A Policy and Institutional Mapping Workshop was held at the University of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City last May 23-25, 2007 to bring together producers, government, non-government organizations, academe, civil society and participants from the modern food markets such as supermarkets, fastfood outlets and food processors to discuss issues relevant to enhance participation of small scale producers in restructuring food markets.

Philippines has been undergoing changes in the modern food markets where the number and size of supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores and fastfood outlets have increased substantially in the last decade. These open opportunities for small scale producers but at the same time find themselves increasingly challenged to meet requirements of these modern outlets in terms of quality, investment, volume, variety and timing.

In the meeting with modern market participants held in the first day, policies and institutions that affect inclusion of small scale producers in the modern chains were discussed.  The future scenario of high value fresh produce procurement of these modern market buyers particularly the trends and underlying drivers were also mapped out before ways to meet these challenges and opportunities were identified. The second day of the workshop focused on opportunities, challenges, strategies and options of small scale producers particularly those in the vegetable and mango industries to meet these challenges and opportunities.

Key issues and solutions discussed in the first two days of the workshop were integrated and presented by the private sector representative, Mr. John Y. Gaisano, Jr. of the Philippine Retailers Association to the Undersecretary for Policy of the Department of Agriculture, Dr. Segfredo Serrano, during the multi-stakeholder meeting in the third and final day of the workshop. Responses from the Undersecretary as well as comments and concerns were raised by the private sector related to the issues discussed in the workshop.

Clearly, the interaction of various stakeholders in the three-day workshop produced rich discussions on key issues facilitated by a participatory process that made use of visual techniques. But more importantly, there are options and entry points identified for the different participants in the chain to increase participation of small scale producers in the modern food markets. An overall strategy that captures the key issues and solutions that emerged from the workshop is the cluster development strategy. This was discussed by the reference group composed of representatives from the private sector, government, non-government organization and academe immediately after the multi-stakeholder meeting on the third day. The reference group agreed to pursue this strategy as the next step to move forward action points in the workshop.

Details on the output of the workshop can be found under the "Policy Mapping Resources" heading in the RESOURCES section of this site.