point of information collection in Binh Thuan

Point of information collection in HCM city


Long An

Point of information collection in Tien Giang

Point of information collection in Vinh Long

Point of information collection in Lao Cai

The Vinh Long Radio Station and Television

www.agroviet.gov.vn


Dong Nai

Point of information collection in Can Tho


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Presently, no impact survey for fruit and vegetable information has been conducted. One of the reasons given is limited financial resources.

In the near future, the MIS for Agricultural Products including fruit and vegetable in Vietnam will be extended to 21 provinces and cities so that market information will be plentiful.

6. Suggestions In order to improve fruit and vegetable MIS: - An impact study should be conducted (what is the number of fruit and

vegetable MIS users? How useful is it for farmers/traders/decision-makers? What is the number of farmers listening to the TV programmes? ...)

- Coordinate with SOFRI, VINAFRUIT and experts to; research, analyze, make short and long-term forecasts correctly (in terms of seasons, outputs, consuming markets). Also to disseminate data through medias, leaflets, internet...etc. to farmers/traders/decision-makers

- Build a database of Fruit and vegetable market information for research and decision purposes.

- Organize training courses on fruit and vegetable market information analysis and price forecasts for ICARD’ experts.


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DEBATE

Q1: SUSPER collects information in Dich Vong market and so does ICARD. Is there any duplication in the activity? If yes, we need to find a way to avoid such duplication. (Dr. Paule Moustier)

A1: Yes, ICARD has collected vegetable prices in Dich Vong since 2004 for more than 10 kinds of vegetables, duplicating SUSPER research, but some data collected are different. Besides this, ICARD collects price information of fruits in Long Bien and safe vegetables in Dong Anh (Mrs. Hoa).

Note – after the workshop, an arrangement was found with ICARD so that they collect the information for RIFAV in Dich Vong, and that it is no longer surveyed by RIFAV.

Q2: How can ICARD estimate the price for next week? (Mrs. Chan Sipana)

A2: A price forecast is produced by carefully examining the weather forecast and market collaborators’ comments. Often the vegetable price is affected by weather. If there is a lot of rain this week, the price may go down; if there is a special event such as Tet or holiday, the price may go up (Mrs. Hoa).

Q3: How do you select the products and does ICARD use any grading system for product selection?

A3: The products are chosen to be representative of the kinds of fruits/vegetables in South and North Vietnam. We organized some meetings between ICARD and the involved institutions to discuss and decide these. The criteria for the choice has problems with marketing, origin ... At present ICARD doesn’t have a definite grading system (Mrs. Hoa).

Comment by Dr Paule Moustier - It is suggested that ICARD should have an impact assessment of its MIS. To have funds to cover this, ICARD can reduce the number of products and provinces instead of increasing its scale of operations and activity. As regards the request of training for ICARD staff, the workshop itself is training on MIS methodology. If you want to train more staff, we can discuss this more but ICARD should be very clear about the expectations.


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APPENDIX

SETTING SURVEY PROTOCOL ON FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Trip Report, Ho Chi Minh City - 01 to 03 July, 2003

Paule Moustier, CIRAD, MISPA

Context and objectives

ICARD, the Information Centre on Agriculture and Rural Development (a division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam), collects and disseminates information on the Vietnamese agricultural sector to public and private stakeholders. MISPA is a French-funded project aiming at strengthening ICARD capacity in the field of information gathering for the design of agricultural policies, in particular by the means of gathering experts on strategic topics for working groups. One of the groups deals with the competitiveness of Vietnamese agriculture. Establishing a market information system on fruits and vegetables in South Vietnam has been identified as one activity of the group. This activity starts with a preliminary study on the present patterns of supply and demand for market information of the private and public stakeholders involved in the fruit and vegetable sector of South Vietnam. CIRAD expertise has been required to support the design of this preliminary survey. CIRAD has experience in establishing vegetable market information system in Hanoi and Phnom Penh, together with the Research Institute on Fruits and Vegetables. Besides this, CIRAD conducts research on vegetable wholesale marketing in Ho Chi Minh City. This is done in collaboration with the faculty of economics of Nong Lam University (previously called the University of Agriculture and Forestry) of Ho Chi Minh City and also involving a Ph.D. student of the University of London, Jean-Joseph Cadilhon. These activities take place in the framework of the MALICA consortium on food marketing in Vietnam, coordinated by CIRAD.

The specific objectives of CIRAD three-day workshops have been defined as follows:

- Sharing information on the organisation of fruits and vegetable marketing systems in Vietnam and on vegetable market information systems in Hanoi.


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- Designing the protocol for a preliminary survey on MIS, sampling procedures and questionnaires; with some testing of questionnaires in urban markets and production areas.

The survey will be conducted by a team of four Vietnamese experts during a total of 40 men-days: 1 expert from SOFRI and 3 experts from Institute of Agricultural Science of South Vietnam.

The schedule of the three days of workshop is indicated in Appendix 1. It includes a visit to Ho Chi Minh Cities main fruit and vegetable wholesale market (Cau Muoy), an interview with two fruit wholesalers. Also planned are trips to Tien Giang Province where a fruit assembler, a vegetable assembler, and a fruit grower have been interviewed. Finally a visit to SOFRI department of marketing, as well as the faculty of economics of Nam Long University, and VINAFRUIT.

The report first presents some general guidelines for establishing fruit and vegetable marketing systems based on the experience in Hanoi, then some insights gained from the visits and interviews, and finally the proposed steps for implementation.

Some guidelines for establishing MIS

During a meeting at ICARD on the first day, the experiences of vegetable MIS in Vietnam were presented (the PowerPoint presentation, which was also given at ICARD Hanoi on July 27th, was handed out to participants). Some important points are summarised below:

The objectives and users of the MIS have to be clarified.

A lot of MIS have been set up in Africa and Asia but the final result has not been as successful as expected for a combination of reasons6. Private

6 See: Shepherd, A., 1997. Market information systems. Rome, FAO, 58 p.; and: Egg, J., Galtier, F., 1998. From price reporting systems to variable geometry oriented market information systems. In : Kuyenhoven, H.A.J. Moll, A.V. Tilburg, Agricultural markets eyond liberalisation, proceedings of the 57th seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economics, pp. 187-189.


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stakeholders have their own sources of information and seldom express need for public information; the data is not accurate enough and not disseminated speedily enough. Hence, it is necessary to carry out a thorough evaluation of the private and public stakeholders’ present supply and demand for market information.

Two objectives can be determined:

1) Disseminating medium-term information for public and private stakeholders to aid in planning/decision making. Information from untapped outlets may imply some changes in cropping patterns in the medium term (several months for vegetables, several years for fruits): which crops to grow, when, for which final market?

2) Disseminating short-term information for private stakeholders’ decision-making. Farmers and traders, should they sell/buy now or later? At which final market should they sell? What price?

Apart from information on market outlets, stakeholders may require more qualitative information about access to credit or agricultural policies etc. Hence, it is good that MIS is a system of regular interactions between public and private stakeholders to express all the constraints of the sector and find common solutions. This combination of raw data and comments is called a market information and consultation system (MICS)7.

Due to the complexity of the fruit and vegetable sectors (diversity of crops, time variations of supply and demand, etc.) many criteria have to be established for the data to be accurate and feasible:

The basic questions for data collection are as follows:

What information should be collected? For Hanoi indicators of supply deficits or excess are collected: origin, quantities, and prices, at different times of the year

Where should data be collected? In markets that represent the present main or potential outlets for the

produce

Collect data for what produce?

7 Moustier P. (ed.), 1999.Filières maraîchères à Brazzaville: quantification et observatoire pour l�action. Montpellier, France, CIRAD-FLHOR, 163 p.


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As there are more than 40 vegetable species, products have to be selected according to importance in the market and difficulties in marketing – also a selection of quality grades has to be established to be able to make comparison on homogeneous products

Sampling frequency? According to time variability of supply and demand

Who should be interviewed? A representative sample of traders

How should the data be collected? Good contacts first have to be established with traders

How should the data be disseminated?

The method for data dissemination has to differ according to the targets:

- For planning purposes: stakeholder meetings, leaflets, and media

- For short-term decision purposes: telephone, radio, leaflets

Some insights into the supply and demand for fruit and vegetable MIS in South Vietnam

Typology of potential MIS users

Private stakeholders

The need for market information is different according to the position of the stakeholder in the marketing chain, the geographical location of supplying areas and of final market. Hence, it is important to have a good picture of the geographical and the functional organisation of the fruit and vegetable chain. A preliminary assessment is indicated below, it has to be further refined by the study team:

A) Farmers

(i) Vegetable farmers

There are three main vegetable production areas: Da lat, which produces the bulk of temperate vegetables like tomato and cabbage; Ho Chi Minh City peri-


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urban areas which provide the bulk of perishable vegetables like water spinach or aromatic herbs and the Mekong delta: Tien Giang Province) for various vegetables e.g. fresh onion, or watermelon.

A further distinction relates to the nature of production methods: some companies have developed the production and marketing of “safe” vegetables that use fewer chemicals, and has contracts with farmers and collectors. The Golden Garden Company in Da lat deals with 35 farmers on 4 hectares, and sells “safe” vegetables to restaurants in Hanoi. The Metro cash and carry wholesale supermarket has contracts with collectors assembling “safe” vegetables from Ho Chi Minh peri-urban farmers.

In Da lat, farmers are distant from final markets (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Phnom Penh and China) and the supply and demand of the final markets is unstable. In 2003 SARS induced a slow down in trade between Vietnam and China and many farmers had to throw their vegetables away (30 to 40% for some farmers8).

(ii) Fruit farmers

In the Mekong delta, fruit production is especially developed in the following provinces: Tien Giang province, Dong Nai province and Vinh Long province. Production is diversified and small-scale, typically less than 2 hectares. The following typology can be sketched (source: Mr. Tuan, SOFRI, personal communication):

- Diversified farms (more than 5 fruit species including longane, citrus, sapodilla.) mostly for self-consumption (about 30% of farms)

- Diversified commercial farms (2 to 5 kinds including longane, citrus, sapodilla.) about 50% of farms

- Specialised commercial farms (one species: pineapple, pomelo, orange, coconut.) about 20%.

B) Collectors

Most fruits and vegetables are first collected in trucks by collectors based in rural areas or brought by farmers to collectors, in assembling markets.

8 Mrs Tam, Nong Lam University, personal communication


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Collectors sell the produce to wholesalers based in Ho Chi Minh City or, to a lesser extent, to wholesalers in other provinces or countries.

C) Wholesalers

Wholesalers are commonly based in Ho Chi Minh City. They get produce delivered by truck from collectors or directly from farmers sending their products via transport haulers. The products are then either resold to retailers in Ho Chi Minh City, or to wholesalers located in other provinces or countries.

The three main wholesale markets for fruits and vegetables in Ho Chi Minh City are: Cau Muoy; Mai Xuan Thuong; Tan Xuan. Two new wholesale markets are planned: one near Tan Xuan, and one near Thu Duc.

D) Stakeholders’ associations

Associations gathering different stakeholders from the production and marketing sector may have a variety of functions. These include the centralisation and redistribution of market information and the organisation of contacts between sellers and purchasers.

Presently in the fruit and vegetable sector, one association has been identified: Vinafruit. Created two years ago, it has 53 members, including fruit growers, processors, seed suppliers and a research institute (SOFRI). Public stakeholders

The public stakeholders with interest in the fruit and vegetable sector are various. They include: the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health (as regards the food safety risks), Ministry of Trade; the agricultural and trade departments of the different cities. Also involved are research institutes and development project staff.

The supply of market information

Collectors and wholesalers are linked by regular relationships and commonly communicate by telephone about the needs and availability of products – this is also the case of some fruit farmers and collectors. Collectors sometimes provide seed or seedlings to farmers.

A fruit collector interviewed said collectors commonly exchange information among themselves so as not to sell the same products at the same time.


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Wholesalers in Ho Chi Minh City have the best access to information on supply and demand, yet even they cannot entirely control prices as supply and demand are highly unstable: this is due to the scattered nature of production areas; climatic instability and limited adaptation of the available fruit and vegetable varieties to the conditions of the hot and humid season. Lastly there is instability in some final export markets, like China.

SOFRI collects and disseminates information relevant to the fruit sector:

- Two times per week, assembling prices in 6 markets of Tien Giang Province. These prices are communicated to SOFRI (telephone) by contact traders (6 traders per product per market)

- Information on the state of fruit production and trade in various countries of Asia. The sources are various internet sites.

SOFRI disseminates the data every two months by the means of a bulletin (15 to 20 p.). The bulletin is sold for VND 8,000. Circulation has fallen from 300 to 60 since the institute cannot afford colour copies; besides, the bulletin is frequently photocopied instead of being purchased. The bulletin editors believe that the farmers are highly interested in the bulletin, but do not know how to solve the problem of covering the costs (estimated at 5000 VND/copy).

According to the Vinafruit president, the bulletin is of little use to fruit growers located in remote areas, where the information should be disseminated by the radio.

Vinafruit has a website (www.vinafruit.com) where they put some information on their members and also some information about fruit markets that they collect from various sources including ICARD, SOFRI and internet sites. One member of Vinafruit buys market information from a company in Thailand, and it is made available to Vinafruit members for free. Vinafruit has initiated contact between mango importers in France and farmers in Tien Giang province.

The demand for market information

As in other situations, regular relationships between suppliers and purchasers explain why interviewees are not spontaneously interested in the supply of public market information. The wholesalers interviewed are indeed reluctant to publicise information about the prevailing purchase and retail prices as it will reduce their bargaining position. One fruit wholesaler declared that his main problem is access to credit to increase the scale of his purchases, not market information. He is also worried about possible displacement by a new wholesale market. A collector interviewed said his major problem is payment


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by his purchasers, as most transactions are on credit terms. He is interested in knowing the wholesale prices in the different provinces of the South to identify which market it is most profitable to re-sell at.

It is likely that farmers’ needs for market information are more numerous. Mrs. Tam, of Nom Lang University, told us that Da lat farmers are interested in the predicted prices, several months after planting. One interviewed fruit grower said she was interested in knowing the wholesale prices in Ho Chi Minh City to be better able to bargain with the collectors. She also said she was ready to pay 8000 VND for a SOFRI bulletin.

Vinafruit is mostly interested in information relating to demand from the international markets for fruits. It would be interested in getting Fruitrop, CIRAD’s bulletin on the international fruit markets, in exchange of their sending the CIRAD monthly reports.

Vinafruit reckons that the major difficulty is not access to market information, but rather in its analysis by technical experts to yield predictions. They agree that the provision of information is of little use if not combined with solving other market constraints: mostly a lack of farmers’ coordination for joint export. Presently Vinafruit helps a mango cooperative in the Tien Giang Province to export to Europe.

Proposed work plan

The three steps proposed for the preliminary study are detailed below. These can be used as the structure of the final report.

Preliminary sketch of market flows and chains

Developed from secondary data and key informants, including SOFRI (for fruit) and the Faculty of Economics at Nong Lam University for vegetables).

Draw maps with location of production areas; intermediary and final markets; flows between production areas and markets.

For the different products, establish marketing chains between farmers, traders and final consumers.

Some graphs of the fruit marketing chains in the South have already been established by SOFRI, these should be simplified, and some quantification of the share of the different market chains will be attempted. In regard to vegetables, marketing chains from Da lat have been established by the Faculty of Economics at Nong Lam University.


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Survey of stakeholders’ supply and demand for market information

Nature of the interviewees

- Public stakeholders (see above) - Sample of farmers and traders

The sampling procedure is indicated below.

Selection of products

For the survey to be feasible in terms of time, a selection of 10 fruits and vegetables (see Table 11) was carried out according to different criteria: importance in consumption, production and marketing; marketing problems presently faced by stakeholders; differences in production areas and final outlets (see Table 12). Different species may be covered under the same name (for instance, there is a wide variety of lettuce).

Table 11– The ten selected types of fruits and vegetables

Selected fruits Selected vegetables Longane Orange Mango Pineapple Dragon fruit

Tomato Lettuce Fresh onion Cabbage/broccoli Watermelon

Table 12– Characteristics of production and market location for the selected products

Main production areas Nature of outlets Longane Mango

Tien giang, Vinh long, Dong thap

Domestic markets (South, North) Exports : mostly China but potential for Europe

Orange Tien giang, Vinh long Domestic markets (South) Pineapple Kien giang, Tien giang,

Dong nai, periphery of HCMC

Domestic market (South) Exports: fresh (Cambodia) and processed (SE Asia)

Dragon-fruit Binh tuan, Long an Domestic market (South and North) Exports (China)

Tomato Da lat Domestic market (South, North) Exports (Cambodia)

Broccoli/ Cabbage

Dalat Domestic market (South, North) Exports (Cambodia)

Lettuce Dalat, periphery of HCMC Domestic market (South) Fresh onion Periphery of HCMC Domestic market (South) Watermelon Long an Domestic market (South) and exports (China)


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Selection of interviewees A total of 133 stakeholders (see Table 13) including farmers (75), collectors (18), wholesalers (28), retailers (10), have been selected to cover the diversity of the stakeholders of the fruit and vegetable sector. Table 13– The distribution of the proposed sample

Fruits Vegetables Total Farmers 35 40 75 Collectors 9 9 18 Wholesalers 12 20 30 Retailers 5 5 10 Total 59 74 133

The farmers and collectors are chosen to cover the main production areas and nature of products (see Tables 14 and 15).

Table 14– Characteristics of sample interviewees (fruit farmers and collectors) in terms of production areas and products

Farmers Collectors Tien Giang Longane-orange 10 3 Kien giang Pineapple 5 3 Binh tuan Dragon fruit 5 3 Long an Dragon fruit 5 Dong tan Mango 5 HCMC periphery Pineapple 5 Total 35 9

Table 15– Characteristics of sample interviewees (vegetable farmers and collectors) in terms of production areas and products

Farmers Collectors Dalat Lettuce-tomato-cabbage 15 3 HCMC periphery Fresh onion-lettuce 10 Tien giang Fresh onion-watermelon 10 3 Long an Watermelon 5 3 Total 40 9

The survey sampling should be done in a way to capture the greatest depth of variety in relation to agricultural services. It is essential to capture diversity in


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terms of scale, diversified vs. specialised business and seasonal vs. permanent activities.

Wholesalers will be chosen as follows:

- Two wholesalers per market per product, for two wholesale markets (Cau muoi and Tan Xuan),

- Eight products (the five selected vegetables and three fruits: pineapple; dragon-fruit and mango/longane/orange, as they are often sold together). Interviews should take place at the least busy time, i.e. between midnight and 4 a.m.

10 retailers will be interviewed (five for fruits, five for vegetables), including retailers at Ho Chi Minh marketplaces and supermarkets.

Interviewing guides for private stakeholders

Two interviewing guides have been prepared, one for farmers and one for traders (see Appendix). They include the following topics:

- Supply and redistribution strategies (marketing flows and chains)

- Relationships between suppliers and customers (segmentation of information)

- Need for new market information: What information? Frequency? How should it be disseminated?

- Evaluation of the SOFRI bulletin (for the fruit growers)

- Constraints other than market information

These interviewing guides include closed and open questions; all the details and comments given by the interviewee should be written down.

The guides have been tested already on some stakeholders (two fruit wholesalers, one fruit farmer, one fruit collector). The interview lasts around 30 minutes.

Interviews of public stakeholders (see 312)

The different points of the interview should include:

- Present activity in the fruit and vegetable sector

- The need for information on the fruit and vegetable market: what type of information; for what use; in which form; at which frequency

- The available sources of information on the fruit and vegetable market: advantages and constraints


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- Proposed organisation of MIS in terms of involvement of different public and private institutes.

Data processing

As there will be a lot of qualitative information, the data should be processed by hand (summarising the answers to the different questions in columns), in addition to some basic software (SPSS or Excel) for the answers to the closed questions.

Proposal for a fruit and vegetable market information system

It is suggested that the proposal be structured around the following questions.

A - What type of information, for what users?

1. Medium-term, planning information for public and private stakeholders

- What crops to grow, at what period, for which final market?

- Other strategic information for marketing: sources of credit; advantages and constraints of contracts; advantages and constraints of new wholesale markets

3. Short-term information for private stakeholders

- Should they sell now or later? To what final market should they sell? At what price?

- The needs of the different stakeholders for these different types of information should come from the answers to the survey.

B- How should the information be collected?

1. Where? - Intermediary and final markets should be selected following answers to

surveys and importance in the market flows 2. When? - Data should be collected following answers from surveys about frequency

of information and according to the chronological variability of prices and


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- quantities (to be determined by secondary data: calendars of supply ; assessment of price variability for one week; one month; one year)

3. What products? - Selection according to survey answers and importance in the final supply 4. How to avoid problems in collection? - Define homogeneous quality grades: traders have defined some quality

grades according to size, damages, etc., but they differ from one trader to the other

- Establish good contacts with traders

C - How should the data be disseminated?

Dissemination should take into account stakeholders’ answers of their preferences in terms of information dissemination.

D- Who should run the MIS?

Which institutes should be involved in the collection, analysis and dissemination of the market data?

The role of different public and private institutes in the MIS has to be clarified according to their responsibilities and expertise. Suggestions are outlined below:

- ICARD for general management of the MIS

- Involvement of research bodies for collection and analysis of data: SOFRI for fruit markets; UAF and ISA for vegetable markets, with collaboration of CIRAD

- Involvement of VINAFRUIT and contact vegetable and fruit farmers as well as traders and extension workers for exchange of information and dissemination of data

Proposed calendar 01/07 – 07/07 Preparation of protocol

Collection of secondary data (sketch of maps and marketing chains) Interview key informants

07/07 – 17/07 Conduct survey 17/07-30/07 Analysis of survey and report writing


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APPENDIX MEMO ON MISSION TO HCMC

FROM SEPTEMBER 17TH-19TH, 2003

Support to MISPA project with ICARD to implement MIS for fruits and vegetables Paule Moustier, CIRAD-MALICA, 25/11/039

1. Objective The mission objective is to help ICARD implement a market information system (MIS) for fruit and vegetables by mobilizing a national team of experts from the Southern Fruit Institute (SOFRI), the Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the South and ICARD. The first mission from July 1st-3rd, 2003 outlined ideas for this MIS on the basis of CIRAD experience in Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Vientiane and HCMC (SUSPER project/ MALICA consortium). A survey protocol to assess the information needs of private agents (producers, traders) and public stakeholders was set up and tested10. The objective of the second mission is helping the national team of experts to finalize their study and share their results in a workshop.

2. Mission calendar November 17: Discussion with the national team of experts about the results of

their study. As well as preparation of the workshop to present and discuss the results.

November 18: Participation in a discussion workshop and preparatory study of MIS for fruit and vegetables. This workshop gathered representatives of the following institutions (besides organizers institutes): agriculture extension services, Faculty of Economics

9 The present document is the English version of the French report produced in 2003. 10 See Paule Moustier, 2003. “Trip report, HCMCC- July 01-03, 2006, Setting survey protocol on fruits and vegetables market information system”, Hanoi, ICARD, 16 p.a


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at the University of Agriculture and Forestry of Ho Chi Minh City, VINAFRUIT (professional association for fruit producers)

November 19: Support the national team of experts to finalize their study taking into account what was discussed in the workshop and propose a pilot system for MIS.

3. Main results

Information desirable to market actors

The survey results show that there is high demand for daily information on the price of fruit and vegetables, especially by producers, and particularly for prices in the provincial markets. However, Dr. P. Moustier noted that to simplify the data collection process the ICARD expert responsible for the study modified the questionnaire. She focused on the demand for price information; other questions were ignored except for interviews conducted on the first mission. During the workshop, Dr. Moustier highlighted the necessity to couple spot information (for immediate decisions) with information on market trends (medium-term decisions: planning of cropping calendars).

Preferred dissemination means

Television is the preferred means of transmission according to the greatest number of interviewees.

Collection and dissemination method

Just after the workshop and following procedure established by Dr. Dang Kim Son, we worked out a precise protocol for collection, the analysis and dissemination of information according to the following outline:

- What is the objective? - What information needs to be collected? (the exact quantity of the

transaction must be specified with the price information) - Where to collect information? - What products? (From the more than fifty available fruit and

vegetables. Categories of quality have also to be defined according to the traders’ specifications, and with criteria which are easy to observe and measure, in order to collect prices on homogeneous commodities).

- How to collect the information?


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The protocol for MIS, based on this outline, is presented in table 16 to 19, for the two types of information considered priorities: daily prices and market trends. A questionnaire was also prepared for the price collection.

Next steps

ICARD officers assigned to different information collection sites will set up the MIS operational organization. Presently, the collection of daily prices has already started and this information is disseminated on the ICARD website. CIRAD-MALICA is willing to continue the collaborating with ICARD on MIS in the following areas:

- To analyse the collected information and produce market trends and forecasts for the following months. A study on price variation factors during the year is a prerequisite.

- To expand the function of the MIS beyond merely dissemination. To employ a consultative function (among ICARD and market agents) so that information elements can be transferred for collective or individual decision. This can help alleviate a situation where all the producers react to price information and create a surplus, thus saturating the market. This can be avoided, however, by agreements among producers sharing production according to geographic zones or quotas.

- To assess the efficiency of the system - To work on MIS for vegetable markets in launched by RIFAV in Hanoi

in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi.


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Table 16- Market information system on fruits and vegetables

Objective To improve the negotiation and price determination capacity of farmers

To determine optimal moments for selling products

To determine the most profitable markets

To inform farmers on the relation between price and product quality

Nature of information

Wholesale price (sale price by wholesalers)

Price differences between products of different quality

Site of information collection

Provincial market: Vinh Kim (Tien Giang), Tam Binh (Vinh Long), Phong Dien (Can Tho), Go Quao (Kien Giang), Tam Vu (Long An), Thuan Nam (Binh Thuan), Bien Hoa (Dong Nai).

City market: Cau Muoi and/or Tam Binh (HCMCC)

Total: 9 markets

Fruits Longan, orange, mandarin, grapefruit, mango, dragon fruit, banana, star apple (vu sua), pineapple, sapodilla

Total: 11 fruits

Collection method Interview of 3 wholesalers, average price of these 3 wholesalers

Time: 4am-5am for night markets (HCMC)

8am-9am for day markets

A surveyor/ market (part-time work)

See the enclosed questionnaire for price collection with different criteria for product classification.

Mode of disseminating information from collection site to the Information Centre

Information is sent to ICARD by telephone, fax, email just after the survey

Information analysis and processing

An expert from ICARD is responsible for receiving, storing and processing information around 10:00-14:00.

Information dissemination modes

By television from 19:00-21:00 in the same day and by radio from 5:00-6:00 am in the following morning.

Updating information in the website

Sending emails to subscribed organizations and individuals.

It is suggested that this information be accompanied by some comments explaining price fluctuation reasons also conferences be organised on the subject, broadcast on television and radio


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Table 17- Forecasting for fruits market

Objective To guide farmers to choose the harvest moment and location for sale To guide farmers to choose which fruits to produce to respond to market needs To provide extension officers with useful information to aid their technical support to farmers

Nature of information Seasonal calendar for products: moment for harvest and supplying areas for markets Weekly forecast or at least monthly forecast List of variables susceptible to impact on product supply in the market. It is possible to cooperate with research institutes and universities on this topic Information about fruit supply in the local and foreign markets which are susceptible to influence the supply: demand and price

Place of information collection

Districts that supply markets (select according to area and quantity produced)

Fruits Longan, orange, mandarin, grapefruit, mango, dragon fruit, banana, star apple, pineapple, sapodilla Total: 11 fruits

Collection method Based on data provided by extension services, research institutes, producers’ groups. This helps experts understand the calendar, production and possible fruit quantities in a given moment Consulting experts on fruits prices in international markets (VINAFRUIT, SOFRI, CIRAD…)

Mode of disseminating information from collection site to the Information Centre Information analysis and processing

To send reports to ICARD for analysis, synthesis and compilation in a newsletter


Through newsletters and workshops with professional associations, agriculture extensions services


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Table 18- Market Information System for daily vegetables prices

Nature of information Wholesale price (sale price by wholesalers) Place of collected information

Selection criteria: - position of market in the distribution system - accessibility for farmers in the region

Regional markets: Da Lat market, Don Duong (Lam Dong) Urban markets: Cau Muoi and/or Tam Binh Total: 5 markets

Vegetables Selection criteria: - The importance of market need - The potential development of the vegetable in the

market Salad, Choy sum, mustard, kangkong, cabbage, long cabbage, green onion, cucumber, gherkin, watermelon, bitter gourd, round tomato Total: 12 vegetables

Collection method Interview three wholesalers from scattered places in the market, average price of these three wholesalers is taken Collection time:

- from 2:00-3:00 for night market (HCMC) - from 6:00-7:00 for day markets. 1 interviewer working

part-time in a market Mode of disseminating information from collection site to the Information Centre

Information is sent by telephone, fax, email just after the interview

Information analysis and processing

An expert is responsible for receiving, compiling and processing of information around 10:00-14:00


- By television from 19:00-21:00 - By radio from 5:00-6:00 in the morning - Internet - Sending emails to subscribed organizations and

individuals, local agriculture extension services so that they can post on local information boards


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Table 19- Forecast of trends for vegetables market

Objective To guide farmers to choose the optimum harvest moment and market for sale Guiding farmers to produce crops that correspond to market demand To provide agriculture extension officers useful information for technical support to farmers

Information nature Seasonal calendar for products: moment to harvest and supply zones for markets Weekly forecast or at least monthly forecast is desirable List of variables that impact on the product supply in the market by cooperating with research institutes and universities on this topic Information about vegetable supply in local and foreign markets which may influence supply, demand or price

Site of information collection

Don Duong, Duc Trong districts for tomato Da Lat city for cabbage, green onion Bien Hoa (Dong Nai) for leafy vegetables, gherkin, cucumber Chau Thanh district (Tieng Giang) for leafy vegetables, watermelon Cu Chi district (HCMC) for leafy vegetables

Vegetables Salad, Choy sum, mustard, kangkong, cauliflower, long cauliflower, green onion, cucumber, gherkin, watermelon, bitter gourd, round tomato Total: 12 vegetables

Collection method Analysing data provided by agriculture extension officers, research institutes and producers associations to understand the season, production and possible vegetable quantity at any given moment Consulting experts on fruits price in international markets (VINAFRUIT, SOFRI, CIRAD…)

Mode of disseminating information from collection site to the Information Centre Information analysis and processing

Sending reports to ICARD who analyse, synthesize, compile and publish in a newsletter.


Newsletter and workshops with producers groups and agriculture extension services.

Market information system dissemination from the Hanoi Agriculture and Rural development Department to four project sites

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MARKET INFORMATION DISSEMINATION FROM THE HANOI AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

DEPARTMENT TO FOUR PROJECT SITES

Prepared by Mai Thi Phuong Anh Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (HDARD)

Presentation in the Workshop on vegetable MICS (Market Information and Consultation Systems), RIFAV, Hanoi, May 9-13, 2005

I. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITY

Demand for vegetables is increasing particularly in Hanoi area. This is a big opportunity for farmers in Hanoi and around Hanoi to increase their income by expanding their scale of production. Nevertheless, farmers involved in vegetable production still can not enhance their living standard. This is because they lack information about consumption demand, volume, at what price they can sell their product and which markets will give them opportunities to earn more. To make agriculture more profitable, it is not only necessary to change the agricultural structure and import new advanced technologies but also to help farmers to access market channels.

In the framework of the SUSPER project (AVRDC/CIRAD/French MOFA) and the Market Development Component, we conducted work on market information dissemination. Firstly, it is implemented at four project sites in Hanoi; namely Tien Duong (Dong Anh – Hanoi), Dong Du (Gia Lam, Hanoi), Tien Phong (Me Linh - Vinh Phuc) and Vo Cuong (Bac Ninh). These are traditional vegetable production areas and supply a large volume of vegetables to Hanoi City.

The purpose of this activity is as follows: to help farmers in project sites have access to market information about vegetable markets and prices to decide what kind of vegetables to produce and when to produce. Additionally, to supply information about when it is most profitable to go to the urban market to sell, and to bargain better prices with suppliers.


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Our activity is to gather price information from RIFAV and send it to contact farmers in 4 project sites. Then the contact farmers inform other farmers by means which are suitable to the local conditions (megaphone, public notice board). Besides this, farmers have access to price information through television (see presentation by ICARD).

The time for information dissemination by loudspeaker is quite different, e.g., in Dong Du 5 – 6pm every day (except on the days when the responsible person is busy). In Tien Duong the broadcasting is once every two days (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) at 6 pm and 5.30 a.m. on the following day and in Tien Phong at 6 am every day.

Table 20- Mode of dissemination of market information at each site Tien Duong Dong Du Tien Phong Vo Cuong Name of contact person

Mr Thu Mrs Nhinh Mr Trung Mr Ty

Position of contact person

Head of Le Phap cooperative

Vice-head of Dong Du cooperative

Head of Tien Phong cooperative

Head of farmers’ association

Mode of dissemination

loudspeaker loudspeaker loudspeaker loudspeaker

Frequency of dissemination

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Everyday in 2004, then every 2 days

everyday Everyday (until 2006)

From the pilot sites of the SUSPER project, we can evaluate the best way to disseminate market information to farmers so it can be expanded to all farmers in the planned peri-urban vegetable production area in the future.

Finally the activity helps measure the farmers’ potential increase in income through off-season tomato production by applying advanced grafting techniques.

After 10 months of activity, we have gained some experience to present in this workshop.

We conducted a survey of 25 farmers in each of the 4 project sites. The farmers were chosen by project site collaborators (heads of cooperatives) and may not be representative of all farmers in the area. Some general information on these farmers is given in table 21.


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Table 21- Some indications of surveyed farmers

No

Parameter Unit Ave. Tien Duong

Dong Du Tien Phong

Vo Cuong

1 Number of labourers in family unit

Person 2.5 2.56 1.84 2.27 3.47

2 Total agricultural land sao 5.5 6.06 5.84 7.09 3.03 3 Vegetable cultivated

land Sao 2.0 1.42 1.76 2.55 2.24

4 Percentage of veg. area per agricultural land

% 40.8 23.4 30.1 35.90 73.90

5 Production of vegetables per year

quinta 25.5 18.46 34.80 20.29 28.32

6 Revenue from vegetable production

VND1000 6813.20 4212.00 13776.00 5059.00 4205.60

7 Average income from Veg. Production

VND1000 /sao

3460.60 3682.80 7672.67 2096.00 1956.60

8 Average income per labourer

VND1000 3137.50 1739.30 7251.43 2253.00 1306.10

9 Nature of vegetable production

Tomatoes, kohlrabi, cabbages, snap bean, leafy cabbages

different kinds of spice vegetables

Early cabbage, early kohlrabi, tomatoes, snap bean, leafy cabbage...

Cauliflower, tomatoes, kangkong, leafy cabbage…

Note: 1 sao equal to 360m2. The surveys were of 25 farm (ers) at each project site

Table 21 reflects that in the peri-urban area of Hanoi, farmers have a limited area of land for agricultural activity; vegetables grown are tomatoes, cabbage, and leafy cabbage. Except in Dong Du where high value spice vegetables are grown (farmers’ income from this production is much higher than farmers in other places). Vegetables account for 23% of available land in Tien Duong, 30% in Dong Du, 36% in Tien Phong and 74% in Vo Cuong.


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Table 22-Availability and use of disseminated market information

No Parameter Total Tien Duong

Dong Du

Tien Phong

Vo Cuong

Total interviewees 100 25 25 25 25

1 Do you regularly receive price information?

- yes 100 25 25 25 25

- no 0

2 If yes, in what way do you receive information?

- community newspaper: 40 20 20

- megaphone system at these sites

66 25 14 22 5

- directly from the information receiver (contact farmer)

5 2 3

3 Does the market information create opportunity to sell your product more easily?

- yes 95 22 25 23 25

- no 5 3 2

4 Does the market information create opportunity to sell your product at higher price?

- yes 73 21 6 23 23

- no 27 4 19 2 2

5 Does the market information create opportunity to sell more products (higher volume)?

- yes 82 25 15 19 23

- no 18 10 6 2

Most farmers interviewed in the project sites receive the market information through loud speakers in their locality or through bulletins. 95% of farmers said that the market information creates opportunity for them to sell produce. 73% can sell their products at a higher price and 82% can sell more vegetables when they have market information. The farmers in Dong Du who grow spice vegetables have little opportunity to sell their products at higher price and greater volume, because their outlets are already secure and with high prices.

All farmers interviewed declared that they were satisfied with the present activity of market dissemination. 53% want to receive market information every day while 44% like to have it every two days. Most farmers like the present way of receiving the information by loudspeaker, some prefer television (at noon or in the evening) or radio.

The disadvantages of present announcement systems are indicated below:


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- Sometimes the products can not be sold even with price information - Sometimes the disseminated price information is not correct - Price information of more products should be disseminated

As this assessment seemed “too good to be true”, we had some doubt about the representation of interviewed farmers. So we had a field trip to check the information.

Table 23- Satisfaction with market information dissemination

Parameter

Total Tien Duong

Dong Du

Tien Phong

Vo Cuong

% person person person person

Total interviewees 100 25 25 25 25

1 Are you satisfied with the present active market information

100 25 25 25 25

2 At what interval do you like to receive the information

every day 53 10 12 7 24

Every two days

44 14 11 18 1

Every three days

1 1

once per week

1 1

3 Which media do you prefer By loudspeaker

92 17 25 25 25

other 18 8 10

4 If other to be chosen, what media do you propose

Radio 10 10

TV at noon or evening

20 8 1 5 6

5 Other suggestion

II. RESULTS OF THE FIELD TRIP

On May 7th, 2005, a field trip was organized, participating were Dr. Moustier and Dr. Phuong Anh. The group went to 3 places namely Dong Du, Tien Duong and Tien Phong. At each site the questions were given by Dr. Moustier or Dr. Phuong Anh to the information receiver. When all required information was obtained, the group went to visit some farmers randomly on the field and


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interview them according to the same questionnaire. The field trip identified two groups of farmers.

1. Farmers having access to the market information (the heads of the 3 cooperatives plus one farmer in Tien Phong)

- They have access to price information both through local megaphone system and VTV2 and Hanoi Television. Some farmers do not have access to price information through local megaphones but sometimes they hear it through TV channels.

- The market information helps farmers to negotiate with vegetable collectors when selling wholesale and get a higher price when selling retail at local markets. In these ways, they can increase their income.

- The information advises them to change their crop structure and growing season. Through market price and demand, the informed farmers grow crops that they have never grown before, resulting in significantly increased income.

2. Farmers having no access to market information (2 farmers in Dong Du, 1 in Tien Duong, 1 in Tien Phong)

Some farmers have no information about the disseminated market information, for the following reasons:

- They sell their products to collectors and trust them. - They live far from local loudspeakers. - Some farmers in Dong Du are specialized in growing aromatic crops, e.g.,

Mui tau – parsley – Eryngium foetium L or Rau ram - water pepper – Polygonum odoratum; Rau ngo – Enydra – Enydra fluctuals or Tia To – Balm mint – Perilla flutescens or Kinh gioi – sweet marioram – Elsholtzia ciliata Hyland etc). These spice crops are valuable and they have no marketing problem.

III. CONCLUSIONS AND COMMENTS Dissemination by loudspeaker and television of market price information is effective in creating opportunities for some farmers to access the market. But, not all farmers have access to market information.


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- The leaders of communes still do not inform each farmer enough of market information through local megaphone.

- TV stations broadcast market information at 5 p.m. in the afternoon. This not suitable to the farmers. It is the time when farmers are working in the fields, and collectors and wholesalers are collecting products.

Finally, the dissemination of information from HDARD to 4 communities by telephone takes a lot of time. A more suitable means is by fax, or television. Farmers need to be more informed on the availability of vegetable price information. After the workshop (in September 2005), a flyer listing the times of TV broadcasts was distributed to farmers. Table 24-Areas where flyers informing about TV broadcast times were distributed

Farmers Number of flyers distributed Dong Du 198 Tien Duong 251 Tien Phong 275 Dang Xa 35 Van Noi 17 Soc Son 7 Linh Nam and Duyen Ha 44 Traders in wholesale markets (Long Bien and Den Lu)

70

Total 897

An impact survey on a representative sample of farmers has been conducted some months after the distribution of the flyers. The results, which were obtained after the workshop, are included in the next presentation.


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DEBATE

Q1: You have divided farmers into 2 groups: the ones with access and the ones without access to market information. For the second one, if the information was available for them, would they want to listen to it? (Mrs. Chan Sipana)

A1: They don’t have access to the information because at the time of its broadcasting, they are busy working in the field. In Dong Du, many farmers only grow one kind of vegetable (eryngium) so farmers do not care much about the price information of other vegetables (Mrs Phuong Anh).

Q2: I am surprised about the number of farmers who cannot hear the price information on the loud speaker. Is it possible to put the information on public notice boards? (Mr. Boun-Tieng Ly)

A2: We were also surprised. There are about 4 loudspeakers in a big commune but because of strong winds, some farmers don’t hear them. In Dong Du information is broadcast everyday at 6pm, in Tien Duong 3 days a week at 5.30 am and in Tien Phong everyday at 6 am. Mrs. Phuong Anh will spend more time in the project sites to better grasp the situation of the loudspeakers.

The information is not published on public notice boards because farmers often return from farm work late. They are tired and have to go home to do housework so they cannot pay attention to the board. Also according to experience with information dissemination on public notice boards in Cambodia, farmers do not use it much (Mrs. Sokhen & Dr. Paule Moustier).

Impact assessment of SUSPER vegetable Market Information System

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IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE SUSPER VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEM

Mai Thi Phuong Anh, Hanoi Agricultural and Rural Development Department (HDARD) P. Moustier, CIRAD11

I. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD

In the framework of the SUSPER project (AVRDC/CIRAD/French MOFA) and MALICA consortium, vegetable market information has been distributed for one and a half years to four project sites. These are Tien Duong (Dong Anh – Hanoi); Dong Du (Gia Lam, Ha Noi), Tien Phong (Me Linh - Vinh Phuc) and Vo Cuong (Bac Ninh)12 which are traditional vegetable production areas and supply a large volume of vegetables to Hanoi City.

In order to evaluate the impact of this activity some executives of the Hanoi Agricultural and Rural Development Department who are not collaborators of the project surveyed a total of 100 farmers, collectors and wholesalers. They operated in three project sites and also in four non project sites (Van Noi, Dang Xa, Linh Nam, Duyen Ha), and in two wholesale markets (see sample details in table 25). Non-project sites were included because information reached all Hanoi provinces, not only the project sites, through television broadcasting. A large number of farmers and traders have been informed by SUSPER on television broadcasting in the selected sites (see previous presentation). The interviewees were randomly chosen, a child from each village served as a guide to the households producing vegetables, in different places well distributed in the village. The questionnaire was tested in December 2005 and the survey took place in March 2006. 11 This report, written in May 2006, was added to the proceedings. 12 The latter was dropped as a project site for market information dissemination in January 2006 due to lack of interest of the farmers, as most of their outlets are outside Hanoi.


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Table 25-Sample distribution for MIS impact evaluation

Number interviewed Number interviewed No

Place (production

area) Total Farmer Collect-

or

No Place (market) Total Wholesaler Collector-

Wholesaler Farmer

1 Dong Du 20 18 2 9 Den Lu Market

10 2 4 4

2 Tien Duong 20 20 0 10 Long Bien Market

10 3 3 4

3 Tien Phong 20 18 2 Subtotal 20 5 7 8 4 Xuan Giang 8 8 0 5 Dang Xa 3 3 0 6 Van Noi 3 3 0 7 Linh Nam 3 3 0 8 Duyen Ha 3 3 0 Subtotal 80 76 4 Total 100 5 11 84

Among the four farmers interviewed in Long Bien, three come from Gia Lam (two from Dong Du and one from Thac Ban), and one from Ha Tay (Thuong Tin). In Den Lu market, three farmers are from Hung Yen (Van Giang district), and one from Ha Tay (Thuong Tin). All collectors are also vegetable farmers. The interview focused on present marketing strategies, the availability, use and usefulness of market information, and propositions to improve it. It is quite difficult to clearly separate the answers on access to information, and on the use of information, as the stakeholders do not know that the information is available as long as they don’t use it. This is quite apart from the traders interviewed in the wholesale markets, as a lot of them (eight out of twenty) declared that they have access to market information but they do not use it. By contrast, all farmers interviewed in the field who declared that they have access to price information also use it.

II. MAIN RESULTS

Farm characteristics The 80 farmers interviewed in the field have the following characteristics:

- Farm area is between 5 and 10 sao- that is 1,800 to 3,600 m² (45 farmers, i.e., 56%) or between 3 and 5 sao – that is, 1,000 to 2,000 m² (30 farmers, i.e., 37%)


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- Vegetable area is comprised between 2 and 4 sao that is 720 and 1,500 m² for 37 farmers (46%), one sao (360 m²) for 16 farmers (20%), 1 to 2 sao (360 to 700 m²) for 12 farmers (15%) and 4 to 10 sao (1,500 to 3,600 m²) for 13 farmers (16%).

The eight farmers interviewed in the wholesale markets have a farm area between 3 and 5 sao, except for two farmers who have more than 5 sao. The majority of farmers (54%) have two people working on the farm, the rest have more than two people (26%) or one person (19%). The farmers interviewed in the wholesale markets all have two or more than two people working on the farm. Farmers grow a combination of vegetables, always including leafy vegetables, e.g., ca ingot, and sometimes including different types of cabbages, and temperate vegetables, e.g., tomato.

Marketing strategy The main way to sell vegetables is through collectors (60% of farmers), in the field or at home. The other common way is selling to wholesalers (47%), at the village market, at night markets, or at home. Some farmers (46%) also sell to retailers at village or city wholesale markets. Direct sales to consumers apply to 18% of farmers, mostly at village markets. More than half the interviewed farmers (54%) combine different marketing strategies (see table 26).

Table 26-Nature of farmers’ buyer

Percentage Collector 25% Collector and wholesaler 15% Wholesaler 12% Collector and retailer 11% Wholesaler and retailer 9% Retailer 9% Collectors, retailers, wholesalers 1% Consumers and other actors 18% Incl.:

Wholesalers and retailers 4% Retailers 4% Collectors 1% Collectors and retailers 3% Wholesalers 1% Collectors, wholesalers and retailers

5%


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The sellers interviewed in the wholesale markets sell to wholesalers, retailers and to consumers in the wholesale market. 80% of them have regular relations with their buyers. 65% of the farmers interviewed in the field declare that they have regular relationships with their buyers. Three collectors out of four have regular relationships with their buyers. In total, 68% of the interviewed have regular relationships with their buyers.

Access to market information Out of the 100 interviewed, 78 have access to vegetable price information, mostly from television (for 74 interviewed). Out of the 76 farmers interviewed in the field, 55, i.e., 72% have access to vegetable price information (table 27). This is also the case for 3 of the four interviewed collectors. The same percentage applies to project sites and non project sites, but the situation is diverse across the non project sites (no access to information declared in Dang Xa, access to information declared by all farmers in Van Noi and Duyen Ha).

Table 27-Percentage of farmers with access to vegetable price information

Place Number interviewed

Percentage of farmers with access to vegetable price information

Dong Du 18 67% Tien Duong 20 75% Tien Phong 18 89% Van Noi 3 100% Duyen Ha 3 100% Dang Xa 3 0 Linh Nam 3 67% Xuan Gia 8 75% Total 76 72%

Among farmers with access to vegetable price information (72% of farmers in the field), all have access to information through television (VTV2 and HTV). The other sources are the loudspeaker (for 47% of farmers in the project sites) and the village traders (for 35% of farmers).

Two collectors out of three have access to price information through television, two via village traders and one uses the loudspeaker.

In the project sites, a high percentage of farmers have access to price information through VTV2 television (92%), while Hanoi television is used by


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a high percentage of non project site farmers (79%). Access to loudspeakers is more common in Dong Du where 11 farmers use it, i.e., 91% of farmers having access to price information, while the percentage is 33% in Tien Duong and 25% in Tien Phong.

Among the 19 farmers listening to price information broadcasted by loudspeakers, five listen to it everyday, five listen to it several times per week, one several times per month, and the rest did not answer.

Farmers declare that broadcasting information by loudspeaker is less convenient than by television, because of the time of broadcasting (5 p.m.) when they are busy in the field, and also not all farmers live close to loudspeakers.

Table 28-Means of access to vegetable price information

Louds-peaker

Television

Village traders

Total number of traders with access to vegetable price

information All sites Number 19 55 19 55 Percentage 35% 100% 35% Project sites Number 19 40 9 40 Percentage 47% 100% 22% Non-project sites

Number 0 14 10 14

Percentage 0 100% 71%

Table 29-Television channel used for vegetable price information

VTV2 television

HTV television

Total number of traders with

access to vegetable price

information All sites Number 46 34 55 Percentage 84% 62% Project sites Number 37 23 41 Percentage 92% 57% Non project sites

Number 9 11 14

Percentage 64% 79%


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Among the farmers using price information from television, 62% watch the programme everyday, 25% some times during the week, and 4% some times a month (while 8% did not answer). As regards the farmers and traders interviewed in the wholesale markets, all of them have access to vegetable price information. Information through television is available for seventeen out of twenty stakeholders, i.e., 85%, mostly through VTV2 (75% of answers), while 35% of the interviewed quote HTV. Out of 13 answers relative to the frequency of audience, 54% declare once per day, while the rest declares several times per week. It is interesting to note that the percentage of information users is higher among the ones with regular buyers (43%) relative to the ones without regular buyers (19%). It is also much more important for the farmers with larger size (82% for farmers having more than 2 sao of vegetables), than for farmers with lower size (57%).

Use of vegetable price information From the forty-eight farmers giving details on the use of vegetable price information (out of a total of 55 farmers using price information), all declare they use it for better negotiations with the buyers, thirty-two mention the choice of adequate vegetables to produce and sell, while thirteen mention the impact of price information on their decision to go or not to go to wholesale markets to sell. Some answers relative to the choice of adequate vegetables are detailed below:

- in Tien Phong (11 answers out of 18 interviewed farmers): changes mostly relate to shifting from tomato to wax gourd in the rainy season;

- in Tien Duong (7 answers out of 20 interviewed farmers): changes from kohlrabi to grafted tomato in the rainy season; and also changes from leafy-vegetables to spice vegetables;

- in Van Noi (one answer out of 3 interviewed farmers): growing early season cabbage and early season tomato

50 farmers indicate positive effects of the access to price information:

- ability to get higher prices, quoted by 38 farmers

- less time spent on transport, quoted by 36 farmers

- more favourable bargaining with collectors, quoted by 45 farmers Out of seventeen traders at the wholesale markets having access to price information, nine declare they don’t use it because of the frequent variations of supply in the market, especially due to weather changes, that generate quickly


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changing prices (two collectors and one farmer) or say they go to the market everyday so they know the price (two wholesalers and one collector), and one collector. As regards the eight traders using price information, six say they use it to get better bargaining conditions, three to decide to go or not to go to the wholesale market, four to decide the types of vegetables to grow. Three say it helps them get higher prices, and five say it helps them have better conditions with the buyer. Three collectors say they don’t use it because they have regular buyers. From 20 farmers giving reasons for not using price information (out of a total of 21 declaring they don’t use it), the following are given:

- Farmers have regular relationships with their buyers and follow prices indicated by their buyer (7 answers)

- They follow the price of the village market (5 answers) or the price indicated by their neighbours who trade (2 answers)

- Prices collected are not adapted to their situation in terms of place of sale (4 answers) or products (1)

- They don’t have time to get this information (2 answers)

Recommendations Farmers proposed the following recommendations to make price broadcasting as useful as possible:

- Continue dissemination of price information everyday by television (52 answers) or loudspeaker (19 answers)

- disseminate price information once every two days by television (five answers) or loudspeaker (4 answers)

The preferred time for dissemination are indicated below: - 7:30 to 8 p.m.: 43 answers – and 47% of the total interviewed - 12 p.m.: 24 answers – and 25% of total answers - 6 a.m.: 14 answers – 7% of total answers - 6:30 p.m.: 5 answers

III. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The study has demonstrated that a majority of farmers and traders have access to vegetable price information through television and they use it for marketing decisions, especially for bargaining with their buyers, and also for crop planning purposes. The ones not using it are characterised by low size of


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production (less than 700 m²) and regular relationships with the buyers. As the Hanoi vegetable price information originates from SUSPER, its interruption will cause some negative effects on the farmers and traders, so a way has to be found to continue this dissemination. The study suggests that television is a sufficient way to broadcast the information, and that the loudspeakers may not be necessary, as a majority of those interviewed listen to the information through television, in the project sites as well as in the non project sites. As regards farmers’ recommendations to have price information disseminated everyday at 7:30, it needs to be discussed with HTV2, as this time of the day is in high demand by television broadcasters. Whatever the future of the SUSPER vegetable MIS, a positive impact will have been a better appreciation by the farmers of the crops with high prices at different times of the year, and also possibly the incentive to organise themselves to check price information in the market.

Summary of SUSPER Hanoi vegetable market information and consultation system

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SUMMARY OF SUSPER HANOI VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION

SYSTEM Paule Moustier, CIRAD- May 2006

I. DEFINITION The vegetable market information and consultation system (MICS) is a system of regular collection, analysis and dissemination of information relevant for public and private decision-making on marketing, combined with the organization of debates among/between farmers, traders and development agents to develop strategies on vegetable marketing.

II. RATIONALE The importance of market information for adjusting supply and demand and enhancing farmers’ bargaining power in the face of traders has been raised by various authors in the economics and marketing field. Yet an overview by the FAO showed that most market information systems around the world are little used especially by farmers. The reasons include the low reliability and timeliness of collected price data, especially for perishable products and the poor dissemination of information. Conditions explaining the success of some market information systems, e.g., the Indonesian MIS, or MANOBI in Senegal, include speedy dissemination, keeping the system simple and low cost, combining market information with technical information and stakeholders’ consultation about strategies to take advantage of market opportunities, conducting a preliminary and an impact assessment, and the combining of public and private funding.

III. OBJECTIVES AND BENEFICIARIES Market information systems developed in SUSPER project focuses on two objectives (see Table 30)

(1) Medium-term planning by farmers and development agents of targeted crops, markets and periods by identifying untapped opportunities reflected in timely variations of origin, quantity, prices. Also the supply and demand for


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quality characteristics of purchasers, and more generally, strategies to improve the competitiveness of local chains relative to imports.

(2) Short-term decisions, mostly of farmers, in terms of price bargaining and choice of final markets.

Table 30- Adapting collected information to various needs

Medium-term planning Short-term decision Nature of decision Targeted crops

Targeted markets Targeted period

Bargaining prices Choice of final markets Harvest versus storage

Beneficiaries Farmers Extension agents Input suppliers Policy makers

Farmers (esp.) Consumers Traders

Nature of market information

Calendar of prices/quantities/origin Quality preferences of purchasers

Daily prices Indicators of surplus/deficits

Nature of non market information

Technical information Information on credit programmes

In the two first years of the project, we particularly focused on medium-term planning objectives through the gathering of information on market seasonality. Then consultation of farmers and traders through stakeholder workshops enabled us to identify the demand for short-term decision-making information. This led to the establishment of the daily price information system in Hanoi in May 2003; while in parallel ICARD/MISPA was establishing fruit and vegetable market systems in the South then in Northern Vietnam with CIRAD methodological support. The analysis of market structure and organization, in terms of relationships between farmers and traders was also conducted in the three countries (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). Vegetable exchange is characterized by a combination of spot, small-scale, occasional interactions, and regular relationships, but without rigid commitments in terms of priority sales, volume or pricing, apart from the case of Lam Dong province, so the margin of manoeuvre to use market information in the negotiation with traders and the choice of markets are quite high. A preliminary assessment of stakeholders’ supply and demand for market information was assessed by five stakeholders’ workshops, one gathering a panel of farmers, traders and extension agents, and


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four in each project site13 with farmers and extension agents. Access to daily prices was quoted the most often, for the following uses: targeting periods of high prices in terms of cultivation and harvest (same purpose for calendar data), better negotiation with traders and better accounting and calculation of farmers’ profits (quoted by Vo Cuong farmers about farm gate prices). The preferred means of dissemination by farmers is television.

IV. METHOD

1. Summarised protocol The protocol for SUSPER vegetable MICS is summarized in table 31 and is detailed below. Table 31- Protocol for Hanoi vegetable price system

Nature of data Wholesale prices, retail prices Frequency Daily Products vegetables = tomato (local + imported), cabbage (local + imported),

Choy sum; Chinese cabbage; kangkong; wax gourd; green bean; eggplant; cucumber; fit weed Grading system for all vegetables

Markets Wholesale prices: Long Bien, Den Lu, Dich Vong Retail prices : Thang Cong (prices are intermediary between Mo, popular market, and 19-12, wealthy market); Cuu Viet (peri-urban market)

Method of collection Collection by one contact trader in each market Price collection: 3 traders/market At 4 a.m. for wholesale markets and 9 a.m. for retail markets

Method of data dissemination from contact traders in the market to RIFAV

Telephone

Method of data storage Excel and Oracle (ICARD) Method of data dissemination from RIFAV to ICARD and DA

Transfer by internet (on the same day of data collection) the tables with prices plus simple comments on price trends: and why

Method of data dissemination to farmers and development agents

- Transfer by fax/internet from ICARD to television and from ICARD to DA, and from DA to farmers (on the same day of data collection). - Disseminate the results by three newsletters (one for rainy season 2004, one for winter 2005, one for rainy season 2005), and debate the results of rainy season 2004 in a stakeholder workshop

13 SUSPER concentrates on four project sites: Dong Du (Gia Lam), Vo Cuong (Bac Ninh), Tien Phong (Me Linh) and Tien Duong (Dong Anh).


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2. Method for price collection

Choice of markets

For wholesale price collection, we selected the three major wholesale markets, i.e., Long Bien, the major wholesale market for vegetables of local and imported origin, Den Lu, a planned market set in 2003 in the south of the city, and Dich Vong, a planned wholesale market in the West of the city. Dich Vong was dropped in the late 2005 as prices found in this market are similar to Long Bien prices. In regard to retail prices, we chose Thanh Cong as representative of an urban market for middle-income customers, and Cuu Viet (Gia Lam) as a peri-urban retail market.

Choice of products

After a pilot year in 2004 where tomato, cabbage and Chinese cabbage were monitored, in 2005, we selected ten vegetables, which are most present in the market, and also of the main interest for the farmers of the project sites (for example fit weed, an aromatic vegetable, for Dong Du).

Grading system

For price collection, it is necessary to grade the quality of vegetables: prices vary according to quality characteristics of each vegetable, i.e., criteria that are preferred by sellers and consumers. Physical quality, i.e., product size, shape and colour, is divided into level 1, 2, 3, corresponding to various damage conditions, ripening, regularity, size. This is based on observations and interviews with traders to assess the quality criteria affecting the final prices.

Time of collection

Prices are collected everyday, at peak hours of the markets, i.e., for night wholesale markets, at four to five a.m. and for retail market at 9-10 a.m.

Choice of interviewees

Prices are given by three contact traders located in three scattered areas of the market, by telephone at 10.30 a.m. everyday.


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Control

Every 7 days, on an unexpected basis, the information collector checks the information at the market and checks the prices written in the monitoring books of traders.

3. Method for price dissemination

The system of price dissemination rests upon the collaboration between RIFAV in charge of price collection, ICARD in charge of price dissemination on television and website, and Hanoi Department of Agriculture, in charge of direct transfer to the project sites and impact assessment (see figure 7). The dissemination is by various means which are detailed in the following sections.

Figure 7- Vegetable price collection and dissemination network in Hanoi

Vegetable market newsletters

Information on the state of vegetable markets has been summarized in six newsletters, five focusing on the variations of supply in terms of prices, quantities and origins, and one on quality management. The information deals with the vegetables monitored in the MICS, tomato and cabbage are the vegetables for which information is the most regularly collected.

Wholesalers (wholesale

prices)

Website of MARD

RIFAV

Retailers (retail prices)

ICARD (MARD)

Hanoi Dept.of Agriculture

(DA)

HTV television

Private & public

stakeholders

Producers in project sites


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Table 32-List of SUSPER vegetable market newsletters

Number Year Topic 1 2002 Seasonality of vegetable market in 2002 2 2003 Vegetable quality management 3 2003 Seasonality of vegetable market in 2003 4 2004 Situation of vegetable market in June-December 2004 5 2005 Situation of vegetable market in January-May 2005 6 2005 Situation of vegetable market in June-December 2005

The newsletters are distributed to the heads of cooperatives of the project sites, they are sent by e-mail to a list of project development and research partners, and are on the Agroviet and SUSPER websites.

Agroviet website

The daily price data as well as the newsletters are put daily on Agroviet (http://www.agroviet.gov.vn) and SUSPER websites (http://www.avrdc.org/susper). Agroviet is the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, developed by the Information Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development. It is the official information source on the Internet on agriculture and rural development and agricultural trade promotion in Vietnam.

Television

Price data is sent from ICARD to VTV2 Television every Tuesdays and Fridays (the report compiles the information of the given day and on the three previous days). VTV2 broadcasts ICARD reports everyday, three times a day (at 7:30 a.m., 6:30 p.m. and 23:30 p.m.). On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the price information relates to the previous Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, while on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, it relates to the previous Wednesday, Thursday and Friday14. Daily price data is also broadcast by Hanoi television everyday at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday based on ICARD reports.

14 ICARD would like to transfer price data to VTV2 every day so that it is also broadcast everyday but so far it was not agreed upon by VTV2


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Direct transfer in four project sites

Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is in charge of receiving data from RIFAV and sending it on the same day to farmers in the four SUSPER project sites: Gia Lam (Dong Du), Me Linh (Tien Phong), and Dong Anh (Tien Duong), and Bac Ninh (Vo Cuong)15. The data is sent from the DA to the contact farmers by fax or telephone. The contact farmers disseminate the price data by loudspeaker everyday or at least every two days.

4. Method for stakeholders’ consultation (stakeholders’ workshops)

Five stakeholders’ workshops were organised to present and discuss seasonal information on vegetable supply and demand. One workshop gathered a panel of farmers, traders and extension agents, in April 2003. Four more workshops were held at each project site with farmers and extension agents, in May and June 2003. The workshops enabled presentations and discussions on market seasonality, in particular the times of the year when it is the most profitable to grow the different crops. They enabled a consensus to be reached on the market opportunities that these periods of deficits represent, on the constraints faced to produce and market during these periods of deficits, and on the ways to overcome these constraints. Opportunities to supply the market with tomato and cabbage in the rainy season, when the highest prices are observed as well as imports from China, were especially debated. Other workshops were organised on the topic of safe vegetable marketing, as the marketing of vegetables with guarantees of safety has been identified as an avenue for higher profits by farmers. A workshop on the management of vegetable safety was organised on June 2003. It gathered the heads of the cooperatives of the project sites, plus two safe vegetable cooperatives, seven traders, and around 10 representatives of administration and research. Presentations were made and discussed on the demand for safe vegetables, the present organisation of supplying chains, costs and profits of producing safe and organic vegetables. Two working groups were organised to prepare action plans dealing with the two major identified bottlenecks on quality upgrading, i.e., communication on quality and control of quality. A workshop on the same

15 The latter was dropped as a project site for market information dissemination in January 2006 due to lack of interest of the farmers, as most of their outlets are outside Hanoi.


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topic was also organised in Dong Du in October 2003, with a panel of Dong Du farmers and two traders of safe vegetables of Hanoi.

V. IMPACT ASSESSMENT In order to evaluate the impact of vegetable pric dissemination, a survey on the availability and use of vegetable price data was conducted in March 2006 by Hanoi Agricultural and Rural Development Department. A total of 100 farmers, collectors and wholesalers in three sites of the project and also in four non project sites (Van Noi, Dang Xa, Linh Nam, Duyen Ha), and in two wholesale markets were surveyed. The survey demonstrates that a majority (74%) of farmers and traders have access to vegetable price information through television. The users listen to television everyday (62%) or several times a week (25%). The price information is used for marketing decisions, especially for bargaining with their buyers, and also for crop planning purposes. The actors not using vegetable price data are characterised by a low area for production (less than 700 m²) and regular relationships with the buyers. The study suggests that television is a sufficient way to broadcast the information, and that the loudspeakers may not be necessary, as a majority of interviewed listen to the information through television, in the project sites as well as in the non project sites. Farmers recommend having price information disseminated everyday at 7:30. This needs to be discussed with HTV2, as this time of the day is in high demand by television broadcasters.

VI. COST AND MANAGEMENT At the moment SUSPER MICS involves the following human resources: - three persons from RIFAV (part-time) for system management:

o 1 responsible for running the system o 1 responsible for data storage, checking and transmission o 1 responsible of data collection from contact persons, newsletter

preparation and dissemination - 1 person of ICARD, part-time, for data dissemination on ICARD website

and television - 1 person from the DA, part-time, for data dissemination on the project sites

(until January 2006) - 1 international expert for methodological support


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- 3 contact persons/market, 4 markets16 - 1 contact person/project site, 3 project sites (until January 2006). The total cost of the system is around 8000 $ per year (6500 $ without direct transfer to the project sites), for the collection and dissemination of the wholesale and retail prices of ten vegetables in four Hanoi markets17. VII. PROSPECTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SUSPER will end in July 2006. The interruption of vegetable price information will cause negative effects on the farmers and traders, as a majority of them use this information for bargaining with their buyers and adapting their cropping and transport decisions to the situation of the market. So a way has to be found to continue this dissemination on a long-term basis – which is commonly the mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture.

16 Except in Cuu Viet market, where there is only one contact trader, but where price information is checked regularly by the team as the market is close from RIFAV. 17 Without cost of international expertise.

Market analysis for freshwater and marine fish in Ho Chi Minh City- the basis of a MIS

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MARKET ANALYSIS FOR FRESHWATER AND MARINE FISH IN HO CHI MINH CITY

THE BASIS OF A MIS

Bui Thi Phuong Thao, Le Thanh Hung, Nguyen Thi Thanh Truc

University of Agriculture and Forestry, HCMC

I. OBJECTIVES - To understand the general status of marketing channels of freshwater and

marine fish in Ho Chi Minh City. - To analyse the factors that might have impact on the development of the

marketing channels of freshwater and marine fish in HCMC. - To set the basis of farmers’ information on price quantity and origin

variation

II. METHODOLOGY A rapid survey was done in 2002 on 57 wholesalers selling freshwater and marine fish in HCMC wholesale markets for fish (Cau Ong Lanh, Xom Cui, San Ca 50, Hoa Binh), to define the sources of fish and in order to gather information about quantity sold and price.


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Interviews were carried out with 38 collectors (27 for freshwater fish and 11 for marine fish) in some provinces, including Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Phan Thiet, etc., to collect data on production, transportation means, seasonality, prices and the sources of supply. Interviews were also conducted with 198 retailers of freshwater fish (3 retailers/ per retail market) and 132 retailers of marine fish (2 retailers/ per retail market) at 66 retail markets of 22 districts in urban/peri-urban HCMC. Retailers of fish were selected based on the fish species they sell, including freshwater fish (snake head, red tilapia, hybrid catfish, and common carp) and marine fish (tuna, mackerel, snapper). This is aimed at defining the sold quantity and price, consumed species and sources of supply. The results of this study are presented in the report by Mrs Thao and Mrs Truc on fish marketing in Ho Chi Minh City (forthcoming) and are summarized below.

III. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF WHOLESALE MARKETS IN HCMC In HCMC, there are 4 main fish wholesale markets: Ground 50 market, Xom Cui market, Hoa Binh market, Cau Ong Lanh market. The quantities distributed by each market are indicated in table 33.

Table 33- Fish quantities distributed by wholesale markets in 2002

Market Freshwater fish (ton) Marine fish (ton) Hoa Binh 0 4.452 Xom Cui 5.257 7.335 Cau Ong Lanh 1.336 11.949 San Ca 50 3.202 0 Total 9.795 23.736


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Figure 8- Freshwater fish and marine fish market share in wholesale markets

In 2002, the Trading Department of HCMC has made a plan to move all wholesale markets from urban to peri-urban districts. Currently, ten wholesale markets have been planned to move to 3 big wholesale markets, including Thu Duc wholesale market with 21.5 ha area, Binh Dien wholesale market specialising in fishery products with 65 ha and another in Hoc Mon district with 10 ha (operating from October 2003).

IV. MARKETING CHAINS OF FISH CONSUMPTION Fish marketing follows a classical organization of collectors, wholesalers and retailers (see Figure 9).

Figure 9- Fish marketing chain

PRODUCERS

WHOLESALER COLLECTOR

RESTAURANT/CANTEEN RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

WHOLESALERS RESTAURANT/CANTEEN

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

CANTEEN

29.22%

78.78%

Freshwater f ish Marine f is


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Wholesale markets receive freshwater fish primarily from Mekong Delta provinces including: An Giang, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Long An, Ca Mau, etc. Of these provinces, An Giang and Tien Giang supply the highest proportion of freshwater fish to HCMC, accounting for 30.55% & 23.91% of total supply (see figure 10 and figure 11). Peri-urban areas account for 5.5% of freshwater supply (Binh Chanh, Quan 9, Cu Chi and Thu Duc being the most important suppliers) – see figure 12.

Figure 10- Origin of freshwater fish sold in Ho Chi Minh City

Figure 11- Mekong Delta provinces supplying freshwater fish to HCMC

Supplying percentages of Freshwaterfish from province to HCMC

82.60%

11.90% 5.50%

Mekong DeltaThe South East provinces Peri-Urban Districts

Dong Thap24.72%

Can Tho0.89%

Tien Giang11.61%

Long An10.07%Ca Mau

16.97%

An Giang35.74%


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Figure 12- Fish supply from the peri-urban areas of HCMC

For marine fish, Ba Ria – Vung Tau distributes the highest proportion of supply to HCMC (35%) as it has location and transportation advantages.

Figure 13- Marine fish supply to HCMC

The second largest supplier is Kien Giang province representing 21% of marine fish supply to HCMC. It has a long coastline and high production from off-shore capture fisheries.

V. FISH PRICE VARIATIONS Fish price is affected by season, quantity, special days in the year, fish size and freshness. The minimum and maximum prices of freshwater fish in 2003 are indicated in table 34. The main season for freshwater is from July to October, while the period of deficit is from April to May.

Quan 918.10%

Cu Chi16.49%

Hoc Mon13.12%

Binh Chanh24.98%

Thu Duc16.41%

Quan 1210.90%

15%

21%

11%10%5%

35%

3%

Phan Thiet Kien GiangDong Thap My ThoCa Mau Ba Ria -Vung TauOther Provinces


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Table 34- Fish price variation

Species Price in season Price off season ± P % of variation

Other carps

Tilapia

Pangasius catfish

Hybrid catfish

Common carp

Cultured snakehead

Spot snakehead

River catfish

Red Tilapia

Feather back

Climbing perch

7000

8000

8000

11000

14000

15000

18000

19000

19000

18000

25000

8000

9000

10000

12000

16000

19000

19000

23000

22000

30000

28000

1000

1000

2000

1000

2000

4000

1000

4000

3000

12000

3000

14%

12%

25%

9%

14%

27%

5%

21%

16%

67%

12%

Price of each species varies between the season of abundance and the season of deficit. Especially, the price of feather back varies significantly. The price in the season is about 18,000 VND but outside this season, it is up to 30,000 VND.

Price of cultured snakehead, river catfish and climbing perch are also different, by about 3,000 - 4,000 VND/kg, when comparing the two seasons. Other species have a smaller price differential of 1,000 – 2,000 VND/kg. Besides the snakehead, the climbing perch is the species most preferred by consumers though its price may vary a lot depending on season, with an average price of 26,500 VND/kg.

In contrast with river fish, the period of deficit for marine fish is the rainy season. Besides this, marine fish prices fluctuate daily depending on the volume of fish available in the market. The lowest, average and highest prices in 2002 are indicated in figure 14.


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Figure 14- Price of some marine fish on wholesale markets

Fish price is also affected by the availability of alternative food products such as meat or eggs. When these foods are determined as having health risks, the price of other food will increase following the law of supply and demand. Finally, retailers define three categories of products according to weight, size and freshness. Retailers usually sort their products into three classes of which the first and the second classes are sold most (see table 35).

Table 35-Price differences according to quality categories (Average price in the main season)

First category Second category Price difference Snake head Tilapia Red tilapia Clarias catfish Common carp Carp Giant gourami Grass carp Climbing perch Spot snakehead Freshwater eel Feather back

23000 16000 28000 18000 22000 14000 22000 14000 35000 28000 50000 50000

20000 14000 24000 16000 20000 11000 18000 12000 28000 25000 35000 45000

15% 14% 17% 12% 10% 27% 18% 17% 25% 12%

Price of some marine fish on wholesale markets

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

Highest Lowest Medium

Globefish Mackerel Caù ngaân Anchovy Hemibagus Butterfish Blue fish Red snapper


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Generally, because of high competition between sellers, marketing margins are quite low (less than 10% for each type of traders (see figure 15).

Figure 15- Price accumulation in the red tilapia chain in 2002

VI. CONCLUSION At the moment, we still have little knowledge on the farmers and traders’ demand for market information. But our study has enabled us to better know the different types of fish products present in the market, the location and organization of marketing chains and the price variations.

It would be useful to conduct a survey on farmers’ and traders’ demand for market information. This information could be used to make more in-depth analysis of price variability based on daily prices, in order to calculate trends, seasonality and instability, and inform farmers and relevant authorities on the causes of price variations and ways to reduce them. This will be done after the workshop for red tilapia for the period 2003 to 2005.

Price (average): 25,000 vnd

FARMER

COLLECTOR

WHOLESALER

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

RESTAURANT RETAILER




Setting the basis of a vegetable Market Information and Consultation System in Phnom Penh from SUSPER experience

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SETTING THE BASIS OF A VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION SYSTEM IN

PHNOM PENH FROM SUSPER EXPERIENCE

A summary of main Results in 2002-2003-2004 Chhean Sokhen (MRD), Paule Moustier (CIRAD)

A. INTRODUCTION The main objectives of Activity 1 of Component 2, titled “Investigation of Market Flows and Chains” are:

(i) To identify market flows of products from production and import areas to distribution areas. (ii) To determine the actors of the marketing chains and their functions. (iii) To appraise markets performance in terms of import competition and supply variations. (iv) To set the basis of an information system on origin, quantities and price. The result of this study is available in SUSPER reports18.

B. RESULTS OF THE STUDY ON VEGETABLE MARKET FLOWS AND CHAINS

I. Survey method 1. One out of five traders were selected in the three largest markets selling

vegetables after averaging the total number of traders in a ten day period:

18 Chhean Sokhen, Diep Kanika, Paule Moustier. 2004. Vegetable market flows and chains in Phnom Penh., 45 p. and Paule Moustier, Chhean Sokhen, Chan Sipana, Opportunities for vegetable marketing in Phnom Penh from peri-urban areas, 9 p, both available at: http://www.avrdc.org/susper.


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Oresey (Retail market), Chaba Ampou and Dumkor (Wholesale and retail market, wholesale taking mostly place at night).

2. The surveys were conducted three times in 2002: April, July and October and four times in 2003 and 2004: January, April, July and October.

3. Eight vegetables were selected according to their importance in consumption and their possible origin of supply from peri-urban areas: tomato, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, choy sum, lettuce, cucumber, yard long bean and kang kong. In 2004 we only selected three vegetables, which compete with imports: tomato, cabbage and Chinese cabbage.

4. The study focused on the different actors participating in Phnom Penh’s main vegetable markets. The actors were selling wholesale or retail, i.e., producers, collectors, wholesalers, and retailers. The main survey questions related to the origin of supply, functions of intermediaries, quantities sold a day (maximum and minimum) and resale price of vegetables.

II. Main results of surveys

1- Vegetable production in Cambodia

1-1- Production calendar

In Cambodia, two main seasons can be distinguished: the dry season from November to April and the rainy season from May to October. In the early dry season, vegetables are easy to grow and give high yields because of favourable cropping conditions due to the good climate, wet soil, no insects, and easy access to water sources. But at the end of the dry season, when water is less available, the yields decrease, especially for temperate vegetables like tomato, cabbage and Chinese cabbage, which require a lot of water.

In the rainy season, vegetables are difficult to grow and give low yields, the climate is hot and humid, ponds and lakes suffer water shortages whilst other areas are flooded. During the rainy season, some vegetables such as tomato, cabbage and Chinese cabbage, cannot be grown to meet the market needs.


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Table 36- Calendar of vegetable production

Description Dry season Rainy season N D J J M A M J J A S O Period when easy to grow

Period when difficult to grow

Flooding period Hottest weather Heaviest rain

1-2-Production areas

Among the 24 provinces of Cambodia, there are 6 provinces which supply vegetables to Phnom Penh: Kandal, Phnom Penh, Kampong Speu, Takeo, Kampong Cham and Kampong Chnang. Kandal province is the largest production area and it supplies many kinds of vegetables to Phnom Penh markets in great quantity all year. It is located at the periphery of Phnom Penh and includes three rivers (Mekong, Bassac and Tonley Sap). The population located along these rivers has grown vegetables since ancient times, especially the population of Saang district. Vegetables also originate from the suburban area of Phnom Penh, where they are grown in the area situated along Mekong River and near the lakes. Outside these provinces, few vegetables are grown after the rice cultivation begins.

2-Origin of products

In Cambodia, there is clear differentiation in the source of vegetables according to the type of vegetable; more than a half of some vegetables (tomato, cabbage, Chinese cabbage) are imported while some others are entirely local (leafy-vegetables). Water convolvulus mostly originates from Phnom Penh while Kandal province supplies choy sum, lettuce and Yard long bean (see table 37 and table 38).


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Table 37- Percentage of vegetables transaction by origin in three years of surveys

Vegetables Vietnam Kandal P Penh Kg Speu Takao Kg Cham Tomato >49% <38% <2% <5% <1% <13% Cabbage >82% <12% <1% <7% C. cabbage >63% <12% <25% Kang kong <2% >98% Choy sum >98% <2% Lettuce 100% Y long bean >98% Cucumber <7% <73% <24% <6%

Table 38- Amount of daily vegetables transactions by origin in the three markets (tons/day)

Vietnam Kandal P Penh Kg Speu Takao Kg Cham

Quantity % Quantity % Quantity % Quantity % Quantity % Quantity %

Tomato

2002 7.7 91 0.1 2 0.1 1 0.4 5

2003 5.1 60 3.1 38 0.1 2

2004 7.7 49 5.5 35 0.01 0.4 3 0.01 2.0 13

Cabbage

2002 24.9 99 0.2 1

2003 16.5 86 1.4 8 0.007 1.2 6

2004 15.7 82 2.2 12 0.05 1.2 6

3-Seasonal variation

Generally, we observed that the supply of vegetables is highest between January and April, and lowest between July and October (see figure 16 and 17). The supplied quantity always increases in the festival periods of January (Chinese New Year), in April (Khmer New Year) and in October in the (Khmer and Chinese ceremony). By contrast, in July, there are no festivals and supply decreases.


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Figure 16– Variation in tomato transactions in the 3 selected Phnom Penh markets (kg/day)

0

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15000

20000

25000

30000

Ap02

Ju02

Oc02

Ja03

Ap03

Ju03

Oc03

Ja04

Ap04

Ju04

Oc04

CambodiaVietnamTotal

Figure 17- Variation in cabbage transactions in the 3 selected Phnom Penh markets (kg/day)

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

Ap02

Ju02

Oc02

Ja03

Ap03

Ju03

Oc03

Ja04

Ap04

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Oc04

CambodiaVietnamTotal

4-Traders’ characteristics

4-1- Typology of traders

The 4 main types of traders are producers, collectors, wholesalers and retailers. There are two categories of producers: (a) producers only bringing their own vegetables to wholesale at the market and (b) producers bringing their own vegetables and buying vegetables from other farmers to the market, in this case they act as collectors.

Collectors include two categories of actors: (1) collectors moving from the village (called mobile collectors) to sell at the market. Mobile collectors buy vegetables from producers (Cambodian or Vietnamese). Or, (2) collectors based in the market (called fixed collectors), buying from producers and


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mobile collectors in the market. Mobile collectors can be local or overseas collectors. We were not able to meet them because they run their business mostly at night.

4-2- Marketing chains

In general collectors get vegetables from producers. Producers and collectors sell vegetables in the same way: to wholesalers, retailers, traders outside the market and consumers. Wholesalers sell vegetables to retailers, traders outside the market and consumers. Retailers are located in the market like wholesalers; they buy vegetables from wholesalers, collectors and producers, and they resell them to consumers.

For local produce, the orders are made by direct contact. Wholesalers and retailers talk to collectors or producers to place orders. The relationship between Cambodian wholesalers and Vietnamese suppliers is made through orders, directly to Vietnamese or Cambodian collectors present in the market or by phone call, after that, goods are transported in two days.

• For the eight selected vegetables (see figure 18)

Wholesalers get vegetables from collectors of imported vegetables (more than 53% of transactions), from collectors of local products (less than 34 %), and from producers (less than 13%). Retailers get vegetables from wholesalers (more than 50%), the rest from collectors of local products and from producers. All collectors usually get vegetables from producers. The share of imported versus local products depends on the availability of Cambodian products. When local produce is abundant the percentage of imported vegetables tends to decrease.

Figure 18-Marketing chains of vegetables in Cambodia

Producer Collector

Wholesaler

Retailer

Consumer

Traders outside the three markets

Traders outside the three markets


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• For tomato (see figure 19)

Most tomato goes through collectors and wholesalers before reaching the retail stage in Phnom Penh. Wholesalers are nearly entirely supplied by trans-border collectors. Cambodian production is mostly traded directly from farmers to retailers or from collectors to retailers. The percentage of wholesalers getting their supply from Cambodian producers in 2004 was higher than in 2002 and 2003; during the same period, the percentage of retailers getting their supply from Cambodian producers and collectors was higher than from wholesalers.

Figure 19- Marketing chain of tomato in 2004

81%=7.2T 7%=0.6T 12%=1T

67%=0,9T 13%=0.17T 20%=0.27T

Note: the percentages relate to the share in the vegetables purchased by the next actor in the chain-

5-Retail prices

The retail prices collected by SUSPER follow similar to data collected by AMO, but the variations are more marked for prices collected by SUSPER as

Cambodian Producers

Trans-border Collector Local Collector

Retailers in the 3 markets 1.3T

Consumers 1.3 T

Other retailers Wholesalers 8.8 T in the 3 markets

Vietnam producers

Other retailers


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AMO collects the prices of tomato and cabbage corresponding to the Vietnamese variety. Tomato and cabbage have their lowest price in January (the beginning of dry season) and their highest prices in October (rainy season and flooding period), which corresponds to the variations in quantities supplied (as detailed above).

For three selected vegetables, the prices in 2003 and 2004 are quite different. The highest price in 2003 is in October (flooding period), in 2004 is in July (middle of the rainy season).

As for the comparison between local and imported vegetables, the price of imported vegetables is higher than local produce because the imported vegetables have better appearance than local produce and their supply is regular. The difference between the price of imported vegetables and local produce is small, about 100-200 Riels per kg, if the local vegetable has the same appearance to imported ones, their price is the same.

Figure 20– Retail prices in 2003-2004

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Jan-03 Ap-03 Ju-03 Oct-03 Jan-04 Ap-04 Ju-04 Oct-04

TomatoCabbageC.cabbageAverage

III- Conclusion

• The importance of imports

The origin of vegetables in Phnom Penh is from Vietnam and Cambodian provinces (Kandal, Phnom Penh, Kampong Speu, Takao, Kampong Cham and Kampong Chnang). During the three years of the surveys, among the selected vegetables, 4 vegetables were imported from Vietnam: tomato, cabbage, Chinese cabbage and cucumber, during all seasons (except for cucumber, which is imported in small quantities only at the beginning and end of the


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year). Imported tomato, cabbage and Chinese cabbage make up more than 60% of sold produce in all the surveyed years due to unfavourable climatic conditions in Cambodia.

• Importance of Kandal province in the supply of local products

The study indicates that Kandal is the most important Cambodian area supplying vegetables to Phnom Penh markets. All year-round, it supplies a diversity of vegetables to Phnom Penh markets, but with some seasonal influences. The most important supplying district of Kandal province is Saang and then Kien Svay, about 20-30 km from Phnom Penh.

• The importance of Phnom Penh municipality for kangkong

Kangkong is a vegetable that figures disproportionately in the diets of the cities poor, is entirely supplied by Phnom Penh municipality (Dangkor and Meanchey districts). This point should be taken into account in the urban planning of Phnom Penh. The potential safety risks of kangkong grown in polluted water should also be investigated.

• Possibilities for local production to substitute imports

Presently, Cambodian farmers face a lot of difficulties relative to two main problems: (1) water constraints to produce vegetables in the dry and in the rainy season (some areas lack water whilst others are flooded). (2) Market problems: Lack of adequate places to sell vegetables, vegetable price is decided by middle man, difficulties in finding customers.

C. DISSEMINATION OF VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION

I. Stakeholder meeting on market seasonality (May 29th, 2003 Kien Svay district, Kandal province)

Introduction

This meeting took place in the framework of the French financed project on peri-urban agriculture around Phnom Penh. The main partner of the project in


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Cambodia is the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries; the Ministry of Rural Development is also involved, as well as the municipality of Phnom Penh and some NGOs (Srer Khmer, Agrisud).

To make agriculture more profitable around Phnom Penh, we have to take into account constraints expressed by farmers. One major constraint expressed is the marketing of products. The MIS project aims to confront this problem.

Objective

The main objectives of the meeting are:

- To provide market information to stakeholders involved in supporting technical bodies about untapped outlets corresponding to periods of deficit/surplus supply.

- To help farmers and traders have a common vision on the problems of market supply seasonality.

- To help farmers and traders find solutions to overcome these problems. - To discuss the needs of farmers and traders for information on marketing

and better ways to communicate this information.

Participants

- Heads of agricultural extension office at Kandal province district and commune

- 11 farmers participating in the project in Kien Svay district - 8 traders from Chba Ampov market (3 collectors, 3 wholesalers and 3

retailers) - 10 Traders from Damkor market (3 collectors, 3 wholesalers and 3

retailers) - 4 Retailers from Oresey market

Method

- Presentation of the main results from vegetables market flow chain studies in Phnom Penh

- Division into 3 discussion groups (1 group of producers and 2 groups of traders) to discuss: (i) marketing opportunities and constraints; (ii) needs for market and technical information

- General debate between all participants on marketing opportunities and constraints


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Results

1- Reaching a shared vision on marketing problems

Participants have a similar ideas regarding the times of surplus or deficit at the markets:

- In the peak season, supply always exceeds market demand. Farmers find it difficult to sell their vegetables because a lot of vegetables are available. These are sold at too cheap a price that results in producers losing production capital, and forces them to borrow money at high interest rates.

- In the off season (when the harvest season finishes), farmers are unable to grow vegetables to meet demand because of (i) Natural factors (weather, flood, insect...), (ii) Technical issues, (iii) lack of capital for production. From May to January, vegetable profit potential is high.

- There was disagreement regarding imports. Farmers think that these imports create difficulties for them to sell. Traders and project experts argue that the imports mostly come as a result of the deficit in local production, and that if local production is available, then imports diminish.

2-The need for market information

- Farmers get market demand information on price, quantity and vegetables from collectors or other farmers who sell vegetables in the markets. Farmers are worried about unsold vegetables because they are afraid of losing capital. In villages, farmers do not have enough information, especially those in remote places or those who have no relatives selling vegetables at the market. Information that farmers are more interested in is price, quantity and vegetables that the market demands. Farmers would also like to have technical information about off-season cultivation. Moreover, they need information on input use (pesticides, fertilizers). Presently, these chemical labels have not been translated into Khmer.

- Sellers have access to market information through other traders or through observing the market by themselves. The market information that sellers at the markets get is also considered as insufficient. Sellers (wholesalers and collectors particularly) are very interested in knowing about quantity available, area of production ... especially in the deficit time.


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Workshop evaluation

All participants found the presentation of sale/purchase problems in Phnom Penh markets relevant and useful. In the group discussions, participants clearly understood 70% of the points discussed. The participants declared that the information exchanged at the meeting was useful for their sale/purchase activity, because previously, the relationship between the traders and farmers was only at the market, and on an occasional basis. They have never had such meeting or long interactions with a group of traders.

II. Survey on stakeholders’ needs for market information This survey was conducted by Mrs. Sipana in 2003 as a follow-up of the Kien Svay stakeholder workshop, to specify some of the workshop results. Details on this survey are given in the appendix.

Method

Interviews were conducted with 20 traders (including wholesalers and retailers) and10 farmers in Kien Svay’s three main markets, with questions on:

- Present access to market information - Most useful missing market information - Preferred frequency of dissemination - Preferred products for disseminated information - Preferred means of dissemination

Main results

The most useful missing information relates to daily vegetable prices (wholesale and retail) and market calendars (periods of surplus and deficits). Farmers would like more information on the use of pesticides and fertilizers. The preferred means of dissemination of market and technical information is the radio

Prospects

A market newsletter will be prepared to present the market calendar of surplus, deficits and price variation based on SUSPER and AMO data (2002 to 2004) to


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farmers and extension workers. As regards collection and dissemination of price data, it is already carried out by AMO, but the methodology will be improved based on SUSPER experience (see Mrs Sipana’s presentation). The synthesis of the studies on vegetable marketing in Phnom Penh was presented in a meeting organized at the Department of Planning and Statistics of MAFF, on 15/02/05. It gathered 30 participants from: MAFF (Agricultural Marketing Office, Department of Agro-Industry, and Department of Agronomy); NGOs working in horticulture (CEDAC, Srer Khmer, and Agri-Cam), the Royal University of Agriculture; Phnom Penh municipality (bureau of urban affairs, Department of Agriculture); French aid (French Embassy and AFD). This meeting enabled discussion of the policy implications of the study, in particular the issue of land protection for peri-urban agriculture, support for off-season vegetable production, and the risks relative to kangkong cultivated in waste water19.

19 Paule Moustier, Chhean Sokhen, Chan Sipana, Opportunities for vegetable marketing in Phnom Penh from peri-urban areas, 9 p http://www.avrdc.org/susper.


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APPENDIX

ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS FOR MARKET INFORMATION BY TRADERS AND FARMERS IN

AUGUST 2003

Chan Sipana (Agricultural Marketing Office, MAFF Cambodia)

Objective The purpose of the survey is to understand the marketing problems faced by vegetable farmers and traders, and in particular, problems related to market information.

Method The survey was conducted by using in-depth interviews with a small sample of farmers and traders. It focused on the traders of three markets (Dumkor, Chbar Ampeu, and Oresey) and the farmers of Kien Svay district in Kandal province. The survey was conducted during 8 days in August 2003. 20 traders were selected from three markets (8 in Dumkor (half retailers, half wholesalers), 8 in Chbar Ampeu (half retailers, half wholesalers), 4 in Oresey), and 10 vegetable farmers were selected in Kien Svay district. The questionnaire was prepared by Paule Moustier, CIRAD, but some questions were not clearly understood by the investigator or by respondents, so only the questions for which clear answers were given are presented in the present report.

Results For Traders Responses to the question “Do you think that traders in your market place have enough information on the vegetable supply and demand?” were:


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- They have some information, but not enough (10 persons, or 50%). - They do not have any information (10 persons, or 50%) The type of information most useful for them, the required frequency and means of dissemination are indicated in table 39. The information considered as the most useful is the calendar of product availability. Market information should be disseminated by the radio, under the direction of extension workers, at least once per month. Table 39-Market information preferred by traders

Preferred information to be disseminated

1. Calendar of product availability: considered as very useful by 19 traders

2. Prices (farm gate, wholesale, retail) and origin of products: considered as useful by 15 traders

Preferred mode of dissemination Radio (20 traders) Preferred agent of dissemination Extension workers (20 traders) Preferred products Chinese kale, choy sum, tomato The main problems relative to marketing declared by 16 traders are indicated below:

- Prices are not stable (7 persons, or 35%). - Profits are low or nonexistent because of low prices (7 persons, or 35%) - The selling places are narrow and dusty (2 persons, or 10%).

The other traders (20%) declare that they don’t have marketing problems.

Proposals to solve these problems are listed below: - Promotion of vegetable quality: 19 persons (95%) - Reducing seasonality of vegetable supply: 13 persons (65%) - Developing relationships between farmers and traders: 11 persons (55%)

The other answers, given by 2 to 4 traders, relate to vegetable transport, and planning of new marketplaces.

For farmers The present sources for farmers to get information on prices in Phnom Penh are other farmers (half answers), collectors or wholesalers (half answers).


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Information on prices paid to other farmers mostly comes from other farmers (70%). A majority of farmers (70%) think that farmers in their commune do not have enough market information. The most useful information relates to a calendar of product availability, prices (farm gate, wholesale, retail) and origins (see table 40). Ideally this should be communicated at least once per week, via radio, between 6 and 7 p.m., by extension workers. It could focus on Chinese kale, choy sum, tomato.

Table 40-Market information preferred by farmers Preferred information to be disseminated

Calendar, prices, origins, considered as useful or very useful Also: information on the use of fertilizers and chemicals Price information to be disseminated per day or per week

Preferred mode of dissemination

Radio (10 farmers)

Preferred agent of dissemination

Extension workers (10 farmers)

Preferred products Chinese kale, choy sum, tomato The main problems relative to marketing declared by farmers are: vegetable imports from Vietnam (4 answers), and low prices (3 persons), while 2 farmers declare they don’t have problems with marketing. Recommendations given by farmers to solve these problems are indicated below:

- Promotion of vegetable quality (8 answers) - Better access to land for vegetable production (8 answers) - Better access to seeds for vegetable production (8 answers) - Reduced seasonality of vegetable supply (5 answers) - Develop relationships between farmers and traders (5 answers) - Establishing a vegetable farmers’ association (5 answers)

Conclusion The seasonal variation of vegetable production has a strong influence on farmers’ marketing: generally local vegetables are expensive from July to October, according to traders and farmers alike. So to get higher prices,


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farmers should sow vegetables a few months before July depending on the type of vegetables. Quality of vegetables is also important for marketing, but the farmers have limited technique to produce products of good quality. Price information is also important to farmers and traders, approximately 70%-80% of the interviewed traders and 90% of interviewed farmers need price information (disseminated by radio). Yet we should be cautious about these answers: at the moment some information on prices is broadcast on the radio: these are retail prices collected by The Ministry of Agriculture on Monday and Thursday (rice, vegetables, beans, fish, and fertilisers). Yet the interviewed farmers and traders did not mention this source of information! So it is not sure that they would use new information, even if supplied everyday at regular times as they ask for (at the moment the time of broadcast is irregular, usually between 6 and 7 p.m., as the radio provides the service for free following an agreement between The Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Information). It should also be mentioned that farmers around Phnom Penh are small-scale so they are price-takers rather than price-makers. Some system of daily price collection and dissemination could be tested for 3 months, and then its use by farmers should be evaluated.

Report on vegetable price market information system in Cambodia

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REPORT ON VEGETABLE PRICE MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEM IN CAMBODIA

Chan Sipana- Agricultural Marketing Office

Department of Planning Statistics and International Cooperation The Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries

I. BACKGROUND The lack of information available to the farmers and traders concerning both domestic and international markets resulted in farmers producing using established practices rather than in response to the market demand. There is an urgent need for market information to be available, to promote more market-oriented production and private sector trade.

The provision of agricultural marketing information to farmers as well as traders is very necessary and it will enable them to make rational production choices and add value to agricultural products. Market Information Service (MIS) is a package of price collection and reporting of marketing trends for rapid communication from observation points all over the country and prompt dissemination of the information by a variety of means.

The Market Information Service (MIS) program has been implemented since February 1997 by the Task Force-1 with the assistance from the FAO and the ADB counterpart funding the Government. The operation of the Market Information Service has been fully in operation since 25 August 1997. The Agricultural Marketing Office, Department of Planning Statistics and International Cooperation, The Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, has collected daily market price information from main markets and other locations of wholesale trade in Phnom Penh and from 10 Provincial market centres based on information from central and provincial price collectors. The price information has been broadcast everyday by National Radio and Private radio stations.

II. OBJECTIVES The objective of the program is to develop a nationwide Market Information Service (MIS) in order to improve the access to market intelligence of farmers


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and the government. In the short run this will enable Cambodian farmers, as well as traders and other stakeholders, to make better-informed decision regarding where, when and at what price to sell their products. In the long run, the information generated should enable farmers to better plan their production in accordance with the market demand. By ensuring more effective allocation and distribution of production it can be expected that the program will contribute to improving farmers’ income and lowering food price for consumers. The program has also contributed to the development of basic marketing knowledge amongst extension workers so that they are better able to advise farmers on utilizing marketing information.

III. COVERAGE The geographical coverage of the MIS is as follows:

- Phnom Penh, Kandal, Takeo, Kampot, Sihanouk Ville, Prey Veng, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces.

- For retail price, 2 provinces are added: Kampong Thom and Svay Rieng. - For vegetables, Oresey (retail prices) and Dumkor (wholesale prices)

More than 80 agricultural commodities are considered for price collection, including the following vegetables: tomato, cabbage, Chinese kale, cucumber, lettuce, wax gourd, bitter gourd, beet, kangkong (retail price only), green mustard (retail price only).

IV. METHOD OF PRICE COLLECTION The staff of the Agricultural Marketing Office (AMO) has been collecting data on prices and supply conditions for Phnom Penh, twice a week. Price data collected by provincial staff has been transmitted from 10 provinces to AMO for processing and broadcasting through the National Radio of Cambodia. All data has been also processed by computer for daily radio programs and analysis for price bulletins. The retail price reports from 12 provinces (Kandal, Kampot, Sihanouk Ville, Takeo, Kampong Chhnang, Battambang, Siem Reap, Kampong Cham, Prey Veng, Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Thom, and Svay Rieng) are regularly sent to AMO on a monthly basis for yearly bulletins.

Price collectors from AMO collect price information in Phnom Penh in Dumkor, Oresey, Chaba Ampou markets and rice wholesale shops near the railway station. Information is also collected at the fish wholesale centre at


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Km.9 and Km.11 and pig abattoirs at Km.6. These activities are carried out in the early morning twice a week. In regard to vegetables, prices are collected every Monday and Thursday, in Dumkor and Chaba Ambou markets (wholesale prices), and Oresey market (retail prices).

Each price collector in the other 10 provinces collects price information in the main markets. The frequency of price collection is twice a week.

International price information of several agricultural products is also collected through the Internet. These prices are broadcasted daily on the National Radio of Cambodia.

Each price collector has to select produce of a medium size. For vegetables, the heterogeneity of quality characteristics create problems for the collector, and there is a need to specify a set of objective quality characteristics (including size, the level of damage, the colour) for which the price is collected (see presentation on Hanoi vegetable MICS and also Box 1).

The average price of 2 -3 traders is calculated for one commodity. Prices of some commodities are collected around the year in the same place (e.g., banana, orange, smoked fish, dry fish, crab, prawns, mung bean, soybean, live fish and rice). The price of other commodities is collected on a seasonal basis (for example, durian, cashew nut, sugar cane).

Box 1– The need to clarify quality characteristics in AMO vegetable price collection

By Paule Moustier, CIRAD

A meeting was held at AMO on 16/02/05 on the methods for vegetable price collection as differences were observed between prices collected by Mrs Sokhen for SUSPER project and prices collected by AMO. This meeting has enabled clarification of the specific characteristics of the vegetables for which AMO collects prices, and we have recommended that AMO specifies these characteristics when they disseminate information:

- Kangkong is of the Chinese variety, grown on land, and consumed fried (while SUSPER collected price data on Khmer kangkong, which is grown in lakes, and consumed boiled)

- AMO only collected information on tomato and cabbage imported from Vietnam (tomatoes more round and homogeneous than local tomato; cabbage bigger, heavier and whiter than local cabbage) – while SUSPER collected the price of both local and imported tomato and cabbage, which explains that the prices of tomato and cabbage collected by AMO are more stable than the ones collected by SUSPER.

Source: P. Moustier, 2005. Work progress on vegetable marketing in Cambodia and Lao Report of Mission (14/02 to 02/03, 2005) and follow-up. Hanoi, SUSPER-CIRAD, 23 p.


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V. STORING AND PROCESSING DATA AMO staff processes price data transmitted from the provinces the same day. The daily program of wholesale prices in Phnom Penh and provinces is prepared for broadcasting by the radio.

AMO staff enters all price data collected from Phnom Penh as well as other provinces according to the formats set for each province and they compile these data for publication of weekly, monthly and yearly bulletins. Before we used to store and process the data by Excel, but from October, 2004, the office has trained the staff in central and provincial offices to store and process data using “FAO- Agri Market (FAM)”20.

IV. DATA DISSEMINATION Price information is keyed immediately into spreadsheets designed for each location. A daily radio broadcast program is prepared in a standard format; two pages for local prices and one page for export market price information.

The National Radio of Cambodia (NRC) is the main vehicle for the MIS. Price information is broadcast by two radio stations, National Radio of Cambodia and another private radio FM in Battambang province.

All processed data is compiled for weekly, monthly, yearly bulletins. Then the information is distributed to all leaders of MAFF and to various provincial and central administrations, organizations and students.

The duration of broadcasting by National radio is 5 minutes every day around 6:05 pm, from Monday to Friday for information on local prices, Saturday and Sunday for the overseas rice price information. The duration of broadcasting by the private radio (FM) in Battambang is 5 minutes every day at 8:00 pm (local prices and overseas rice price information). It may vary from 5 to 10 minutes.

20 FAM provides a tool to assist marketing agencies to manage market data. The program automates the entry, processing, and reporting of periodic market price and supply data for agricultural products, and is intended primarily for use by domestic market information or market intelligence agencies, traders, and exporters of agricultural products, as well as large-scale producers, and marketing consultants.


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VI. SOME RESULTS ON VEGETABLES PRICES The graphs below present the wholesale and retail prices of tomatoes and cabbage in the years 2002, 2003, and 2004 in Phnom Penh markets as collected by AMO (see Box 1).

A. Cabbage

Table 41 and figure 21 show the retail price of cabbage at Oresey market. It has been collected once a week (Thursday), four times a month, and the monthly price is the average of the four figures. The price of local cabbage was collected from January to March (when local cabbage is available), and for imported cabbage from April to December (when local cabbage is not available). Cambodian farmers start to grow vegetables from October or November and harvest at the end of December – January until March. From April to October the farmers have difficulty in growing cabbage because there is not enough water from April to March. From June to October, some areas can not produce anything because of floods. In the year 2002 the price of cabbage was low in January and February because market surpluses.

Table 41-Retail Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004

Years Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2002 850 950 1100 1250 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1050 1000 2003 1200 1200 1000 1000 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1000 1000 2004 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1300 1350 1400 1400 1300

Figure 21-Retail Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004

0500

10001500


2002 2003 2004

Table 42 and figure 22 show the wholesale price of cabbage at Dumkor market. It was collected twice a week (Monday and Thursday), eight times a month, and the monthly price is the average of the eight times. For the wholesale price we consider only imported cabbage because it is available around the year. The


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0500

10001500


2002 2003 2004

variation of its price is low from January to April and it increases from May to December, because it is the season of scarcity of Cambodian vegetables.

Table 42- Wholesale Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004

Years Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2002 700 675 650 820 1075 975 860 1000 1020 960 950 830

2003 810 880 850 750 700 750 800 900 850 1000 1250 1100

2004 900 700 750 600 900 1200 1150 1000 900 860 800 800

Figure 22- Wholesale Prices of Cabbage in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004

Wholesale prices of cabbage vary more than retail prices, maybe because wholesale prices are collected for local versus imported cabbage, and the prices of local cabbage are more variable than prices of imported cabbage. The way to check this is by disaggregating the retail price of cabbage according to its production/wholesale origin.

B. Tomato

Table 43 and figure 23 show the retail price of tomato at Oresey market. The method of price collection is the same as cabbage. In the year 2002 and 2004 the price of tomato was lower because of the large quantity supplied to markets. In 2002 farmers produced more tomato, the price went down. In 2003, some farmers stopped producing so the price increased. And in 2004, the farmers produced again because they saw that in 2003 the price of the tomato was high, but they were unsuccessful. In 2004, according to our observations, the farmers were able to produce tomato more regularly in Kampong Pseu and Kandal.


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0500

1000150020002500


2002 2003 2004

0

500

1000

1500

2000


2002 2003 2004

Table 43- Retail Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004


Figure 23- Retail Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002-2004

Table 44 and figure 24 show the wholesale price of tomato at Dumkor market (imported tomato). The price is lower in February, because Cambodian farmers harvest vegetables, and it keeps decreasing until December which is the season of scarcity of Cambodian vegetables, so the price of imported vegetable increases.

Table 44- Wholesale Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004


Figure 24- Wholesale Prices of Tomatoes in Phnom Penh Market 2002- 2004


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Retail price in January and February is the price of local tomato, available in large quantities at this time; it is cheaper than the wholesale imported price of tomato (in the same period). Local tomato is usually smaller and more damaged than imported tomato.

VII. PROBLEMS There are many problems concerning market information:

- Wholesale markets in Cambodia are not separated from retail markets; wholesalers can sell their products directly to consumers as well as to retailers (with the same price). So it is difficult to distinguish wholesale and retail prices.

- There is no uniform grading system (formal or informal) among the 10 different provinces.

- It is difficult to ask the prices from the traders, some traders don’t tell the truth about the prices.

- Some farmers and traders interviewed in markets and villages don’t like to listen to the price broadcasting because they think the information is not updated: when they listen to the price information, the price is high, but when they cut/take products to the market or sell at farm they get lower prices.

- Irregular time of radio broadcasting may discourage farmers from listening. As the radio provides the service for free following an agreement between Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of information, there may be a 10 minutes delay relative to the usual time of broadcasting (6:05 p.m.)

- Yet some interviewed farmers and traders are interested in the broadcast information, especially farmers with a lot of land. An impact assessment has been conducted and the survey is presently being processed. After the results of the impact assessment, the possible continuation of funding by ADB will be appraised.

VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION - The price information covers the following locations: Phnom Penh,

Kandal, Takeo, Kampot, Sihanouk Ville, Prey Veng, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces.


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- Wholesale price collection is twice per week; retail price collection is once per week, production and reporting of price information is made weekly, monthly, and yearly.

- Daily broadcasting of price information is operated by National Radio of Cambodia and one FM channel in Battambang province.

- The duration of broadcasting by the National Radio every day is 5 minutes, around 6:05 Pm, from Monday to Friday for the local information prices, Saturday and Sunday for the overseas rice price information.

- The duration of broadcasting by FM in Battambang every day is 5 minutes at 8:00 Pm (local price and overseas rice price information).

- All data collection is distributed to all leaders of MAFF, and all departments concerned with agricultural prices.

- Some recommendations are given below (that will be acted on in 2005 with SUSPER):

o Improve the regularity of radio broadcasting and comments on prices (origin, quality)

o Disseminate market information to farmers and NGOs through newsletters

It is also recommended that AMO specifies uniform quality characteristics of vegetables for which they collect price information.


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DEBATE

Q1: (1) Who is your price collector? (2) There are different data dissemination means: television, radio … but TV seems to be preferred by farmers. What do you think? Why don’t you use TV? (Mrs. Ngan Hoa)

A1: For price collection, there are 3 persons in my office and each one is in charge of 1 market in the city. In provinces, price collectors are from the Department of Agriculture. Before deciding the means of data dissemination, we asked farmers about the methods they like. Television is expensive for broadcasting, and sometimes farmers have no time to watch it, while farmers can put a radio in their pocket and bring it to the field (Mrs Chan Sipana). In fact according to the assessment workshops of SUSPER, the preference of farmers in Cambodia and Vietnam is quite different: 90% in Cambodia like radio for vegetable price dissemination while in Vietnam, 90% prefer television (Dr. Paule Moustier).

Collection and dissemination of vegetable market information in Vientiane (Lao P.D.R)

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COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF VEGETABLE MARKET INFORMATION IN VIENTIANE (LAO P.D.R)

Linglong SITHIXAY, Technical Officer, Planning Division,

Department of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

A. SOME INSIGHTS ON THE STUDY ON VEGETABLE MARKETING IN LAO Report by Somsack Kethongsa, Khamtanh Thadavong and Paule Moustier (2004) - see http://www.avrdc.org/susper

I. Introduction The population of Lao P.D.R. is around 5.6 million with a population growth rate of 2.8 percent. Vientiane capital covers both the urban area and surrounding rural areas, mostly lowland (see Map 1). The population of Vientiane province was estimated at 625,650 people in 2002, including 450,000 people in Vientiane city, with a growth rate of 3% per year. The province has the second largest population after Savannakhet. Although the total land area is small, crop production is very significant. Relative to other provinces, rice production in the rainy season is the third largest and the second largest in the dry season. Production of vegetables is the second highest, after Champassak (Boloven Plateau).


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Figure 25- Location of Vientiane Province

I.3. State of the art on food marketing in Laos

The sources of information on food marketing in Lao are:

- Japanese cooperation (JICA) in 2000-2001 - FAO in 2001-2002, and SATEC/Agrisud/MAF in 2002; - EU funded project in 1997-1999. - Three groups of households have been established according to their food

expenses (Agrisud, 2002): Households whose food expenses are less than 1 USD per day amount to 83% of total and mostly consume vegetables traditionally produced in Lao, including cucumber, water convolvulus and eggplant

- The consumption of vegetables in Vientiane capital is estimated at 149g/per person per day, including 68g of fruit-vegetables and 49g of leafy vegetables

- Self-production and consumption of vegetables represents 2% of total consumption in the urban districts and 60% in the rural districts.

- The main markets of Vientiane are Tong Kan Kham, That Luang and Kua Din. All three have similar operating methods.


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II. Method of SUSPER survey

II.1. Research protocols

Market research has been organised in two different and complementary activities:

(i) Investigation of market flows chains (rapid market surveys) and (ii) Appraisal of traders’ strategies and performance (in-depth

interviews). The research protocols are summarised below.

II.1.1. Protocol for activity 1

(Investigation of market flows and chains)

II. 1.2 Objectives

- To appraise how the market is organised spatially and in terms of functions

- To quantify the supply from the different districts/villages and imports - To quantify the importance of the different marketing chains

II.1.3. Place of interviews

Interviews took place in the three following markets which are the most important for Vientiane vegetable supply: Thongkhankham, Thatluang, Kuadin.

II.1.4. Frequency

The survey was conducted three times to take account of seasonality, in April, August and October 2002.

II.1.5. Choice of products

Nine commodities were selected: Pakchoy or choy sum, Chinese mustard (small - width of stem less than 1 cm and big - width of stem more than 4 cm), lettuce, cucumber, yard long bean, tomato (round, olive and cherry), eggplant, water convolvulus, Chinese kale.


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II.1.6. Time of interviews

The interviews were conducted in the morning (8-10 a.m.) and during day-time. They lasted twenty to thirty minutes per interview.

II.1.7. Target population

Farmers, collectors, assemblers and wholesalers are selling their products in the 3 markets, as well as retailers of the selected commodities.

II.1.8. Sample for survey on origin

Table 45- Sample for survey on vegetable origin

Thongkhankham Kuadin Thatluang Total Total number 112 96 65 273 Sample size 38 32 22 92 - wholesalers & collectors

14 11 11 36

- retailers 24 21 11 56

II.1.9. Method for data processing

The data was processed in SPSS 11.5.

II.2. Protocol for Activity 2

(Interviews on traders’ strategies)

II.2.1. Objectives

- To elucidate the structure of the market (competition) and coordination relationships among the different actors

- To compare the different origins (peri-urban, rural, imports) in terms of price, quality, and availability of commodities

- To identify advantages and constraints of actors including access to information

- To evaluate traders’ incomes and marketing margins


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II.2.2. Place of interviews

Thongkhankham, Thatluang and Kuadin

II.2.3. Time of interviews

- Early morning and during day time, and lasted between 40 and 60 minutes - Interviews were conducted in August.

II.2.4. Target population

Producers, collectors, assemblers, wholesalers and retailers selling in the selected markets

II.2.5. Sample

We made some rational samplings by selecting around half actors selling wholesale and half retailers selling wholesale, but the distinction is not easy as actors commonly combine functions. In the end, we interviewed 50 actors, including 27 retailers, and 23 actors acting as collectors and wholesalers (and sometimes retailers or producers).

II.2.6. Processing

The survey was processed under SPSS and also by hand for the open questions.

II.2.7. Selected results

The results of the study which are the most interesting for private stakeholders, especially farmers, relate to the nature of imported vegetables and the time of imports, as well as the variations in quantities and prices.

Chinese kale; round and olive tomato; big Chinese mustard; cucumber are subject to import, while the others (pakchoy, small Chinese mustard, lettuce, yard long bean) only originate from Lao production. The vegetables subject to imports correspond to varieties that are difficult to produce during the rainy season. Imports account for 22% for Chinese kale, round tomato and cucumber, 15% for olive tomato and 2% for big Chinese mustard. Most imported tomato is found from June to October because of more rainfall. Around 92% of traders sell imported tomato in August.


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A specific study on the competitiveness of Lao versus Thai tomato will be conducted to further investigate the advantages in terms of production and marketing costs of Thai tomato and find ways for Lao farmers to develop their supply and substitute for imports.

C. DISSEMINATION OF MARKET INFORMATION- STAKEHOLDER VEGETABLE WORKSHOP IN 2002

A panel of farmers (3 from Hatsayphong district), traders (6, from the three main markets), research and development agents (6, including one extension worker from Sisattana, one from Chanabouly, 2 from Vientiane municipality, two from Plant Protection Centre) was gathered in 2002 to present and discuss the periods of deficit and surplus of various vegetables, based on the SUSPER market study, and also by calendar elicitation by the participants21. The workshop has enabled detailing the calendar with round tomato supply data, the constraints faced by farmers during three periods (April-May (transition between dry and rainy season): lack of local production due to technical constraints – June to September (rainy season), lack of local production due to technical issues and floods, and competition with Thai imports – October to March (dry season): overproduction due to lack of diversification and processing of local production. Diversification opportunities include Chinese cabbage in the dry season, and also peppermint and eggplant at the beginning of the rainy season.

Box 2- Protocol of elicitation of market calendar

A blank table is stuck on a board for the participants to see a year calendar including months and seasons. Variables to be assessed are explained to the participants. To elicit variables, facilitators provide 4 cards to the participants with a number from 0 to 3. Month per month, for each variable (availability of local product, main origin, availability of imports, current price, variability of price and quality definition), participants are asked to give a note from 0: low to 3: high. A consensus is found about the final value level to be written down on the blank table. At the end of the process, the accuracy of the final table is checked with the participants.

Source: J.F. Lecoq (2003) – reference in footnote. 21 See J.F. Lecoq, Negotiation tools for vegetable commodity chain in Vientiane, http://www.avrdc.org/susper, 21 p., 2003.


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D. PRICE COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION - In the context of the FAO project on market information, retail prices have

been collected from March 2002 until February 2003 for the following markets and the following vegetables :

o retail markets in Vientiane : Thonkhankham, Thatluang, Kuadin o vegetables: round big tomato; cucumber; Chinese kale;

eggplant; lettuce; yard long bean; green chilli; garlic; cauliflower; spring onion; cabbage

- In SUSPER work plan 2004, the continuation of price collection and its dissemination on radio has been planned, but so far there have been constraints in human resources to implement the plan.

E. CONCLUSION The priority is making the collected market information available to market stakeholders:

- Finishing the conduct and report on the tomato competitiveness study

- Disseminating the market information, through a new stakeholders’ workshop including the results of the tomato study

- Disseminating one market newsletter summarizing the vegetable market opportunities to farmers, traders, developing agents. During the workshop, the Lao group has worked to prepare this newsletter, in a similar format to the Hanoi and Cambodia group.

Price statistical analysis and use for development purposes

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PRICE STATISTICAL ANALYSES AND USE FOR DEVELOPMENT PURPOSES

Application to tomato in Vietnam and plantain in Africa and Latin America

Dr L.Temple – CIRAD FLHOR

I. INTRODUCTION As outlined by P. Moustier’s presentation, price information gathered by market information system is little used for a number of reasons, including the following ones:

- Markets are organizations which have their own information system. - Price information lacks quality or comes too late - Price information doesn’t respond to demand, due to frequent lack of

time and adequate tools for the analysis The present presentation gives tools to improve the analysis of price information. The principles of price statistical analysis are first presented, then some examples are given, for tomato in Vietnam and banana-plantain in various regions of the world.

II. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS The calculation of the average, the mode and standard deviation are basic operations of descriptive statistics. As regards chronological series22, it is useful to disaggregate them according to the following components:

- The trend: long-term evolution due to structural changes, e.g., technological changes

- The seasonality: periodic changes within a year, due to climatic changes or festivals

22 Ludovic Temple, Modèle de décomposition des séries chronologiques : application à l’analyse des prix du plantain au Cameroun, Collection Carbap, n° 2007, Douala, Cameroun, 16 p., 2000.


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- The cycle: periodic changes over several years - The instability: irregular short-term changes which cannot be predicted - Formula selection

Multiplicative : Y = T * S * C * I Additive : Y = T+S+C+I

1. Trend calculation

The trend is calculated for forecasts (with linear, polynomial, or exponential function), and also for trend elimination in the analysis of seasonality or instability. It is calculated as follows: Y = a x + b; a = Sum (Y) / n (number of years) b = Sum (xy) / Sum (x²); x = sequence of numerical codification of dates sequence: the sequence of codes is such that the number 0 divides the list of dates into two sub-lists of the same size; the increment is 0,5 in the case of an even list, and 1 in the case of an uneven list. In the examples, we will use GSO data on tomato retail prices in Hanoi as they are available for 6 years on a monthly basis (see table 46).

Table 46-Trend calculation

Hanoi Price/kg Code Trend Year (y) (x) (xy) x² Yt

1996 3,829 -1.5 -5,744 2.3 4,589

1997 4,981 -1.0 -4,981 1.0 4,413

1998 4,819 -0.5 -2,410 0.3 4,237

1999 3,688 0.5 1,844 0.3 3,885

2000 3,492 1.0 3,492 1.0 3,709

2001 3,557 1.5 5,336 2.3 3,533

Sum 24,367 -2,463 7

a = 24,367 / 6 = 4,061 n = 6 b = -2,463 / 7 = - 352

Y(1996) = a + b (x) = 4,061 - (352 * -1,5) = 4,589

2. Calculation of seasonality index The seasonality index is used for the following:

• Studying causes of seasonality • Eliminating seasonal component


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The seasonality index is based on the calculation of the rudimentary index of seasonal variation (see table 47) and the moving average (see table 48). It requires at least four years of monthly data.

Table 47-Calculation of rudimentary index of seasonal variation (tomato)

Price/kg Rudimentary seasonality Date y index 01/01/2001 1 725 52

01/02/2001 1 991 60

……….. …. …………..

01/12/2001 2 916 88

Sum 39 772 X= 1200

Average 3 314

Seasonality index=(y/average of y)*100 Table 48- Calculation of moving average

Date Price (Y) MS (1) MA (2) MAR (3) Jan 96 1 375 n Feb 96 1 367 n+1 Mar 96 958 n+2 Apr 96 1 150 n+3 May 96 3 213 n+4 June 96 3 758 n+5 July 96 3 867 n+6 45 954 3 830 101 ………… ………… n+ x ………… ………… ………… July 01 5 933 n+40 42 689 3 557 167 Aug 01 5 292 n+41 Sep 01 5 214 n+42 Oct 01 5 058 n+43 Nov 01 3 767 n+44 Dec 01 2 917 n+45 (1) MS=Mobile sum of prices over 12 months (Jan to Dec 96) MS (July 1996) = (n) + (n+1) + (n+2) + …(n+12) MS (Aug 1996) = (n+1) + (n+2) + (n+3) +…(n +13) (2) MA : Moving average = MS/12 (3) MAR: Moving Average Ratio = Price (Y) / MA * 100

The calculation of the seasonal variation index is based on the following steps (see table 49):

1) Putting the moving average ratio in a table (year in line, month in column)


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2) Suppressing the extreme values (minimum and maximum of each column).

Table 49- Calculation of seasonality index

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan-96 101 179 222 128 117 85 Jan-97 73 72 59 26 58 82 97 188 205 158 127 75 Jan-98 52 69 57 73 73 74 101 149 173 199 161 58 Jan-99 35 34 30 50 80 95 148 147 139 148 119 104 Jan-00 87 87 49 69 74 79 82 120 155 149 148 120 Jan-01 52 56 49 56 90 98 167

Sum 177 196 154 175 227 256 448 416 533 455 394 264

average*[1] 59 65 51 58 76 85 112 139 178 152 131 88

[1] Sum of averages =1,194 [2] (x)/Average sums = 1,005 [3] « Average » multiplied by [2]=seasonality index

Seasonality Index 59 66 52 59 76 86 112 139 178 152 131 88

Note: x is the sum of rudimentary seasonality index (see table 47).

3. Calculation of instability The calculation of instability is presented in table 50. Table 50-Calculation of instability T S K

Code Price Sea-

sonality Desea-

sonalised Adjusted Irregular Code CFA/kg Trend Index Sery Trend Component

X y xy x2 yt (3) (5)! y / S y / T (4)/(5) -18 1375 -24750 324 4282 59 2319 0,32 0,54

-17,5 1367 -23917 306 4276 66 2081 0,32 0,49 ………. ………. ………. ………. ………. …………. …………. …………. ………….

17 5058 85992 289 3852 152 3317 1,31 0,86 17,5 3767 65917 306 3846 132 2850 0,98 0,74

18 2917 52500 324 3840 88 3304 0,76 0,86 a=4061 Y = T b = -12 Y = S Trend= a + b (y) Y = T + K Y = S+ K

Y = K


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With the simple excel programme provided during the training, an analysis lasts around 5 minutes and comprises 6 operations: • Classifying date by months in column (table 46) • Recopying the sequence of price from the table 46 to the table 47 • Recopying table 48 into table 49 • Eliminating extreme values • Recopying the table 49 • Realizing graphs and making analysis

4. Graphic analyses The trend is obtained by computing all the data month by month and making a chart with excel (see figure 16): in the chart menu, click “add trend line”, and then the options “display equation on chart” and “display R² on chart”. The trend line can be chosen as polynomial, exponential or linear.

Figure 26-Trend in retail tomato prices (1996-2002)

Source: GSO data The monthly seasonality index can also be put in a chart to visualize the months of highest and lowest prices in a year (in the case of tomato, lowest prices in January and highest prices in September).

Trend of tomato price

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Tom

ato

reta

il pr

ice

Poly

nom

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Tom

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reta

il pr

ice)


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Figure 27- Seasonality index of tomato retail price (1996-2001)

Source: GSO data

The residual values corresponding to instability are also plotted on a monthly basis (see figure 28). The chart shows that instability of tomato retail price was especially high in February 1999, April 1007, and February 2000.

Figure 28- Instability of tomato retail prices (1996-2001)

0,00

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janv-9

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mars-9

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Source: GSO data

Seasonality

0,00 20,00 40,00 60,00 80,00

100,00 120,00 140,00 160,00 180,00 200,00

Date Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec


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5. Examples of use of statistical analyses

Statistical analyses can be used for the following analyses: • Comparison of trend and seasonal variation of production relative to

consumer price • Comparison of seasonal variation of prices between products • Comparison of seasonal variation between price and rainfall • Comparison of seasonal variation of price between production areas

As regards the analysis of instability, it is useful for the following:

– Comparing Standard Deviation of “unstable” sequence between: • Producers and consumers price • Different production zones • Different products

– Posing some hypotheses on the determinants of instability

The comparison between producer and consumer price is illustrated in figure 29 and figure 30.

Figure 29-Plantain price variation in final consumer market and producer market

0

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Source : DSCN/CRBP

Pric

e Fc

fa/k

g DoualaPenda bokoMiles 20Linéaire (Douala)Linéaire (Miles 20)

Douala=final consumer market – Penda boko and Miles 20=producer markets (transactions between farmers and collectors)


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The graph shows that since 1994, the increase in consumers’ prices is quicker than the increase in farmers’ prices. This is partly explained by the increase in marketing costs, e.g., petrol costs.

Figure 30-Plantain price seasonality in Douala (consumer prices) and in production areas (producer prices)

(December 1993-December 1998)

Note: Miles: producer price – Doula: consumer price The seasonal variation of producer price is higher than the seasonal variation of consumer price. The final market is supplied by different production areas. The graph also shows a discrepancy between consumer and producer price variation from October onwards. This is due to the increase in consumption at the end of the year because of various festivals, the competition between plantain and cocoa in terms of farmers’ labour and transportation. This analysis enables identification of some opportunities for peri-urban areas to supply the urban market from October to November. The comparison of seasonal variation of various products is illustrated for plantain by figure 31, and also in the Appendix for the case of vegetables in Vietnam.

50

60

70

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110

Jan Fév Mar AvrMai Juin Juil Aout Sep Oct Nov Déc

Calculations: L.Temple 2000

Seasonality index

Douala-prixMiles - prix


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Figure 31-Comparison of seasonality index of some food products in Douala

The graph shows that the price variations of the four major foodstuff, plantain, cassava, macabo (cocoyam) and rice, are different, which indicates some complementarities between them in terms of consumers’ supply, especially between cassava and plantain. The relation between price and rainfall is illustrated by figure 32.

Figure 32-Comparison between price and rainfall variation in Miles area (Cameroon)

This graph shows a strong relation between variations in rainfall (“pluies”) and price variation (“prix”) in a plantain production area.

0

20

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Janvier Mars Mai Juillet Septembre Novembre

Mile

s pl

uies

M

iles

- prix

70

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120

130

1-jan 1-fév

1-mar

1-avr 1-mai 1-juin

1-juil 1-août 1-sep 1-oct 1-nov 1 dec

Calculations: L.Temple 1999.

Seasonality index

Plantain Macabo Manioc Riz


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The comparison of seasonality of price between production areas is illustrated by figures 33 and 34.

Figure 33-Retail price seasonality index of plantain

The seasonality of retail prices in West Cameroon (Bafoussam) is opposite to the one of Douala from March to June, which enables to identify opportunities of trade between Bafoussam and Douala. Figure 34- Plantain retail price in Miami and Central America

Price seasonality index of plantain(December 1993- May 2000)

70 75 80 85 90 95

100 105 110 115 120

Janv

ier

Févr

ier

Mar

s

Avr

il Mai

Juin

Juill

et

Aou

t

Sept

embr

e

Oct

obre

Nov

embr

e

Déc

embr

e

Calculations: L.Temple 2000

Seasonality index

Dou

ala

Baf

ouss

am

Price tendency since 1995

0,05 0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25 0,30 0,35 0,40

01/0

2/19

95

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95

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1/20

03

Fuentes : SIMPA - MNS. Calculos autores

$ / Livra

Miami America central


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Plantain prices in Miami (USA), which is the first place of plantain imports, have quite a stable trend since 1995, while the prices of Central American countries are slightly increasing, which may pose some problems of competitiveness relative to new exporters, e.g., Colombia.

Yet while the seasonality index decreases in Central America from June to November, it is going up in Miami in the same period. This indicates some potential advantage for Central America in the supply of Miami from June to November. Figure 35-Price seasonality of plantain in Miami and Central America

6. Conclusion The statistical analyses presented above are quite easy and quick. They yield useful results including the following:

• Identification of market opportunities • Identification of strategic interventions, e.g., on transport development

to improve commodity exchanges • Identification of new research questions

Some limitations are indicated below:

• The statistical analyses are simple. Basic analyses describe the fluctuations of variables, but they do not measure the intensity of relationships between variables, which should be based on more complex modelling, including in particular co-integration calculations.

• The interpretation of price variations has to be based on research on the operation of commodity chains.

PLATANO - Estacionalidad Precios en Miami y America Central (1997-2002)

85 90 95

100 105 110 115

Miami Central America


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Finally, it is necessary to regularly update the statistical analyses.

III. THE EXAMPLE OF MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN FRANCE The main objective of the public fruit and vegetable market information system is to provide transparency of price information. It is characterized by neutrality and anonymity, rapidity and accuracy. One product has 64 quotations corresponding to different quality characteristics; and 3 prices (minimum, maximum and mode). Prices are recorded at the following stages:

- The producer price: the price paid to the producers at the first step in the market, when they sell to collectors, wholesalers, or retailers in the twenty French wholesale markets (“marchés d’intérêt national”). 5 to 10 % of transaction volume is monitored, and the surveyor is present at the time of transactions.

- The collector price: it corresponds to transactions between the collector or the cooperative and the wholesaler or buying centre. Professional surveyors work on a regularly renewed sample in each French region

- The price of imports - The retailer price (purchase price by retailers and restaurant owners

from wholesalers and importers), and also the price in supermarkets (115 were surveyed in 2000).

The information is centralized in Avignon. Then it analysed in the following way:

- by period of time: night price, daily price, weekly price, monthly price - synthetic information, for instance for one product

Information is distributed by fax, mobile phone, and internet to the actors of the commodity chains and the administration. A prospective cell has been established to create a shared diagnostic on the trends of markets to guide strategic decisions. It is based on the consultation of different services, including extension workers, the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, the private enterprises, the French external trade. A synthesis on the trends of the market is prepared and validated through workshops. In conclusion, the adjustment of supply and demand is a process built by a consultation system of which price is only a component, but a major one.


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APPENDIX

COMPARISON OF PRICE SEASONALITY AND INSTABILITY BETWEEN DIFFERENT VEGETABLES

(Analysis done by I. Vagneron, CIRAD, in: Hoang Bang An, Vagneron, and al, Spatial and institutional organization of vegetable market in Hanoi, 2003, AVRDC/SUSPER SUSPER report, http://www.avrdc.org/susper, 57 p).

Monthly price observations have quite complex patterns since these data include seasonal and short-run adjustment components, random components, and longer-term trends and cycles. Hence the need to decompose the series into their main components: – trend, seasonal variation, cyclical variation and disturbance, and to estimate the patterns of these components so as to assess their relative importance.

The trend shows the long-term evolution of the series. The price trends of the different vegetables were compared. For each vegetable, the trend was calculated by regressing the price series corrected for seasonal variations over time. The significance of the trend was then tested. It is worth noting that none of the vegetables studied experienced a significant declining price trend over the period. While for tomato, headed cabbage and wax gourd, the trend was not significant, it was both ascending and significant for carrot, cucumber, cucurbits, fresh onion and kangkong (Table 51).

Table 51– Price trends for various vegetables (1996-2001)

Trend Vegetables Annual growth rate Not significant Headed cabbage + 2.8 %

Tomato - 1.8 % Wax gourd - 0.5 %

Significant Carrot + 5.1% Cucumber + 4.6 % Cucurbits + 1.5 % Fresh onion + 2.0 % Kangkong + 2.8 % Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 2.7 %

A comparison between these annual growth rates and the average annual rate of inflation given by the consumer price index (CPI) indicates an important growth of prices for carrot and cucumber.


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The seasonal variations show the evolution of prices within the year. They are periodic and may usually be explained by climatic changes and/or special events (religious celebrations, holidays). For each vegetable, the price series were smoothed by using moving averages, and a ratio to moving average (current price divided by moving average) was calculated. This ratio was then used to compute a new monthly index, by eliminating the highest and the smallest values before averaging the ratios for each month. The different vegetables may be sorted according to their seasonality:

Temperate vegetables such as tomato, headed cabbage, or carrot have a very strong seasonal variation. Their price is very high between July and September. This may be explained by the fact that the yield of these vegetables drops during the hot and wet season, due to pests and diseases: headed cabbage then suffers from diseases caused by bacteria (e.g. black rot, soft rot), and from the attack of pests (e.g. diamondback moth). Tomato is subject to fungal and bacterial diseases (e.g. bacterial wilt and spot). The variation between the lowest and the highest seasonal variation indexes can reach 152 % for carrots, 246 % for tomato, 473 % for headed cabbage.

Local vegetables such as wax gourd and kangkong are quite seasonal. Prices of these vegetables experience a similar evolution: they are quite low during the hot and wet season (when they are easily grown) and are high between December and February. Indeed, at average temperatures less than 23°C, the growth rate of kangkong is too slow to make it an economic crop; wax gourd is best grown between 23 and 28°C (Siemonsma et al., 1994). Another explanation for the peak in wax gourd prices may be that this vegetable is currently used to make sweets consumed during the Têt festival. The variation between the lowest and the highest seasonality indexes reaches 94 % for kangkong and 201 % for wax gourd.

Cucumber and fresh onion have more hectic seasonal variation indexes. The optimal temperature for growth is about 30°C, but cucumber is grown all year round. The variation between the lowest and the highest seasonality indexes reaches 62 % for fresh onions, 76 % for cucumber.

Random price disturbances. Once the trend and seasonal variations have been isolated, the remaining component of the price series – called the disturbance or irregular component – shows the variations in the price series that may not be forecasted. These variations are related to unpredictable events (political unrest, economic crises, strikes, etc.). For the vegetables studied, the vegetables with the highest coefficient of variation for its irregular component were tomato and headed cabbage (0.3), followed by cucurbits (0.17), fresh onion, kangkong, and wax gourd (0.16), and finally carrot and cucumber (0.15).

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WORKSHOP EVALUATION

On the last day of the workshop, a questionnaire was given to the participants on their appreciation of the workshop. Twelve participants completed the questionnaire; the answers are indicated in table 52. All participants found the workshop useful or very useful, especially the general presentations on how to make market information systems useful, and price analysis. Participants also expressed the need to have more time for training on the software on price statistical analysis, and also on the FAO AgriMarket software. Finally, a fieldtrip on fish price collection was also recommended.

Table 52-Summary of workshop evaluation

Contents Opinions Very useful Useful Little useful

Number % Number % Number %

Total

Did you find the workshop 4 33 8 67 0 0 12 What was the part of the workshop that was most for you?

Presentation on “How to make MIS useful”

6 50 6 50 0 0 12

Presentation on price analysis 7 58 5 42 0 0 12 Country presentations on MIS 4 33.

3 7 58

.4 1 8.3 12

Night market visit 3 25 7 58.4

2 16.6 12

Working group 6 50 6 50 0 0 12 Interactions with other participants

6 50 6 50 0 0 12

The first day and the last day of the workshop, a test was given to the participants on their knowledge of market information systems:

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1) Give a definition of market information systems

Correct answer: MIS are systems of collecting, processing and disseminating market information suitable for decision-making of private and public stakeholders involved in the marketing of the commodity

2) Give three reasons why market information systems set by various organisations like FAO are often of little use for farmers

Some correct answers: 1 – Poor dissemination to farmers 2 – Lack of promptness of data collection and dissemination 3-Lack of reliability of collected price information, e.g., because of price variations according to quality 4-Farmers limited by other constraints to use market information, e.g., transport 5-Farmers linked with their buyers by regular relationships 6-Lack of analysis of price data in relation with decision-making

3) Why is it important to determine the different quality characteristics of the selected products before collecting and disseminating daily price data?

Correct answer: Prices should be collected on a commodity of a specified quality to correctly assess timely, accurate price variations because the quality of the commodity will affect the price.

4) Give three questions that should be asked to farmers to assess the impact of market information systems

Some correct answers: Do you have access to market information disseminated by (describe the characteristics of MICS?) Do you use this information? If yes, for what purpose? If not, why?

5) What type of analysis can you make to assess whether prices in market A are significantly different from Prices in market B?

Prices market A Prices market B

January 2000 2100 February 2500 2500

March 3000 2700 April 3000 3000 May 3500 3300 June 3600 3700

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Some correct answers: The number of data is not sufficient to carry out reliable statistical tests, but it is possible to calculate the difference of prices between the two markets in all the months as a percentage of the prices in one of the market, and calculate the average, the minimum and maximum, of this difference percentage, as an indicator of the importance of price difference. In the present case, the difference between the two markets is -700 to 200, i.e., 10% or less, so prices in the two markets are close.

Prices market B- Prices market A Value %

January 100 5% February 0 0%

March -700 10% April 0 0% May 200 -6% June 100 3%

Average 183 4%

The definition of market information systems was correctly stated (as it was mentioned in the workshop programme!). On the other hand, the other questions were not answered properly except by two participants. At the end of the workshop, all seven participants who answered the tests at the beginning and at the end of the workshop gave a higher number of correct questions apart with the exception of the last question. This shows that the workshop has increased the level of knowledge of participants, but that some more training is required, in particular as regards statistical analysis.

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LIST OF ACRONYMS ADB Asian Development Bank ADDA Agricultural Development Denmark Asia AMO Agricultural Marketing Office, MAFF, Cambodia AVRDC The world vegetable centre CIRAD Centre de Coopération International en Recherche Agronomique

pour le développement ICARD Information centre of Agriculture and Rural Development ICP Internet Cable Provider FAO Food Agriculture Organisation FFTC Food and Fertiliser Technology Center HCMC Ho Chi Minh City HDARD Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development HTV Hanoi Television MAF Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Cambodia MALICA Markets and Agriculture Linkages for cities in Asia MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development, Vietnam MICS Market information and consultation system MIS Market information system MISPA Mobilisation de l’information au service des politiques agricoles MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France MRD Ministry of Rural Development, Cambodia NGO Non Governmental Organisation SOFRI Southern Fruit Research Institute SUSPER Sustainable development of peri-urban agriculture in South-east

Asia RIFAV Research Institute of Fruits and Vegetables UAF University of Agriculture and Fisheries VASI Vietnam Agriculture and Science Institute VINAFRUIT Vietnam Fruit Association VND Vietnam Dong VTV Vietnam Television

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CONVERSION RATES IN 2006 (June 22, 2006)

US$ 1 = VND 15,988 (source: www.xe.com) US$ 1 = Kip 10,517.5 (source: www.oanda.com) US$ 1 = Riel 4,207.04 (source: www.oanda.com) US$ 1 = FCFA 517.809 (source: www.xe.com)

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