PPP for Development of Rice Sector in Thailand- A Dialogue
Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) in collaboration with Bayer CropScience recently held a dialogue on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Rice Sector Development in Thailand with the Rice Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) at ALoft Hotel.
The dialogue featured three keynote speakers. They were Dr. Apichart Pongsrihadulchai, MoAC Vice Minister; Dr. Martin Maerkl, Senior Sustainable Development Manager, Bayer CropScience AG; and Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, BRIA Regional Director. The distinguished participants in this event were Mr. Chanpithya Shimphalee, Director General of the Rice Department; Mr. Axel Wildner, Counsellor for Food and Agriculture, German Embassy; Mr. Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, Country Group Head for SEA, Bayer Thai Co., Ltd.; Dr. Matthias Bickel, Project Director, GIZ Office Bangkok.
Dr. Apichart Pongsrihadulchai, MoAC Vice Minister, delivered a keynote speech on “Thai Rice Sector: Issues, Challenges, Policy Direction and PPP Prospects.” He said although it is ranked 6th in terms of rice production accounting for 4% of world production, Thailand can be regarded as the largest rice exporter in the past 30 years with an average market share of around 22%.
“Rice constitutes about 15% of agricultural GDP, ranked 2nd after rubber in terms of agricultural export earnings. The total rice exports are worth some USD 6,500 million. The paddy fields occupy about 50% of agricultural land. About 4 million of 6 million farmers grow rice. Rice cultivation is Thai farmers’ way of life and the original sources of Thai culture,” said Dr. Apichart about this significant cash crop.
He added the world population is growing. Around half of the population consume rice as staple food. However, approximately 800 million people are still undernourished. Challenges facing farmers include food security, climate change, natural disasters, Free Trade Agreements (FTA), changing consumer behaviours. Factors affecting Thai rice production are limited suitable land, water shortage, price volatility, government policy, labour shortage requiring machinery, rice variety improvement, pest and disease infestation.
In response to the challenges, Dr. Apichart elaborated the needs for PPP in agriculture include new technology and innovation from the private sector to raise productivity, new market access especially for small-scale farmers, more benefits to farmers without jeopardizing consumer preference, reduced risks of price volatility and natural disasters.
Dr. Martin Maerkl, presented “Private Sector Contributions to Rice Sector Development: BCS’ Experience and Perspective.” He informed the participants about “Bayer Much More Rice,” a program for sustainable rice production. The program aims to strengthen the economic situation of smallholder farmers, contribute to sustainable growth in agricultural production and improve efficiency and sustainability along the entire rice value chain.
“With “Bayer Much More Rice,” we address all farmer needs from yield enhancement, labour and water saving to food security for the society,” explained Dr. Martin about this holistic and integrated approach to rice production.
Last but not least, Dr. Martin said BCS operates the so-called Bayer Academy tasked with training 100,000 farmers in five years in the Philippines, with technical training, financial literacy training to strengthen farmers’ financial skills and improved extension services, reiterating Bayer is supporting sustainable agriculture.
Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, BRIA Regional Director, gave an overview of the project. He said BRIA is a PPP incubator in the rice sector encompassing PPP policy and institutional arrangements, models and success cases along the rice value chain, and facilitating PPP platforms and dialogues at national and regional levels with a scaling up road map.
BRIA aims to foster the cooperation between private and public sector institutions to promote sustainable growth in rice production and improved access to nutrition within the food sector in emerging and developing countries.