Fy2019 – Year Five Annual Report
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FY2019 – YEAR FIVE ANNUAL REPORT VALUE CHAINS FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT Above: During Year Five (FY2019) of the USAID Value Chains for Rural Development project, partners gathered at collaborative learning and business-to-business (B2B) events to review progress, link to new markets, and strengthen connections between market system actors. They also planned for the future, identifying challenges and adapting business and market strategies to sustain growth. Above, from top-left: 1) private sector partner Sein Lan Wai promoted soybean for the domestic market, strengthening linkages between market system actors and drawing high-level government participation including from the Shan State Minister of Agriculture, U Sai Lon Kyaw; 2) high-end fresh produce buyers shared information about end-market requirements to import ginger to Europe at the project’s final ginger B2B event; 3) U Myo Aye, Chairman of the Myanmar Coffee Association, is interviewed by MITV about growth in Myanmar’s specialty coffee value chain at the project’s #CoffeeNext event; and 4) three of the first melon producers to earn certification for Good Agricultural Practices were honored at an event organized by VCRD and the Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producer and Exporter Association. This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Winrock International under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-482-LA-14-00004, as an Associate Award under the Farmer-to-Farmer LWA Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-L-13-00006. USAID/Burma’s VCRD Program AID-482-LA-00004 FY201 (Year 5) -- Annual Report TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT .......................................................................................................................... 7 Y5 BY THE NUMBERS ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Y5/Q4 VALUE CHAIN STORIES ................................................................................................................................ 11 THE COFFEE VALUE CHAIN ................................................................................................................................... 11 THE SOYBEAN VALUE CHAIN ............................................................................................................................... 18 THE GINGER VALUE CHAIN ................................................................................................................................... 25 THE SESAME VALUE CHAIN ................................................................................................................................... 30 THE MELON VALUE CHAIN ................................................................................................................................... 35 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND SHARING (CROSS-CUTTING) ........................................................ 41 Communications and Outreach............................................................................................................................... 41 Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning ..................................................................................................................... 43 ROLE OF VOLUNTEERS ............................................................................................................................................. 44 OPERATIONS AND CLOSEOUT .............................................................................................................................. 45 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ....................................................................................................................................... 45 Plans for Q1 of Y6 ...................................................................................................................................................... 45 ANNEX A: SUCCESS STORY ..................................................................................................................................... 47 ANNEX B: LIST OF TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES ............................................................................................. 49 ANNEX C: VCRD EMMP – UPDATED .................................................................................................................... 49 USAID/Burma’s VCRD Program AID-482-LA-00004 FY2010 (Year 5) -- Annual Report VCRD YEAR FIVE ANNUAL REPORT: OCTOBER 2018 – SEPTEMBER 2019 PUBLIC VERSION: December 10, 2019 DISCLAIMER The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. 2 USAID/Burma’s VCRD Program AID-482-LA-00004 FY2010 (Year 5) -- Annual Report ACRONYMS B2B Business-to-Business CBO Community-Based Organization CDZ Central Dry Zone CQI Coffee Quality Institute DAR Department of Agriculture Research DOA Department of Agriculture EMMP Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan FG Farmer Group FTF Feed the Future FY Fiscal Year GAP Good Agricultural Practices GEA Green Eastern Agri GM Gross Margin ha Hectare ILO International Labour Organization IR Intermediate Result kg Kilogram lb Pound LOP Life-of-Project MCA Myanmar Coffee Association MCG Mandalay Coffee Group MEL Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning MFVP Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producer and Exporter Association MMPEA Myanmar Melon Producer and Exporter Association MOALI Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation MMK Myanmar Kyat MSR Myanmar Survey Research MT Metric Ton NES National Export Strategy NGO Non-Governmental Organization Q4 Quarter Four (Q1 = Quarter One, etc.) SFDA Sesame Farmer Development Association USAID United States Agency for International Development USG United States Government VCRD Value Chains for Rural Development Y5 Year Five 3 USAID/Burma’s VCRD Program AID-482-LA-00004 FY2010 (Year 5) -- Annual Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Value Chains for Rural Development (VCRD) project is a five-year initiative focused on improving the prosperity of Myanmar’s smallholder farmers in five agricultural commodities (ginger, soybean, coffee, melon and sesame.) The project’s strategy is based on building inclusive market systems to deliver competitive products for sale to higher-value markets, resulting in higher incomes for farmers. During Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, 4,109 new households directly benefited from VCRD or partner interventions aimed at improving on-farm productivity through intensification and diversification, with 49,527 hectares (ha) under improved technologies at the end of the year. In Year 5 (Y5), VCRD supported the uptake of nine new/improved technologies and/or management practices, including sustainable, agronomic approaches such as cultivation of pesticide- free ginger, intercropping and agro-forestry, and use of improved seeds and safer/more responsible use of inputs, bringing to 79 the total number of tested and transferred technologies and practices over the life-of-project (LOP), with 33,706 farmers in targeted areas now applying one or more improved agriculture technologies or management practices as a result of USAID assistance. VCRD helped to foster the development and sustainability of new, farmer- focused companies and private extension services and inputs enterprises that are now linked to new markets, and which are increasingly collaborating with the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to promote improved technologies and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). Evolving market systems In its final year of implementation, VCRD continued its facilitative approach toward market actors, to enable more competitive value chains built on inclusive and sustainable relationships to accelerate development of key elements of the broader market system. This approach has fundamentally changed the way agribusiness is conducted in supported value chains. For example, in 2018 VCRD reported that farmers in all five value chains had established direct relationships with end- customers for the first time. Producers who utilized VCRD-introduced technologies and practices produced products with higher quality, and were rewarded by customers with price premiums. Other farmers and market actors took note, and by late 2019, new relationships and expectations had begun to offer profound opportunities for more competitive, inclusive and sustainable market systems. Clear incentives to meet quality standards As farmers began interacting directly with customers, “quality” has become increasingly understood, quantifiable, and a key determinant of price competitiveness. When linked to pricing, the adoption of quality standards also opens doors to less subjective, more transparent pricing mechanisms. As a result, all five value chains are using product standards that are becoming widely recognized and measurable. Measures from newly adopted tools (such as moisture meters in soy and coffee, or litmus paper in sesame) that validate customer requirements are becoming widely adopted as a common language between farmers