Unlocking successful new rural industries: is supply chain management the key?: final report to the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation

This report addresses the role of supply chain management as a business strategy in the development of five new rural industries in Australia - kangaroo, emu, asian vegetables, Australian native flowers and olives. It demonstrates that in new rural industries, firms with medium to high levels of supply chain management thinking, planning and implementation are more successful in terms of creating value and achieving competitive advantage than those with lower levels of supply chain management thinking, planning and implementation. The particular focus of the research is on how supply chain management influences success in new rural industries as measured by competitive advantage. The study shows that, as firms with well developed supply chain management practices are likely to be more competitive, supply chain management is important to the success of new rural industries as a whole. The research identifies three types of supply chains in new rural industries. They have been labelled Achievers, Idealists and Operators. Achievers are the more successful and most advanced in terms of supply chain management thinking and pratices. Operators do not have a supply chain orientation and create value and gain competitive advantage through their operational competencies. The study also identifies key areas that firms in new rural industries should address in adopting supply chain management strategies and consequently improving competitive advantage. Firms in Idealist supply chains need to be able to translate their supply chain management thinking into implementation pratices in order to become more competitive, as is the case with Achievers. On the other hand, firms in Operator supply chains can become more like Achievers by first developing a supply chain management orientation, then acting on it through planning and implementation. This may prove to be a major challenge for many Operator firms who are used to working in isolation from their other chain counterparts. The study also contributes to theory, policy and practice in new rural industry development. In terms of theory, the study shows that supply chain management provides a valuable conceptual framework for the study of competitiveness in new rural industries, and that the supply chain can be used as a primary unit of study in such research. Similarly, the use of supply chain management as a framework for analysis, and supply chain as units of analysis, benefits both policy development and practice. The application of public sector funding to new rural industry development may provide greater dividents if a whole of chain approach is taken, as opposed to a focus on individual firms or industry sectors. Private sector manageers, on the other hand, can utilise this same conceptual framework to assess their performance, and use the insights thus gained to improve their own supply chain management performance thus their competitive advantage

Reflecting on integrated assessment in the Socially Inclusive Agricultural Intensification (SIAGI) project

Agricultural aide interventions are often intended to help small and marginal farmer households increase their agricultural production, and by doing so, better meet their household needs and improve their social and economic standing. However, intensifying their agricultural production requires them to have the capital assets (financial, human, natural, physical and social) and agency to access and use more agricultural inputs, develop and manage the necessary farm or community level infrastructure (e.g. for irrigation, or post-harvesting), and make informed crop and land management choices. Many small and marginalised farmers are lacking in both capital and agency, which constrains their capacity to engage in, and benefit from, agricultural intensification. In this paper, we reflect on our integration research in the 'Promoting Socially Inclusive and sustainable Agricultural Intensification in West Bengal and Bangladesh' (SIAGI) project, focusing on the learnings and outcomes of being socially inclusive in our modelling practices. The Ethical Community Engagement (ECE) ethos and practice to which the SIAGI project team has committed has shaped the content of the integrated assessment frameworks that we have developed as well as the process (Figure 1) we used to develop them. Social inclusion is both a core value of the SIAGI project and an outcome against which the impact of the project will be measured

Integrated assessment frameworks for understanding pathways for socially inclusive agricultural intensification

Alleviating poverty through agricultural development is a challenge that requires sound understanding of the social, market, environmental and institutional settings. An integrated assessment (IA) process can help to clarify and examine the nature of the interactions between these diverse processes and facilitate concerted and collaborative efforts from interdisciplinary teams. This paper provides an overview of IA frameworks developed for a project aimed at identifying opportunities and policy options that promote more socially inclusive and sustainable agricultural intensification in rural communities in West Bengal and Bangladesh. The IA frameworks were intended to provide a 'big picture' of the social and agricultural systems we are researching, and to improve understanding of the interrelationships between the diverse processes, and the pathways between drivers and outcomes. This paper describes the methodological process followed in developing these frameworks (Figure 1). The frameworks are grounded in both theory and observations from project activities, and were iteratively developed with input from stakeholders and domain experts. The frameworks then formed the basis for further (semi)quantitative or qualitative analysis, demonstrated in the study through the development of semi-quantitative models (fuzzy cognitive maps) and narratives.This project (LWR/2014/072) is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The authors acknowledge contributions from all members of the SIAGI project team

Value chains: making the connections between producers and consumers of native plant foods

The Australian landscape with its rainforests, deserts, mountains, wetlands and tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions provides rich and diverse climatic conditions for a wide spectrum of native flora species. For thousands of years, the Aboriginal communities of Australia have been using these species for food, medicine, essential oils, timber and wood products, seed for horticulture, crafts and craft 322material (Ahmed and Johnson, 2000; Morse, 2005; Ryder et al., 2009). Collection of bush tucker or bush food from the wild and its preparation into edible food is a skill that is inherited and embedded within Australian Aboriginal culture. In every region of the continent, native plant species were widely consumed by the Aboriginal population and to a limited extent by others who had the opportunity to share in their traditional knowledge. In more recent times, bush foods have attracted commercial interest as knowledge of their potential phyto-pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and other benefits have become available (Ahmed and Johnson, 2000; Konczak and Roulle, 2011). In the late 1990s, the commercialisation of unique Australian bush foods led to the recognition of an ‘Australian Native Foods Industry’ (RIRDC, 2008). Recently, it has been estimated that the wholesale value of the Australian native foods industry excluding macadamia nuts is approximately $23 million a year (RIRDC, 2013; Spencer and Hardie, 2011). A driving force behind this industry has been the growing demand for food that can provide additional health benefits (Netzel et al., 2007; Sommano et al., 2011)

Consumer response to climate adaptation strategies in the food sector: an Australian scenario

The viability of climate adaptation strategies adopted by agrifood companies rely heavily on how well consumers understand, accept and/or select commodities and their willingness to bare some of the cost of adaptation. To understand this issue in more detail, a survey was undertaken of 1532 Australian consumers to investigate how they respond to adaptation strategies in terms of acceptance and willingness to pay. The survey results contained in this paper focus on three product categories – mango, potato chips and wine. The survey revealed that when faced with climate-adapted mango, potato chips or wine products, respondents were most likely to substitute or purchase less often rather than purchasing a more expensive ‘adapted’ product or a cheaper ‘non-adapted’ product. Across the three commodities, the level of acceptance also varied little with socio-demographic factors and the respondent's perceptions of climate change. The study highlights the importance of communicating the climate adaptation initiatives of agrifood companies and the challenges faced by these companies in raising the awareness associated with climate-adapted product

Consumer Response to Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Food Sector: An Australian Scenario

The viability of climate adaptation strategies adopted by agrifood companies rely heavily on how well consumers understand, accept and/or select commodities and their willingness to bare some of the cost of adaptation. To understand this issue in more detail, a survey was undertaken of 1532 Australian consumers to investigate how they respond to adaptation strategies in terms of acceptance and willingness to pay. The survey results contained in this paper focus on three product categories – mango, potato chips and wine. The survey revealed that when faced with climate-adapted mango, potato chips or wine products, respondents were most likely to substitute or purchase less often rather than purchasing a more expensive ‘adapted’ product or a cheaper ‘non-adapted’ product. Across the three commodities, the level of acceptance also varied little with socio-demographic factors and the respondent's perceptions of climate change. The study highlights the importance of communicating the climate adaptation initiatives of agrifood companies and the challenges faced by these companies in raising the awareness associated with climate-adapted product.This project received funding by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture ‘Filling the Research Gap’ Funding Program, Grant no. 1194456-215

Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in the Food Industry—Insights from Product Carbon and Water Footprints

Climate change adds an additional layer of complexity that needs to be considered in business strategy. For firms in the food industry, many of the important climate impacts are not directly related to food processing so a value chain approach to adaptation is recommended. However, there is a general lack of operational tools to support this. In this study, carbon and water footprints were conducted at a low-precision screening level in three case studies in Australia: Smith’s potato chips, OneHarvest Calypso™ mango and selected Treasury Wine Estates products. The approach was cost-effective when compared to high-definition studies intended to support environmental labels and declarations, yet provided useful identification of physical, financial, regulatory and reputational hotspots related to climate change. A combination of diagnostic footprinting, downscaled climate projection and semi-quantitative value chain analysis is proposed as a practical and relevant toolkit to inform climate adaptation strategies