FOREWORD

The rural food processing industry can play a vital role in rural poverty alleviation and sustainable development in many Asia-Pacific countries. It can enhance farm incomes by offering a ready market for farm products, generate off-farm employment, and reduce rural–urban migration. Rural-based food processing industries are mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and face such constraints as poor infrastructure, shortage of entrepreneurial talent and skilled manpower, limited access to appropriate technologies, volatile demand, and small profit margins.

In some member countries, successful attempts have been made to develop rural-based food processing SMEs. For example, some advanced member countries have developed well-integrated rural food processing industries employing state-of-the-art technologies and a participatory integrated rural development approach. Others have developed efficient production–processing–marketing chains through farmers’ associations. In this regard, the experience of Japan could be extremely useful for other APO member countries in the development of efficient and viable food processing SMEs.

The APO organized the multi-country study mission on the “Rural-based Food Processing Industry” in Japan to learn about the latest developments in the small- and medium-scale rural-based food processing industry and to examine the possibilities of applying its experience in other member countries. This publication is a compilation of the papers and proceedings of the study mission. It is our hope that this publication will prove useful to our readers, especially policymakers, planners, and managers involved in the development of the food processing industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

The APO is grateful to the Government of Japan, especially the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, for hosting the study mission, and to the Association for International Cooperation of Agriculture and Forestry for implementing the program. Our appreciation also goes to the resource persons for their valuable contributions and to Dr. Alastair Hicks for editing this publication.

– TAKASHI TAJIMA, APO Secretary-General, Tokyo, April 2004