by Lorna M. Calumpang, SEARCA-KMD
25-September-2009 SEARCA News Release
Everytime you eat rice, did you ever wonder where this rice came from, how many stops did it have to make until it finally landed on your plate?
Photo (top) courtesy of chinesefood.about.com
The journey of every seed, whether it is rice, corn, or vegetable from farm to plate, is indeed a long one.
For this journey specific to the rice seed, we start by looking at the source, which is the "farmer" who took time to prepare the field, sow the seed, nurture it, and harvest it.1 After harvesting this seed, we include in the chain the people who took the time to process, ship (either here or abroad), store, sell, buy, and cook this rice seed.
As this rice seed journeys from farms to ports to stores, there is good business involved. For a lucrative business environment to flourish, related elements are a must: access to land, infrastructure, markets, technical skills, policy, quality standards control, etc.2 Harnessing these elements, the greatest challenge then is how countries, particularly Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) would become big winners, both in the local and in the global markets out of this farm-to-plate journey of the rice seed.
This was one of the themes tackled in the recently concluded technical workshop, Navigating the Rapidly Changing Structure of Global Food Systems, sponsored by SEARCA and Korea FAO Association. Korea FAO Association Vice Chairman, Mr. Yong-Kyu Choi, and SEARCA Director, Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr. welcomed 18 participants from CLMV, South Korea, and the Philippines.
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1 Lantican, F. A. 2009. Supply Chain Management. In: Navigating the Rapidly Changing Structure of Global Food Systems. 16-17 September 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Center, Philippines. Roundtable Sponsored by SEARCA and Korea FAO Association.
2 Dy, R. 2009. Agribusiness and Economic Development. In: Navigating the Rapidly Changing Structure of Global Food Systems. 16-17 September 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Center, Philippines. Roundtable Sponsored by SEARCA and Korea FAO Association.
