AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center

“Alleviate poverty and malnutrition in the developing world through increased production and consumption of safe vegetables”

Prosperity for the Poor and Health for All

Five Necessary Policy Changes to Help Achieve Improved Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture through Smallholder Vegetable Horticulture in the

APAARI region

J.D.H. Keatinge, P. Schreinemachers, F. Beed, J.d’A. Hughes

AVRDC The World Vegetable Center

P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan, 74199 Taiwan

“Nutrition has fallen to a

low level of priority.”

Malnutrition is often invisible; poor community awareness of its threat to health and well-being

Governments have failed to recognize the pivotal role that malnutrition has on economic performance

Multi-organizational stakeholders in nutrition: nutrition falls between the cracks of government (partial responsibility of many, but main responsibility is none)

2005 Slide

Rec. 1. National policies for food and nutrition security and health that move

beyond staple crops because the growing epidemic of malnutrition and non-

communicable diseases worldwide is bringing overwhelming health costs

Wheat, maize and

rice supply

more than 60% of humanity’s

calories

Feeding the World without Nourishing it

at the same time is not sensible

There is a much higher rate of return to

research in development opportunity

crops and small stock! Therefore, why

not invest more in vegetables, fruits,

fish, livestock and other agricultural

products which can help to abolish

malnutrition.

… while other highly

nutritious crops are

underutilised

2008

5

Shift the Focus from hunger to encouraging people to

take up healthier, better balanced diets

“Globesity” (WHO): Global

epidemic of excess weight

and obesity is increasingly

becoming a major public

health problem

Southeast Asia and western

Pacific region at the forefront

of this crisis

India and PR China: Rapid growth

rate of obesity and type 2 diabetes

amongst children

Slide 6 / 50 www.avrdc.org

Improving food supply by reducing postharvest loss

• Reducing postharvest

losses for fresh produce

is an integral part of

sustainable agricultural

development

95%5%

Percentage of funding provided for

horticultural development efforts

over the past 30 years

Increasing production

Reducing

postharvest lossSource: Kader and Rolle 2004

HOW CAN WE GET PEOPLE TO EAT MORE FRUIT & VEGETABLES

daily fruit & veg consumption = 400 g

200 g of each, daily = more nutritious diets healthier children and adults more resilient individuals and households

standard weight of football = 396 g

RAW

COOKED

HOW MUCH IS

400 GRAMS?

Nutrients in vegetables

• Improve children’s ability to

grow and learn

• Improve adults’ capacity to

work and earn

AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center promotes

vegetable consumption through

• Home and school gardens

• Recipes

• Food processing training

Vegetables go to School

Healthier, better balanced dietsBangladeshi women trained in home gardening and nutrition had a

significantly higher supply of vegetables and of key vitamins and nutrients.

Source: Schreinemachers at al. 2015. Note: Difference established through a comparison of women who received the training with a statistically similar group who did not receive it. All variables significant at p<0.01.

Slide 10 / 50 www.avrdc.org

Cambodia: Dramatic impact of increasing food

pricesRising prices in 2008 and beyond

Rice: $0.25 to 0.62 per kg

Meat: $1.5 to $3.5 per kg

Fuel: $0.75 to $1.4 per liter

Changing dietary behavior:

Only 2 meals a day (instead of

previously three)

Less consumption of meat

Consumption of vegetables grown in

home gardens only

Source: HelpAge International 2008

Slide 11 (06/2008) www.avrdc.org

PROSPERITY FOR THE POOR, HEALTH FOR ALL

Vegetables – a pathway out of poverty

Smallholders often have a

comparative advantage in producing

vegetables, since there are limited

economies of scale

Vegetable production leads to higher

farm income and generates more

jobs than other crops

Vegetable value chains contribute to

commercialization of the rural

economy

Slide 12 (06/2008) www.avrdc.org

PROSPERITY FOR THE POOR, HEALTH FOR ALL

Training of Youths on Peri-Urban Horticulture:

Reduce outmigration from rural areas for employment

Regular collection of quality statistics on horticultural production

Vegetable production is important for smallholders: For example in India

Farm category

Marginal

(<1ha)

Small

(1-2 ha)

Medium

(2-4ha)

Large

(>4ha)

% households growing

vegetables

16 17 15 10

% share in total

vegetable area

35 27 21 18

Source: Birthal, P. S., and P. C. Joshi. (2007) "Institutional innovation for improving smallholder participation in

high-value agriculture: a case of fruit and vegetable growers' associations in India". Quarterly Journal of

International Agriculture 46 (1): 49-67.

Home gardens – household nutrition in the hands of women

Are these home garden outputsrepresented in national statistics?

Slide 16 / 50 www.avrdc.org

In comparison:

The 11 low-income countries in the Asian region (excluding

India) account for only 5% of the region’s public

agricultural R&D expenditures

Rec. 2. Ensure longterm funding for horticultural research and development

PR China and India

Expenditures for agricultural R&D have tripled in PR China and

India from 1981 - 2003

Shift: from traditional areas of agricultural research to

biotechnology

Slide 17 / 50 www.avrdc.org

Rate of return to research in the AVRDC/NRI/South Indian NARS “Malle Roga” project (2004-

2006 exceeded 764:1 and the genes inserted for TYLCV protection were then further

introduced into another 13 countries and subsequently into most new hybrids in the

Asia/Pacific region

AVRDC key partner: The Indian Institute of

Horticultural Research, Bangalore

Slide 18 / 50 www.avrdc.org

Investment in human resources for horticultural research:Training for the Taiwan of tomorrow

AVRDC provides post-doctoral fellowships for Taiwan researchers, and has a visiting scientist program.

In the past five years, AVRDC has trained 86 undergraduate students from Taiwan in horticulture, biotechnology, and nutrition.

These interns carry the skills and knowledge they have gained into the workplace and into institutes of higher education.

The Cambodian Horticultural Research Institute

outside of Phnom Penh is seriously deficient in

human resources in all horticultural disciplines

Slide 19 / 50 www.avrdc.org

AVRDC-Kasetsart University Annual Horticultural training course for 3 months

Rec. 3 Strengthen market opportunities for smallholder

farmers: Vegetables – a pathway out of poverty

Fruit and

Vegetables:

Commercialization

of the rural

economy

21

Transportation issues

Getting vegetables

• Where they are needed

• When they are needed,

and

• In good condition

Thursday morning Sunday morning

Typical route for produce from the Sigatoka valley to Suva, Fiji

22

Wastage and losses

In Oceania

• Within 48 hours 27% of

harvested eggplant is

unsalable due to

dehydration

• After 4 days 38% of the

tomatoes that reach

market are lost due to

rots. In the Greater Mekong

• Poor packaging/transport

• Adverse storage condition

• Poor quality

• Cannot sell all produce

23

Create incentives for smallholder

farmers to adopt protected cultivation

Mauritius – protected

tomato productionBrunei – protected

seedling production

Vietnam – protected vegetable

cultivation in Da Lat

Oman – protected

field production

24

Make agricultural entrepreneurship an attractive job

choice for women and for young people

Influencing populations

Linking education,

health, agriculture

A new generation of

agricultural scientists

A new generation of

farmers to feed a

growing population

Vegetables WIN (women, income,

nutrition)

1. empowerment of women to manage small rural

and urban plots

2. high value for fresh and processed products

3. short cultivation cycle and huge diversity

4. increased nutrition provided to family and

consumers

26

Supporting Women’s Action Groups such

as here in the Solomons

Rec: 4 Renew existing policy frameworks

to ensure judicious pesticide useCrop Protection Stewardship

Increase awareness of family and

consumer health and economic

rationality:

Appropriate use of approved products at

correct dose for specific crops

Appropriate timings of applications

(respecting Pre-Harvest Interval)

Use of correct safety and application

equipment

Store and dispose responsibly

Enforce

GAP

Inappropriate pesticide use

unacceptable practices common

28

Loss of producer profit

Loss of trade and value chains

Loss of country and retailer

credibility

Loss of biodiversity

Loss of yield

Increased pest resistance

Health hazard to growers

Health hazard to consumers

Precise data not available!

Solutions to inappropriate

pesticide use

Precise pest and disease diagnostics

and IPM

• Agronomic practices

• Judicious pesticide use

• Biological control

29

Agronomic practices

Tomato bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum(soil-borne, vascular bacterial disease)

Control principle Specific measures Efficacy

Pathogen

exclusion

Use a plot without disease history

Use clean seedlings

No contact with contaminated water

***

Pathogen

reduction

Practice rotation

Remove diseased plants

Apply chemical or organic amendments

**

Host resistance Use locally effective resistant cultivars ***

Direct protection Use sterilized pruning tools *

Tomato leaf curl virus caused by begomoviruses

(insect-transmitted viral disease)

Control principle Specific measures Efficacy

Pathogen

exclusion

Raise healthy seedlings by

protection with 60-mesh net

***

Pathogen

reduction

Control whitefly, with pesticide, trap

crops, pheromone traps

Remove and destroy infected plants

*

Host resistance Use locally effective resistant

cultivars

***

Direct protection Apply summer oil on leaves *

Agronomic practices

Grafting

Quang Vinh, IVTC

trainee

2007 Lam Dong Province

4000 ha cultivated with

grafted seedlings

2012:

Full adoption in Lam

Dong and increasing in

Red River Delta

Yield increased by 18 t

ha-1

Increased profit in Lam

Dong of US$7.7 million

Rec. 5 Reassess public sector policies for

improved germplasm and food quality & safety

Start or maintain long term vegetable breeding

programs

Encourage private seed sector to contribute

positively

GAP

Eliminate chemical poisons (pesticides,

mycotoxins)

through targeted diagnostics and IPM;

agronomic practices / biological control /

judicious pesticide use

Ensure the hygiene of perishables vegetables

across value chain

PROVIDE NUTRITIOUS, AFFORDABLE

AND SAFE VEGETABLES FOR ALL

33

Our heartland activities

The Association of Southeast

Asian Nations“UNIDO Regional Trade Standards Compliance Report,

2013”

ASEAN potential to gain from macro trends of increasing population and purchasing powers not met in all countries by increased vegetable production

• Significant constraints due to food safety and quality issues with most common reasons for import rejections being:

• MRLs exceeded of pesticides (approved and prohibited) and mycotoxins

• presence of quarantine plant pathogens and pests

• inadequate hygiene standards

HACCP for food safety

HAZARD ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL CONTROL POINT

• Scientific, systematic, identification of hazards and preventative methods

• Applied throughout food chain from primary production to final consumption

• Combines expertise in environmental, veterinary and public health

• Involves, microbiology, chemistry, food technologies and engineering

• Avoids relying on end-product testing

• Adapts to technological advances (e.g. detection and post harvest methods)

Slide 36 (06/2008) www.avrdc.org

1. Move beyond staples

2.>Hort. Research Investment

3.Strenghthen market opportunities

4. Policies for safe pesticide use

5. Provide improved germplasm and ensure food

safety

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