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ANALYSIS SWEET POTATOES IN DEL SUR O

HIGHLIGHTS

BACKG ROUND This study examines the sweet potato value chain for Selected Municipalities in and identifies needed inte rventions to improve the livelihood of internally displaced farmers affected by the Marawi conflict. This is part of the project entitled “Support for enhancing agri-based livelihoods of internally displaced farmers affected by the Marawi conflict” supported by the Australian Government through Community and Family Services International (CFSI). It aims to provide livelihood support through the provision of agricultural inputs and machineries as well as training for the sustainable economic recovery of the displaced, especially the most vulnerable and those with special needs. This includes strengthening the enabling environment and improving production and processing, and marketing platforms of selected agricultural value chains in Lanao del Sur. This study is in collaboration with Xavier University – Ateneo de .

OBJECTIVE The study examined sweet potato value chains in Lanao del Sur and to identify needed interventions in improving the livelihood of internally displaced farmers affected by the Marawi conflict.

METHODOLOGY Focus group discussions with selected FAO farmer-beneficiaries, interviews with fresh market retailers and processors, and secondary data collection were conducted.

THE SWEET POTATO INDUSTRY • In the , sweet potato is considered a subsistence crop (Cabanilla, 1996) and a secondary source of income among farmers (UPWARD, 1993 as cited in Cabanilla, 1996). • Production has declined, in terms of volume and area harvested, since the 1980s, though with a slight uptick in the past 5 years (FAO, 2019).

• The 2017 net profit-to-cost ratio is 2:1, meaning farmers could earn about Php 2.00 ©

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net profit for every Php 1.00 spent in production (Philippine Statistics Office, 2019). O • What was formerly ARMM is the weakest contributor to the country’s sweet potato production. Within ARMM, Lanao del Sur is the major producer (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2019).

CONSTRAINTS The value chain analysis (VCA) of sweet potatoes in Lanao del Sur and Cagayan de Oro identifies the following constraints: •

Lack of knowledge about production and postharvest handling. This is manifested ©

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by low crop yield, high postharvest losses and poor tuber quality. A O • The participants do not apply fertilizers. Sweet potato provides adequate yield with minimum fertilizer inputs, can be inter-cropped and grows year-round. • Post-harvest losses are high. One farmer indicated that occasionally 30-40% of sweet potato produce is rejected by buyers. Damage due to weevil is common. Tubers that are often cracked, misshapen or oversized are still edible, however, farmers consider such tubers to be low quality. • Extension support services may not be available at the local level. There is a ©

recently established CBO, but still needs to strengthen its capacity to support F A farmer-beneficiaries. O

• High cost of transport for tubers from to City. Marantao is 47 km away from the main trading center in Iligan City. As a result, Marantao tubers fetch lower prices. Improving tuber quality could be key toward expanding the market opportunities of Marantao sweet potatoes.

FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS The following measures are recommended to maximize the the CBOs leadership, governance and competence to benefit of participating in the Marantao sweet potato value manage future livelihood enterprises. The CBOs chain: should have the resources and the capacity to be able 1. Capacitate and/or strengthen farmer- to provide the services needed by the farmers. beneficiaries with better farming and post-harvest practices to improve yield and product quality. 3. Expand opportunities by linking CBOs to potential The highest yield mentioned in the focus group markets in key , and cities. discussions (FGDs) is just half of the national The existing market outlets can absorb the demand, average, indicating a substantial amount of lost but farmers can explore other direct markets such as economic opportunity. There is a need for trainings public markets in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro city to to improve farming techniques to maximize market gain experience and develop the supply chain. DTI opportunities. Farmers with the highest potential and/or NGOs could help facilitate entry into these should be given attention such that they can markets. become community models and serve as in-house 4. Partner with the Philippine Root Crops Research and specialists in their CBOs. PhilRootCrops (in Visayas Training Center (PhilRootCrops) to provide State University), DA and ATI in BARMM can be integrated production and post-production potential partners. Collaboration with DA Northern solutions. Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock PhilRootCrops is highly experienced in addressing the Complex can be done to learn from their challenges confronting the root crop industry and experience working with successful sweet potato communities. Areas of collaboration could include farmers in and . farmers’ training, enterprise development, 2. Strengthen CBOs and capacitate them to run a strengthening sweet potato-specific LGU extension profitable sweet potato enterprise. services, product development and linking with CBOs could serve as a marketing arm for their development partners, industry processors and big members’ produce. There is a need to strengthen markets.

SWEET POTATO VALUE CHAIN FLOW

LANAO DEL SUR

CAGAYAN DE ORO

CONTACT US:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 20 Representation in Philippines Some rights reserved. This work is available Tel.: +632 8638 9886 under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO licence. Website: [email protected] CA7552EN/1/01.20 20 FAO, ©