| Abstract | The expansion of supermarket in developing countries could have important implications for poverty and rural development. The published cases of many developing countries have revealed that most of the small farmers have experienced many problems in supplying their produces to supermarkets and they are excluded from supermarkets’ procurement system. Not a single study has been conducted in Thailand to illustrate the farmers’ linkage with the supermarket, and benefits gained in the context of fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) sector. This study has addressed this gap.
This study examines the factors influencing the participation of small farmers in supplying FFV to the supermarket, and assesses challenges and opportunities of small farmers through fresh fruits and vegetables marketing chain of Thailand that leads to formulate appropriate strategies for increasing competitiveness of small farmers through different market chains in order to boost rural economy. A survey of 400 FFV farmers was undertaken in this study. Characteristics of supermarket participation are analysed and presented.
The results indicate that the probability of participating supermarkets is associated with farmer characteristics involving marketing function and as well as external factors. The significant factors are farmers’ collective action, membership in cooperatives, perception about price fluctuation, market demand, payment and grading, while the significant external factors are educational attainment of farmers and quantity of cultivated area. The farmers have five options to supply their FFV to supermarkets. The channels are: (1) farmer to a local collector, to provincial wholesaler, to central wholesaler, and to supermarket; (2) farmer to cooperative, and to supermarket; (3) farmer to cooperative, to specialist assembler, and to supermarket; (4) farmer to specialist assembler, and to the supermarket; and (5) farmer to supermarket.
Supermarkets provide benefits to farmer by assured market, higher return, large volume supply and improvement of product quality. However, farmers face constraints in accessing supermarket from a combination of supermarket procurement practices and limitations faced by them. The challenges include emphasis on high quality standard, inadequate supply and grading and packing problem. The government has made various attempts improve the FFV market by promoting both domestic and export markets simultaneously improving production efficiency. Supermarkets play important roles in connecting farmers to markets through direct procurement while improving cultivation practices of participating farmers in order to improve the quality of produce. A number of policy gaps still exist to protect the interests of the farmers in maximizing their benefits, and in the areas of participation between public and private sectors.
In conclusion, Thailand’s policy on FFV marketing has been evolving and applied by various programs and agencies. Only some of them are successful in the areas of market infrastructure and production improvement. However, some policies need to be improved and practiced, for example, farmer’s capacity building. In this regard, the public sector has the responsibility for acting as a facilitator and regulator by adopting policies to capture the advantages of supermarket channels. Additionally, the private sectors and supermarkets are recommended to provide adequate supervision and special assistance to farmers for fulfilling their needs in meeting quality product requirements and making them competent and efficient in order to connect with supermarkets more and more with assured benefit in response to other competitive markets. |