CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE AND NEW HORIZONS

For the last three years FoodWorks has been focused on South Asia, principally Pakistan, although Eddie Vernon has been working in Afghanistan and Bob Lindley has been in the Pacific. However, now the time has come to change perspective somewhat and look at opportunities throughout the region. This does not mean we have finished with Pakistan - the problems in agriculture remain enormous - but that the donor community has put agriculture on hold for a while. The Asian Development Bank has re-focused on infrastructure while USAID is pondering about whether to move ahead with the the $400 million planned investment (that we helped design) in staple crops and livestock/dairy. Hopefully by Christmas some decisions will have been taken and things might move ahead. We'll be happy to participate if the do. Meanwhile, we are looking at Nepal (crop diversification), Bosnia (capacity building) and Cambodia (private sector investment in rice).

AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FUND IN SINDH

SINDH DEVELOPMENT FUND: Working with the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF - see link), we have created, designed and now mobilized a $30 million agribusiness investment fund exclusively for the Provincial Government of Sindh (Planning and Development Department). As designed by the CSF team, the SDF will eventually make grants to small farm enterprises and provide credit guarantees for larger investors; it will provide technical assistance (Eddie Vernon and Bob Lindley have designed the crops and fisheries aspects respectively, Younus Sandeela has supported the project) and access to infrastructure development funds. The CSF-SDF Team was put in place by Geoff Q-B and has now been handed over to a local CSF manager. Based in Karachi, the CSF managed team will operate throughout rural Sindh. Projects so far identified include date processing in Khairpur District, banana processing, continued development of the Karachi Fish Harbour, and installation of an effective cool chain system at Karachi Airport. The SDF is initially funded by the provincial government for 3 years but is expected to be augmented by other donors.

NEW WORK IN 2009

EMPOWER PAKISTAN: AGRICULTURE. This program is a new USAID initiative undertaken via CSF (see link) aimed at counter-terrorism, poverty alleviation and rural development along the supply chain. Geoff Quartermaine Bastin is currently working as Design Economist with the Program Design Team led by Don R. Mickelwait of Experience International, Inc. The EPAG will be a $400 million group of projects in livestock (mainly dairy) horticulture and food security (including wheat, maize, oilseeds, pulses and sugar). The activities and interventions will be right along the supply (value) chain "from farm to fork" and will be implemented throughout Pakistan with trade connections to the Middle East, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The US Government under the new administration emphasizes three elements in foreign policy: Defense, Diplomacy and Development. The EPAG program is aimed square on at improving incomes and creating jobs in those areas of Pakistan most likely to produce radical insurgents. Success in this Program which will last 3 to 5 years and will bring 1 million women into the cash economy is seen as critical to winning the argument over radicalism and winning the War on Terror. Pakistan's agriculture accounts for more than 40% of employment and food security is vital. Failure in either the design or implementation of the EPAG is not an option.

COMPETITIVENESS AND PRODUCTIVITY

Competitiveness is of major importance in a global economy. Productivity includes innovation and technology transfer as well as cost-cutting and improved workforce skills. Geoff Quartermaine Bastin has led a team at the Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF -see link) in Islamabad working with J.E.Austin Associates (JAA) to write an in-depth study of competitiveness in Pakistan, the "State of Pakistan's Competitiveness Report 2008*. The study includes a case study of agriculture and another on women's access to finance. The study, based on World Economic Forum base rankings explains why Pakistan currently ranks 92nd out of 131 countries measured by the WEF. The Report also suggests what can be done to change things for the better. A copy can be found at the following link:

http://www.competitiveness.org.pk/publications_policy_studies.php

WHEAT-FLOUR INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN

2008 has seen an enormous crisis in the wheat grain grain and flour industry in Pakistan. Geoff QB along with colleagues Sadia Sarwar and Zain Asadullah Kazmi prepared a comprehensive analysis of wheat policy, prices, supply and demand in order to cast light on what caused the crisis (government mismanagement) and what could be done to avoid the situation in future (among other things restructure the GOP official procurement system). The Discussion Paper, issued by the Competitiveness Support Fund in Islamabad is available at the following link in ,pdf format:

http://www.competitiveness.org.pk/articles.php?p=1

"STONE DIMENSION"

We've been doing some work outside our normal food industry activities - in the "dimensional stone " industry - stone used for tiles and other construction areas. This has involved looking at the activities of a quasi-government organization established to help upgrade quarries and stone cutting and polishing facilities. A lot to the value chain focused  techniques of analysis we use in the food industry are similar, and because the food industry is so complex, other industrial activities seem simple to understand by comparison. The main problems are at the quarrying end, where stone gets blasted out of the mountain instead of cur correctly. Wastage of the primary product is very high -but where have we heard that before!

TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

You need to have the machine working! And working right! You would like it to be designed for your needs and be efficient. Innovative and well-designed machinery and related technology is essential for productivity in this highly competitive industry and in a global economy. 

I got sick of dysfunctional technology and ranted about this pet gripe on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). I got A LOT of answers! These knowledgeable people helped me understand what was going wrong in technology design.  I;ve written an essay about the subject based on their ideas and comments which appears on the website of the Competitiveness Support Fund at: 

http://www.competitiveness.org.pk/articles.php?p=1

CHILD LABOR IN KARACHI

Children are peeling the expensive prawns that you might eat in restaurants around the world! They work in disgusting conditions for a pittance, but you probably pay a premium price.

These pictures show the extent of the problem at the Karachi Fish Harbour (see other posts). The major haul from the Arabian Sea is prawns and these have been the bulk of the now-banned exports (of course they still go to less particular countries).

The children are probably from Bengali families who have migrated illegally to Pakistan, The Karachi Fish Harbour itself is run by the provincial government of Sindh with these peeling sheds kept by the private sector.

Photos: courtesy of Robert Lindley, Karachi, Pakistan August 2008

CONTINUING WORK AT KARACHI FISH HARBOUR

Karachi Fish Harbour is still filthy! Despite all our efforts to work with the local authorities, the main exit point for Pakistan’s seafood is still in a disgusting condition. Slack management, vested interests and lack of urgency to find funds mean that technical solutions proposed by ourselves and teams from other agencies including UNIDO are not being adopted. Meanwhile the photograph taken in August this year shows the current state of the Harbour. The rubbish is floating on water over which fresh fish passes to the factory in the background. So much for HACCP!

FoodWorks has been working at Karachi Fish Harbour in collaboration with Robert Lindley, an international expert on fisheries, as part of an on-going contract with the Competitiveness Support Fund. The aim of the project is to upgrade and restructure the Harbour with a special focus on re-establishing seafood exports to the EU banned last year on the grounds of lack of hygiene. It's an uphill struggle to say the least!

A full set of reports on Karachi Fish Harbour prepared by Robert Lindley with support from Geoff Q-Bastin are to be found at:

http://www.competitiveness.org.pk/publications_policy_studies.php

Photo: courtesy of Robert Lindley, August 2008

EXECUTIVE SEARCH

Geoff Quartermaine Bastin has accepted the position of Director, Asia & Pacific for Kincannon and Reed, since 1981 the premier executive search company working exclusively in the areas of agriculture, agribusiness and life sciences. Geoff will undertake this work concurrently with on-going consulting work for FoodWorks and related clients.

Greg Duerksen, President of K&R says "Kincannon & Reed recruits leaders with judgment who get results. Two things make us different: (1) our unique focus on food, agribusiness and life sciences; and (2) the experience base of our principals, each of whom has held top management positions within the industries we serve. The benefit to our clients is that we understand at a personal level, not just an intellectual level, the dynamic environment in which they operate. We also know from our own experience the huge value to stakeholders of hiring the right person.”

NEW YEAR AT CSF

Geoff Quartermaine Bastin and Usman Ahmed Khan in the CSF office celebrating the New Year; indeed not such a happy time in Pakistan. Usman is the Manager for Matching Grants of which CSF has 10 approved and more in the pipeline.

YES MINISTER

We sit again around an enormous table with the Minister (Interim) for Finance Dr. Salman Shah (first on the left). This was a meeting relating to the financing of horticulture as part of the on-going Task Force for which CSF (via Geoff JQB) is providing the secretariat. On the right is Amir Jahangir our senior media consultant and GJQB writing the minutes. The meeting successfully promulgated Guidelines for investing in the industry prepared by the State Bank of Pakistan and approved by the Minister at this meeting.

"NEUTRACEUTICAL" MANUFACTURING

This $400,000 project in the Ghizer district of the Northern Area of Pakistan in the foothills of the Himalayas gathers medicinal berries and extracts “neutraceuticals” from the seeds to tackle prostate and breast cancer, it also makes skin ointments from the fruit pulp. The project innovates by extracting oil by using state-of-the-art super critical carbon dioxide fluid extraction. The technology is also used to extract oil from other fruits such as apricots and grapes.

The work is financed via private sector investors and the Competitiveness Support Fund (see post below - FoodWorks provides technical and economic advisory services to CSF). The project addresses poverty by putting value to otherwise non-commercial wild plants of the Sea Buckthorn (for more details of the health aspects of this important medicinal plant check our partner blog www.boomgenerationfitness.blogspot.com). The project targets around 1,200 households by reinvesting profits back into the community for better growing and harvesting practices. Over 70% of the beneficiaries are women.

The main partner, Rural Development Initiative (RDI), is a Pakistani NGO which aims at generating employment opportunities by utilizing local natural resources. RDI has established a fruit processing and pulping unit in Ghakuch, Ghizer NA (see photo). The Sea Buckthorn pulp and seeds are transported to Lahore for final extraction. Products such as neutraceutical organic juices and medicine capsules will be marketed not only in Pakistan but exported to Japan, Europe and North America.

QUARTERMAINES WORLD

This is the launch of Quartermaines's World! I have developed three blogs, Q's World is my personal blog open to close friends and relatives only, FoodWorks is,of course, my company blog describing my work in agribusiness and food, Boom Generation Fitness (http://www.boomgenerationfitness.blogspot.com/) is about health and fitness (mind and body) for the Baby Boom Generation - those over 50. All of this is driven thru the quartermainesworld.com domain via Google Apps and my principal email addresses are now: geoff@quartermainesworld.com (personal), foodworks@quartermainesworld.com (business) and fitness@quartermainesworld.com (pleasure). Please enjoy the blogs and comments are always welcome.

HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN

The Pakistan Horticulture and Export Development Board is the leading organisation in this country for promoting an industry that contributes 12% to agricultural GDP and for which there is enormous potential. Pakistan grows the full range of horticultural crops from tropical bananas in coastal Sindh, through mango and citrus in Punjab, apples and grapes in Balochistan to apricots, peaches and unique medicinal plants such as Sea Buckthorn in the Himalayan foothills. Floriculture is another sub-sector that offers huge opportunities for investment. FoodWorks (via the Competitive Support Fund) is working with PHDEB and an inter-ministerial Task Force to formulate initiatives covering all aspects of the industry. However the focus is on improving quality especially via infrastructure. A multi-million dollar project financed by the World Bank entitled the "Northern Trade Corridor" includes provision for building packhouses, cool storage facilities and a pool of reefer containers. For more information check out the PHDEB website at http://www.phdeb.org.pk/ or contact the CEO Mr. Shamoon Sadiq on ssadiq@phdeb.org.pk

TASK FORCE FOR HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY

FoodWorks has worked with the Competitiveness Support Fund in Pakistan to establish a Task Force on Horticulture Finance and Competitiveness. Meetings have been held covering finance, infrastructure (especially transport, logistics and aspects such as cool chains), production/processing/marketing and quality control and standards. The first phase of this work will be completed in September 2007 with related work being carried forwards by various line ministries and private sector partners. The goal of the Task Force is to significantly increase the volume and quality of exports of major crops such as mango, kinnow, peaches, apples. For more information on what CSF and FoodWorks are doing in horticulture please check the CSF website on http://www.competitiveness.org.pk/

COMPETITIVENESS SUPPORT FUND

Geoff Quartermaine Bastin is acting as the Senior Advisor to the Competitiveness Support Fund based in Islamabad, Pakistan. CSF is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and USAID with an initial financing package of US$20 million. The Fund is managed by its CEO Arthur Bayhan and has two main operational windows: technical assistance (consisting of policy advice and sector or industry assistance) and a matching grants facility where the Fund works with small enterprises on the basis of establishing links between industry, academia and government in a public-private partnership approach. Work is also starting in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in the trouble-torn north-west of Pakistan in a campaign to win hearts and minds via the development of small industry in sectors like livestock and horticulture. For more information on CSF, take a look at the website http://www.competitiveness.org.pk/

KARACHI FISH HARBOUR

Inspecting fish quality as part of the preparation work for the Fish Action Plan for the Pakistan Ministry of Finance (Competitiveness Support Fund). The work has targeted Karachi Fish Harbour as a critical point for intervention by the government. The Harbour exports $160 million of fish and seafood to various parts of the world, 40% to the EU. It is well below acceptable standards and the AP being prepared will recommend changes in management and upgrading of infrastructure to conform to HACCP standards.

ENJOYING A "BEER" IN BALOCHISTAN

Not really!! Geoff Bastin is in the Uruk Valley near Quetta in Balochistan, taking time out from a field survey of almond producing areas. Apples, onions, dates are the other major crops. People husband sheep and grow wheat and fodder crops. In this area water is not a problem unlike most of Balochistan that has suffered a six year drought. FoodWorks is undertaking a food industry study for the Competitiveness Support Fund, a subsidiary of the Pakistan Federal Ministry of Finance and supported by USAID. Geoff is Food and Fisheries Advisor to CSF. The FW team consists of Geoff, Robert Lindley (fisheries) and Elena Timchenko who provides project support.

ELENA TIMCHENKO IS FW NEW STAFF MEMBER

Elena Igorevna Timchenko is FoodWorks' latest staff member. 'Lena is Russian/Jewish with citizenship in Uzbekistan. She is a linguist (specialized in English Philology) and has spent a year studying in the USA (in Dewitt, Arkansas), she also has a background in hotel management with the Sheraton Hotel in Tashkent. Lena joins FW via our local Tashkent affiliate UBI Consulting as a Project Assistant. She is currently working on ADB TA No. 4217 "Furthering Reforms of the Grains Sector" and will also be working on food sector studies in Pakistan in 2007