Ethiopia's Food Reserve Policies and Practice

Ethiopia has for a long time been one of the world’s most food-insecure countries. Efforts by the government and a multitude of sponsors including NGOs have developed an array of institutions and instruments to mitigate the negative impact of production and supply disruptions. Public stockpiles are one such tool, the use of which is rapidly increasing worldwide. This brief field study examines the Ethiopian policies and practice in context, including various instruments operated by farmers, processors and traders. The study finds that the multiple objectives assigned to food reserves as well as the present management structure may not be well-suited at a time of high world market prices and when international food aid is dwindling, and as the international regulatory trade and investment environment remains a matter of unfinished business from a global food security perspective. A comprehensive study of various options for improvements would lay out policy alternatives for public authorities and stakeholders.

Swiss Policies for more Food Security

Resource-poor yet blissful Switzerland is also one of the most food-secure countries in the world: there are abundant food supplies, relatively low retail prices in terms of purchasing power parity, with few poverty traps. Domestic production covers 70% of net domestic consumption. A vast and efficient food reserve scheme insures against import disruptions. Nonetheless, the food security contribution by the four sectoral policies involved is mutually constrained: our agriculture is protected by the world’s highest tariffs. Huge subsidies, surface payments, and some production quotas substitute market signals with rent maximisation. Moreover, these inefficiencies also prevent trade and investment policies which would keep markets open, development policies which would provide African farmers with the tools to become more competitive, and supply policies which would work against speculators. The paralysing effect of Swiss agricultural policies is exacerbated by new “food security subsidies” in the name of “food sovereignty” while two pending people’s initiatives might yet increase the splendid isolation which in effect reduce Swiss farmer competitiveness and global food security. Is there a solution? Absent a successful conclusion of the Doha Round (WTO) or a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP) further market openings and a consequent “recoupling” of taxpayer support to public goods production remain highly un-likely. To the very minimum Switzerland should resume the agricultural reform process, join other countries trying to prevent predatory behaviour of its investors in developing countries, and regionalise its food reserve.

Jatropha mahafalensis for rural energy supply in south-western Madagascar?

In many parts of the eastern African region wood-based fuels will remain dominant sources of energy in coming decades. Pressure on forests, especially in semi-arid areas will therefore continue increasing. In this context, the role of liquid biofuels as substitutes for firewood and charcoal, to help reducing pressure on woody biomass and contributing to a better energy security of rural communities, has remained controversial among researchers and practitioners. At household level, the economic and technical feasibility of straight vegetable oil (SVO) was assessed mainly on Jatropha curcas, with unpersuasive results. So far nothing is known about the suitability as an energy carrier of Jatropha mahafalensis Jum. & H. Perrier, the only endemic representative of the Jatropha genus in Madagascar. This paper explores the potential of this plant as a biofuel feedstock in the agro-pastoral area of Soalara, in the semi-arid south-western part of Madagascar. Only hedge-based production was considered to rule out competition over land with food crops. Yield data, the length of currently existing hedges and energy consumption patterns of households were used to assess the quantitative potential and economic viability of J. mahafalensis SVO for lighting and cooking. Tests were conducted with cooking and lighting devices to assess their technical suitability at household level. The paper concludes that J. mahafalensis hedges have some potential to replace paraffin for lighting (though without much economic benefit for the concerned households), but not to replace charcoal or firewood for cooking. The paper recommends that rural energy strategies in similar contexts do not focus only on substituting current fuels with SVO, but should also take into consideration other alternatives. In the case of cooking, there seems to be substantially more potential in increasing the efficiency of current fuel production and consumption technologies (kilns and stoves); and in the case of lighting, solutions based on SVO need to be compared against other options such as portable solar devices.

Freshwater mesocosm experiment 2012 in Vancouver, Canada on effects of increased temperature and food chain length on oxygen fluxes and plankton community structure

Over broad thermal gradients, the effect of temperature on aerobic respiration and photosynthesis rates explains variation in community structure and function. Yet for local communities, temperature dependent trophic interactions may dominate effects of warming. We tested the hypothesis that food chain length modifies the temperature-dependence of ecosystem fluxes and community structure. In a multi-generation aquatic food web experiment, increasing temperature strengthened a trophic cascade, altering the effect of temperature on estimated mass-corrected ecosystem fluxes. Compared to consumer-free and 3-level food chains, grazer-algae (2-level) food chains responded most strongly to the temperature gradient. Temperature altered community structure, shifting species composition and reducing zooplankton density and body size. Still, food chain length did not alter the temperature dependence of net ecosystem fluxes. We conclude that locally, food chain length interacts with temperature to modify community structure, but only temperature, not food chain length influenced net ecosystem fluxes.

China's regional economies and value chains : an interregional input-output analysis

Attempts to understand China’s role in global value chains have often noted the case of Apple's iPhone production, in particular the fact that the value added during the Chinese portion of the iPhone’s supply chain is no more than 4%. However, when we examine the Chinese economy as a whole in global production networks, China’s share in total induced value added by China’s exports of final products to the USA is about 75% in 2005. This leads us to investigate how Chinese value added is created and distributed not only internationally but also domestically. To elucidate the increasing complexity of China’s domestic production networks, this paper focuses on the measure of Domestic Value Chains (DVCs) across regions and their linkages with global markets. By using China’s 1997 and 2007 interregional input-output tables, we can understand in detail the structural changes in domestic trade in terms of value added, as well as the position and degree of participation of different regions within the DVCs.

Effects of RoHs and REACH regulations on firm-level production and export, and the role of global value chains : the cases of Malaysia and Vietnam

This paper uses firm-level data to examine the impact of foreign chemical safety regulations such as RoHS and REACH on the production costs and export performance of firms in Malaysia and Vietnam. This paper also investigates the role of global value chains in enhancing the likelihood that a firm complies with RoHS and REACH. We find that in addition to the initial setup costs for compliance, EU RoHS (REACH) implementation imposes on firms additional variable production costs by requiring additional labor and capital expenditures of around 57% (73%) of variable costs. We also find that compliance with RoHS and REACH significantly increases the probability of export and that compliance with EU RoHS and REACH helps firms enter a greater variety of countries. Furthermore, firms participating in global value chains have higher compliance with RoHS and REACH regulations, regardless of whether the firm is directly exporting, when the firm operates in upstream or downstream industries of the countries' supply chain.

The supply chain in East Asia

East Asia is a major tea-consuming and -producing area; however, few studies have examined the East Asian tea industry from the perspective of the supply chain. Based on field and desktop studies of the tea markets in Taiwan and China, this paper provides an overview of each market together with detailed case studies. In this analysis, the characteristics of the tea industry and the main problems in the current supply chain in terms of governance, upgrading, and food safety and quality control are identified. This paper will help fill the gap in studies of the East Asian tea industry from the perspective of the supply chain.

Food quality awareness : cases from shrimp producers in Thailand and vegetable producers in Vietnam

The high number of import rejections of food commodities suggests that producers in exporting countries are not complying with established standards. To understand why this is the case, we explore the behavior of producers and consumers in developing countries. First, we examine the successful transformation of production practices adopted by shrimp producers in Thailand. In support of the dramatic change in practices, we observe an important role played by the public sector in providing a means to visualize chemical residues and to control processes upstream of the supply chain via a registration system and a traceability system called Movement Document. Furthermore, very active information sharing by the private sector contributes to the dissemination of useful technical and market information among producers. We also examine the knowledge and perceptions of consumers with respect to food safety in Vietnam. We find that consumers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City behave differently toward the third-party certification VietGAP, probably owing to differences in the history of market mechanisms between the two cities.

Cadena de valor de papas nativas (Solanum andigenum sp.) en la provincia de Jauja, Perú

La Asamblea General de la ONU, a solicitud del gobierno peruano, declara en el año 2008 el Año Internacional de la Papa, (AIP). Desde el año 2005, el gobierno peruano ha puesto en marcha estrategias en torno a la importancia de la papa, como la declaración del 30 de Mayo como el Día Nacional de la Papa. El año 2014 es declarado por la FAO, (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Año Internacional de la Agricultura Familiar, con un enfoque compartido por esta Tesis Doctoral en el apoyo a la familia campesina peruana. El gobierno peruano utiliza las cadenas de valor como una estrategia de promoción de desarrollo sostenible, que ha permitido contribuir a la inclusión social y económica de productores pobres de zonas alto andinas, como las localizadas en la mancomunidad municipal del Yacus, (MMY), provincia de Jauja, departamento de Junín. Esta estrategia, en la que el mercado incorpora a los pequeños agricultores de las zonas altas de los Andes, (que disponen de recursos económicos muy bajos), en procesos productivos rentables, implica una serie de cambios a realizar, como la transformación de los patrones de producción tradicional hacia aquellos productos o servicios que tienen demanda en el mercado, o la variación de la mentalidad del agricultor pequeño hacia una concepción empresarial de su producción. (Fabián, 2013). Por otra parte, la sostenibilidad de las cadenas de valor depende del eslabón más débil, lo que obliga a conocer la situación de todos los eslabones para poder integrar y reforzar la cadena. Se requiere un sistema de transparencia adecuado que facilite el flujo de la información entre los distintos eslabones. (Briz et al., 2012). Además, el establecimiento de la cadena de valor debe hacerse con cuidado, ya que la eficacia y supervivencia de las empresas están cada vez más ligadas a la cadena de valor a la que pertenece y a la coordinación de la misma. (Briz, 2011). En esta situación, adquiere importancia el estudio de la cadena de valor de la papa nativa, para una vez establecidas sus características, poder determinar la viabilidad o no de una cadena de valor de este producto que repercuta parte de la riqueza generada en los pequeños agricultores alto andinos, e incluso, de su extensión hasta España. Existen estudios sobre las papas nativas, realizadas por diferentes universidades de distintos países, e incluso, de diferentes continentes. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los estudios se centran en la mejora de la producción de la papa nativa. La novedad de la investigación realizada en la presente Tesis Doctoral radica en el estudio de la viabilidad de la comercialización de la papa nativa, mediante el establecimiento de una cadena de valor que se inicie en la provincia de Jauja, Perú, y finalice tanto en los mercados peruanos de las regiones de Junín y Lima, como en España. El objetivo planteado en esta investigación es la mejora de las condiciones económicas y sociales de las comunidades agrícolas de la provincia de Jauja en el Perú, así como fomentar su desarrollo tecnológico e industrial, mediante el fomento de la cadena de valor de la papa nativa y sus derivados. Se establecen como objetivos específicos la caracterización de los eslabones de la cadena de valor de la papa nativa y sus derivados en la provincia de Jauja del Perú y en España, de manera que se determine el valor agregado en los mismos; el fortalecimiento de las organizaciones de productores de papas nativas para la comercialización de sus producciones y para el fomento de la cultura empresarial; y el desarrollo de una cadena de comercialización papas nativas y sus derivados con origen en la Provincia de Jauja, Perú, y que finalice en España, con la venta al consumidor español. Para alcanzar estos objetivos la metodología utilizada es la cadena de valor agroalimentaria, utilizando como herramientas de análisis el análisis DAFO de la cadena de valor de la papa nativa. Las fuentes de información primarias utilizadas proceden en parte del proyecto de cooperación de UPM, “Mejora de la cadena de valor de la patata andina como impulso al desarrollo rural. Caso de tres Comunidades Campesinas en la Provincia de Jauja del Perú”, en el que participó el doctorando, y en parte proceden de la batería de encuestas específicamente diseñadas para los diferentes eslabones de la cadena de valor de la papa nativa. Las fuentes de información secundarias proceden de artículos académicos publicados, de artículos publicados por revistas especializadas del sector y de informes realizados por diferentes instituciones gubernamentales, tanto españolas como peruanas. Las conclusiones de la investigación son las siguientes. La creación de la mancomunidad del Yacus ha beneficiado a los pequeños agricultores. Estos consiguen mejores condiciones de venta y mejores precios para sus productos, lo que repercute en la mejora de sus condiciones de vida. Estas mejoras en las condiciones de venta de los productos se deben a su pertenencia a una cadena de valor de papa nativa que está funcionando de forma eficaz. Las empresas consideradas para constituir la cadena de valor han mostrado interés por formar parte de ella: los campesinos para obtener mejores precios por sus productos y unas mejores condiciones de venta; los distribuidores para asegurarse una calidad determinada de unas variedades fijas de papa nativa; la industria transformadora por disponer de un suministro de producto adecuado al derivado de papa nativa correspondiente, (hojuelas, tunta, etc.); las empresas exportadoras para tener suministro garantizado de los productos que ellos requieren en los volúmenes adecuados. Es una situación ventajosa para todas las empresas participantes. A pesar de trabajar con un producto tradicional, la cadena de valor de la papa nativa presenta innovación en los productos comercializados, tanto en la papa nativa fresca como en sus derivados, en los formatos de los productos, en la red de distribución, en las instituciones peruanas y en el consumidor final. Se percibe una demanda de papa nativa y de sus productos derivados en aquellos países donde existen comunidades de latinoamericanos que han emigrado de sus países de origen. España está entre los países que han acogido a un importante número de personas de origen latinoamericano. A pesar de la fuerte crisis económica sufrida por España, que ha llevado consigo la vuelta a sus países de origen de parte de su comunidad latinoamericana, el tamaño de esta población sigue siendo importante. Esta población demanda productos originarios de sus propios países, y los consumirían de forma frecuente si los precios son adecuados a su capacidad de consumo. El precio de venta de la papa nativa y sus derivados en España es de gran importancia. La importación de estos productos desde Perú hace que este eleve a niveles que le resta competitividad, en especial en la papa fresca. Se aconseja la búsqueda de empresas que puedan adaptar la producción de la papa fresca de forma local, y mantener para los derivados la exportación directa a España. Las preferencias de los consumidores peruanos y españoles en cuanto a formatos y marcas se refieren no son coincidentes. De las encuestas realizadas, se concluye que no puede seguirse la misma estrategia de marketing en ambos países, debiéndose diferenciar los formatos de los paquetes de la papa nativa y de sus derivados en España y en Perú, para así lograr llegar a los consumidores potenciales de ambos países. ABSTRACT At the request of the Peruvian government, the UN General Assembly declared the International Year of the Potato in 2008. Since 2005, the Peruvian government has implemented strategies around the importance of the potato, as the declaration of the 30th of May as the National Day of the Potato. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) has declared 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming, with an approach shared by this Ph.D. dissertation about the Peruvian peasant family. The Peruvian government uses value chains as a strategy to promote sustainable development, which has allowed to contribute to the social and economic inclusion of poor farmers in the high Andean regions as those located in the municipal commonwealth of Yacus (MMY) province of Jauja, department of Junín. This strategy, which incorporates small farmers in the high Andean regions, (who have very low income), to the market with profitable production processes, implies a number of changes that should take place, such as changing patterns of traditional production to those products or services that are in demand in the market, or changes in the mentality of the small farmer into a concept of production business. (Fabián, 2013). Moreover, the sustainability of value chains depends on the weakest link, which demands a knowledge of the status of all the links, in order to integrate and strengthen the chain. It is required an adequate transparency to facilitate the flow of information between the various actors. (Briz et al., 2012). Furthermore, the establishment of the value chain should be done carefully, since the effectiveness and the survival of the businesses are increasingly linked to the value chain where the firm is included and to its coordination. (Briz, 2011). In this situation, it becomes important to study the value chain of the native potato, once we establish its features, to be able to determine the feasibility or not of a value chain of this product, which has an impact of the generated wealth in small farms of the high Andean regions, and even the extension of this value chain to Spain. There are studies on native potatoes, made by different universities in several countries and even in more than one continent. However, most studies focus on improving the production of native potato. The originality of the research conducted in this Ph.D. dissertation is the study of the feasibility of commercialization of native potato, by the creation of a value chain that starts in the province of Jauja, Perú, and ends both in Peruvian markets in the region of Lima, and in Spain. The main goal of this research is to improve the economic and social conditions of farming communities in the province of Jauja in Perú, while promoting its technological and industrial development, by the establishment of a value chain of the native potato and derivatives. The specific objectives of the research are the characterization of the links in the value chain of the native potato and its derivatives in the province of Jauja, (Perú) and in Spain, in order to determine the added value; the strengthening of organizations of native potato producers, to commercialize their products and the promotion of enterprise culture; and the development of a chain to market native potato and its derivatives, with its origin in the province of Jauja, (Perú), and its end in Spain, with the sale to the Spanish consumer. In order to achieve these objectives, the used methodology is the agrifood value chain, using as a tool to analysis it the SWOT analysis of the value chain of the native potato. The primary sources of information used in the research come partly from UPM cooperation project, "Improving the value chain of Andean potato as a boost to rural development. Case Three Rural Communities in the Province of Jauja, (Perú)", in which the Ph.D. student was involved, and partly from the surveys, which were specifically designed for the different links of the value chain of the native potato. The secondary sources of information come from academic articles, from articles published by magazines of the industry, and from reports of several government institutions, both Spanish and Peruvian. The conclusions of the research are as follows. The creation of the commonwealth of Yacus has benefited small farmers. They get better sales conditions and better prices for their products, which results in the improvement of their living conditions. These improvements are due to a value chain of native potato which is working effectively. All the firms invited to constitute the value chain have shown interest in being part of it: the farmers to get better prices for their products and better sale conditions; the distributors to ensure a certain quality of fixed varieties of native potato, the processing industry in order to have an adequate supply of product to the corresponding derivative of native potato (chips, “tunta”, etc.); exporting firms to have a guaranteed supply of the products that they require with the right volumes. It's a win-win situation for all participating companies. Despite being a traditional product, the value chain of the native potato presents innovation in marketed products, (both fresh native potato and its derivatives), in the formats of products, in the distribution network, in Peruvian institutions and in relation with the consumer. There is a perceived demand of native potato and its products in countries where communities of Latin Americans have settled down. Spain is among the countries that have received a significant number of people from Latin America. Despite the strong economic crisis suffered by Spain, which has lead to a return to their home countries of part of the Latin American community, the size of this population is still considerable. This population demands products from their own countries, and they frequently consume them if the prices are suitable to their standard of living. The selling price of the native potato and its derivatives in Spain is of great importance. The import of these products from Perú makes the prices rise to levels that reduce competitiveness, especially in fresh native potatoes. It is advised to look for companies which can adapt the fresh potato production in our country, and keep direct export to Spain for the derivatives products. The preferences of Peruvian and Spanish consumers in terms of formats and brands are not the same. The surveys concluded that the same marketing strategy cannot be followed in both countries. Packet formats of native potato and its derivatives should be differentiated in Spain and Perú, in order to reach the potential consumers of both countries.