Food and Fertilizer Technology Center - About

Program：   

Rationale :

Improv ed efficiency in the food industry is a common goal of farmers, food marketing firms, consumers, and the rest of society. Food efficiency is measured as a ratio of output (utilities) to input (resources). In food marketing, inputs include the resources such as labor, packaging, machineries, energy, and so forth. These are considered necessary to perform the marketing functions. Marketing outputs include time, form, place and the possession utilities that provide satisfaction to consumers. Thus, resources are the costs and utilities are the benefits of the marketing efficiency ratio. Efficient marketing is the maximization of this input-output ratio.

Recently, there are rapid changes in agricultural marketing circumstances, which not only lower efficient marketing but also give a big challenge especially to small-scale farmers. These are as follows: a change made by the emergence of modern marketing channels such as hypermarkets , which have huge capital and strong bargaining power and sell a lot of cheaper imported farm products . This causes market failure by lowering pricing efficiency and even harms small-scale farmers by controlling farm products’ price. An d there is big change in consumers ’ needs in accordance with increasing GDP per capita and aging population, falling birth rate, etc . Consumers are concern ed about food safety much more than before and they insist on the need for graded farm products. Farmers should , therefore , invest more capital to follow up these changes. But this is a big challenge to small-scale farmers who lack capital.

There are some ways to tackle these situations. One of the best ways to cope with these challenges is to enhance the role of agricultural cooperatives. For example, the agricultural cooperatives in Korea established hypermarkets to wrestle with private ones protect small-scale farmers and increas e marketing efficiency. This seminar will give a discussion ground for specialists to find a better way to enhance food marketing efficiencies under the recent fast changes in agricultural marketing circumstances mainly through agricultural cooperatives.

Objectives:

This seminar aims to have a discussion ground among specialists in order to find a better way to enhance food marketing efficiencies under the recent fast changes in agricultural marketing circumstances mainly through agricultural cooperatives.

Proposed seminar topics:

a. Response of agricultural cooperatives to foreign and domestic distributors with strong bargaining power and modern facilities;
b. Response of agricultural cooperatives to changing consumers’ needs;
c. Successful cases of agricultural cooperatives marketing activities for improving marketing efficiency;
d. Modern distribution systems of agri cultural cooperatives (E-commerce, etc.)
e. The change of value chain in agricultural marketing and the role of agricultural cooperatives; and
f. How to enhance food marketing efficiency

Expected outputs

a. To exchange and share the successful case and future perspectives on the role of agricultural cooperatives for improving food marketing efficiency
b. To exchange and share the strategy and policy measures for improving marketing efficiency through agricultural cooperatives

Countries and number of participants: 13 participants from 8 countries:

Indonesia (1), Japan (2), Korea (3), Malaysia (2), Philippines (1), Taiwan (2), Thailand (1), Vietnam (1).

Major findings/recommendations:

• Enhance physical efficiency through accessibility to secondary marketing agencies and joint shipment groups;
• Improve pricing efficiency and stability while minimizing transaction costs generated by opportunism;
• Empower cooperatives to take on greater responsibility to reduce the role of intermediary middlemen and thus shorten the supply chain;
• Strengthen education and training of cooperative member-owners and employees;
• Improve policy and support in the area of software development to better integrate technology into agricultural marketing and distribution sites;
• Diversify cooperative services to provide greater resources to cooperators, while encouraging a higher degree of commodity farming, as seen in large developed countries;
• Encourage the pooling of resources with special incentives for high quality products;
• Build effective administrative structures with experience
• Focus on sustainability in the agricultural cooperative movement, including the responsibility to practice environmentally sound business; and
• Encourage greater government involvement in the establishment, formation, and development of agricultural cooperatives.

Program   

1-1-1
The Impact of Agricultural Cooperatives on Agricultural Marketing: Taiwan’s Experience      

Dr. Cheng-Wei CHEN, Associate Professor 
Dept. of Agricultural Economics, National Taiwan University
Taiwan R.O.C.

1-1-2
Evaluation of Marketing Efficiency and Development Strategies of Cooperatives’ Food Distribution Centers

Dr. Dong-Hwan KIM, Professor
Dept. of International Trade and Marketing, Anyang University, Korea

1-2-1
A New Vision of Growth for the Beef Industry and the Expected Roles of Agricultural Cooperatives in Hokkaido, Japan      

Mr. Hiroshi TAKAHASHI, Journalist, Managing Director
Bridge International Inc., Japan

1-2-2
Cooperative Movement in the Supply Chain of Agricultural Produce: the Way Forward      

Dr. Rozhan ABU DARDAK, Director
Economy and Technology Management Research Center, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Malaysia

1-2-3
The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Improving Agricultural Products Distribution in Korea

Dr. Sung-Ku KWON, Professor
Dept. of Food Industrial Management, College of the Social Science Dongguk University, Korea

1-3-1
The Role of Farmers’ Owned Enterprises to Promote an Efficient Marketing of Agricultural Products in Indonesia      

Dr. Kurnia Suci INDRANINGSIH, Extension Specialist
Indonesian Center for Agriculture Socio Economic and Policy Studies (ICASEPS), Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia

1-3-2
Current Situation and Prospects of Cooperatives in Vietnam’s Agricultural Sector      

Mrs. NGUYEN Thi Tan Loc, Head
Economics and Markets Department
Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute (FAVRI), Vietnam

2-1-1
The Changing Economic Performance of Japan’s Agricultural Cooperatives      

Dr. Yoshihisa GODO, Professor
Department of Economics, Meiji Gakuin University, Japan

2-1-2
Agricultural Cooperatives’ Pooling Operations to Improve Marketing Efficiency in Korea      

Dr. Chun-Kwon YOO, Team Chief
Agricultural Economy and Trade Research Team, Future Strategy Department, National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF)

2-2-1
Improving Marketing Efficiency through Agricultural Cooperatives: Successful Cases in the Philippines      

Dr. Zenaida M. SUMALDE, Professor and Director
Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-Enterprise Development, College of Economics and Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños College, Laguna, Philippines 

2-2-2
Roles of Cooperative Movement as Middlemen to Increase the Efficiency of Agricultural Marketing in Malaysia      

Mr. Syahrin bin SUHAIMEE, Deputy Director
Economy and Technology Management Research Center, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Malaysia

2-3-1
Successful Cases of Agricultural Cooperatives Marketing Activities for Improving Marketing Efficiency in Thailand      

Mr. Borworn TANRATTANAPHONG, Lecturer
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University, Thailand

2-3-2
The Function of Farmers’ Associations in Improving the Efficiency of Agricultural Products Marketing – A Case Study of Taiwanese Mangoes      

Mr. Mao-Hsiang SU, Director SecretaryAgriculture and Food Agency, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taiwan R.O.C.