Chair: Sunil Siriwardene
Co-chair: Rolando Platon
Rapporteurs: Rolf Willmann and Pedro Bueno
55. Guidelines for the development and implementation of situation specific GMPs by John Hambrey and Dan Fegan. In introducing Working Document 2 on Draft Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Situation Specific GMPs at National or Sub-National Level, John Hambrey listed a range of possible uses of GMPs, including involuntary codes of conduct or codes of practices and their use by government agencies as regulatory tools for permitting decisions on concessionary financing, and benchmarks or criteria of environmental impact assessments (EIAs). GMPs could also play complementary roles in the preparation of aquaculture development plans and environmental management and auditing schemes including ISO 14000 schemes and standard setting.
56. Farmers would, at least in the medium term, be the main beneficiaries of GMPs. The adoption of better farming practices would often reduce rather than increase production costs and result in more stable and higher production in the long run. Other beneficiaries could range from other resource users, neighboring communities, consumers and society at large.
57. The process for the development of GMPs could be initiated by national or local government entities, or by farmers groups and associations, perhaps in cooperation with processors and retailers. Whoever takes the initiative, farmers and their organizations should be closely associated with the development of GMPs and agree with them. GMPs should probably not be overly prescriptive and allow farmers the flexibility to reach the intended outcomes with the best means available to them. The target outcomes need to be clearly specified and performance criteria established.
58. Various measures might have to be taken to assist small farmers in the implementation of GMPs including extension and training, financial incentives, promotion of group farming arrangements (e.g. cluster, estate). Such support is needed to address the special difficulties and perhaps even reluctance of small farmers to adopt GMPs. These include the inability to take advantage, in the absence of group arrangements, of economies of scale in the adoption of certain practices (e.g. water treatment facilities). More time and effort is also needed to get small farmers sufficiently organized because of their large number. Viable organizations are indispensable for small farmers to realize the benefits of coordinated behavior in, for example, water and health management, and for their participation in product labeling schemes.
Discussion points
59. The ensuing plenary discussion centred largely around the question whether small farmers might be disadvantaged vis-à-vis large farmers in the adoption of GMPs. This could affect the competitive position of small farmers and prevent them benefiting from price premiums attained through eventual certification and labeling schemes. While it was acknowledged that attaining successful collective action among large numbers of small farmers was a challenge, experience in several countries indicated that small producers were often highly receptive in the adoption of better practices and showed high levels of diligence and care in farming activities. The problem lied more in access to latest know how, technology and finance, and in the ability to overcome constraints in the realization of scale economies through group arrangements. Nevertheless, there was agreement that the potential price mark up that might be realized by the adoption of GMPs and participation in eventual product labeling schemes would not generate the kind of financial resources needed in many countries to provide the technical and financial support for wide-spread adoption of GMPs by small farmers. In this regard other possible avenues were mentioned such as levying taxes at the points of export or import, and externally financed assistance projects. Awareness creation, extension, technology transfer, especially in respect to domestication, and measures to ensure that price mark-ups reach small producers were other areas that needed support.
