Webinar on Value Chain Digitization and Sustainable Development

April 20, 2023 WFP China COE

Country Project;Sustainable Development; Value Chain Digitization;South-South Cooperation;Ecuador;Digitization

Background

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is the world's leading humanitarian organization, saving and changing lives by providing food assistance in emergencies, as well as working with communities to improve their nutritional status and build resilience.

WFP has been present in Ecuador since 1964, being an innovative partner that supports government policies in order to promote food and nutrition security, gender equality and food sovereignty, directing its actions in support of the most vulnerable populations. The WFP Country Strategic Plan 2023-2027, among its results, expects to provide: "Access to practices, resources, technical and operational assistance, goods and services (financial and non-financial), market information and nutritional value, to establish and/or strengthen sustainable food systems of vulnerable communities, especially indigenous peoples and nationalities".

WFP is currently executing the South-South Cooperation project Resilient and Nutritious Sustainable Agrifood System "Rice-Duck", which seeks to: Contribute to establishing sustainable and resilient agrifood systems, implementing environmentally friendly agricultural practices that increase productivity, diversify crops (especially rice-duck) and their sources of income to improve food and nutritional security of their families under equal conditions and opportunities, promoting economic empowerment and decision-making of rural women.

At the request of the Government of Ecuador, WFP together with the China Center of Excellence, have joined forces since 2019 to support the strengthening of the technical capacities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP), with the objective that these capacities benefit vulnerable smallholder farmers. This South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) project focused on promoting an integrated rice-duck farming system, crop diversification and strengthening the leadership role of rural women in public policies for small-scale family farming, leading to the establishment of a Resilient and Nutritious Sustainable Agrifood System "Rice-Duck".

It is in this sense that WFP, at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, has identified the opportunity to support small rice producers together with ducks, located in the provinces of Guayas, Manabí, Los Ríos, El Oro and Loja, focusing mainly on marketing activities, with special emphasis on the development of digitized value chains (such as e-commerce and marketing capacity), as a novel and potentially attractive marketing channel, which has become more relevant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of this process, WFP has identified the need to strengthen knowledge through experiences developed in China related to e-commerce (in its infancy since this topic is just beginning in Ecuador), with special attention to the participation of small farmers; in this way, alternatives can be considered in Ecuador for the commercialization of rice produced in a more environmentally friendly and cleaner way than what has traditionally been done in the aforementioned areas that are large producers of rice on a small, medium and large scale.

To this end, the Government of Ecuador and WFP CO Ecuador expressed their interest in learning about China's experience and solutions in smallholder rice value chain development, particularly e-commerce and digitalized marketing capacity building, to the MAG, INIAP, local governments, WFP and small farmer organizations.

Rationale

The training will be based on selected e-learning courses in collaboration with experts from China in the SSTC project phase IV, namely establishment and management of the agricultural products traceability system, and some successful Chinese case studies of value chain development of agricultural products (particularly rice and/or ducks, considering gender approaches) produced by small farmers.

Objectives

This technical webinar aims to share with Ecuador, as well as LAC experts, China's experience in smallholder product chain development, including the implementation of affirmative actions for women's empowerment to ensure their full and effective participation, in order to consolidate the sustainable, resilient and nutritious "rice-duck" agri-food system and strengthen marketing capacity.

These technical webinars will also generate suggestions and technical guidance from the WFP COE in China and Chinese experts to guide the design of activities for a possible next phase of the SSTC field pilot project.

Audience

The target audience for this technical webinar will be representatives of small farmers and associations, technicians and government officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the National Institute of Agricultural Research and local governments; the Chinese Ambassador to Ecuador and his attachés are also expected to participate.

LAC technical teams from other WFP offices and allies will also be invited to take advantage of the SSTC knowledge exchange.

Organization

The webinar will be co-organized by WFP CO of Ecuador, WFP China COE, WFP Regional Bureaux in Panama.

The webinar will be supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China through the SSTC field pilot phase IV in Ecuador.

Agenda

Webinar 1: E-commerce for Inclusive Rural Development: Practices in China

Date: Thursday, April 20, 2023

Time: 08:30 am – 10:30 am / Ecuador – Panamá - Perú

21:30 pm – 23:30 pm / China (Beijing)

Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o_EHXn9RTaC3khQ8rSRaxw

For all participants, excluding panelists and organizers