1

1.

Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1

2.

Objectives of Study ........................................................................................................................ 1

3.

Scope of Study ................................................................................................................................ 1

4.

Limitations ...................................................................................................................................... 1

5.

Literature Review ........................................................................................................................... 2
 Vegetable Production in Selected Economic Poles .................................................................... 2
 Traceability System .................................................................................................................... 3

6.

Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 6

7.

Findings .......................................................................................................................................... 7

8.

Recommendations and Conclusion ................................................................................................ 9

References ............................................................................................................................................ 10
Appendix 1: List of questions for PDAFF ........................................................................................... 11
Appendix 2: Questionnaire for AC & Producer Organization............................................................. 13
Appendix 3: Questionnaire for Village Collector/Distributor ............................................................. 15
Appendix 4: Interview Activities ......................................................................................................... 18i

List of Abbreviations
AC

Agricultural Cooperatives

ADB

Asian Development Bank

AgVC

Agriculture Value Chain

AIMS

Accelerating Inclusive Markets for Smallholders

ASPIRE

Agriculture Services Program for Innovation, Resilience and Extension project

CASDP

Cambodia Agricultural Sector Diversification Project

CHAIN II

Cambodia Horticulture Advancing Income and Nutrition 2

CPS

Center of Policy Studies

DoA

District Agriculture Officer

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsha

HectareHARVEST 2

Helping Address Rural Vulnerability and Ecosystem Stability 2

ICCOInterchurch Organization for Development Cooperation

IFAD

International Fund for Agricultural Development of the United Nations

INGO

International None-Governmental Organization

ISO

International Organization for Standardization

MAFF

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries

MT

Metric Tons

PDAFF

Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries

PO

Producer Organization

QR CodeQuick Read Code

RGC

Royal Government of Cambodia

SAAMBAT

Sustainable Assets for Agriculture Markets, Business and Trade

SMEs

Small and Medium Enterprises

SNV

Netherland Development Organization

TSSD2

Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development Project 2

USAID

United State Agency for International DevelopmentiiList of Tables
Table 1: Vegetable production areas and average yield in selected biggest producing provinces ....... 2
Table 2: List of Interviewed AgVC actors ............................................................................................ 7
Table 3: Responses of AgVC actors to operate the traceability system ............................................... 8iii

List of Figures
Figure 1: Food Traceability Information System ................................................................................. 4
Figure 2: Roles of AgVC in operating the traceability system ............................................................. 5
Figure 3: Selected AgVC actors and outsiders of the value chain for an interview ............................. 6ivͳǤ  
Sub-Component 2.2 of the SAAMBAT project implemented by its counterpart Techo Startup Center(TSC), oversees the Digital Technology and Enterprise for Rural Value Chain. SC 2.2 has a mandate
to develop a Khmer Agriculture Suite (KAS) core platform, 5 key satellite applications, provide
challenge fund to Agri-tech startups, provide digital literacy to value chains actors, develop partnershipwith private sectors and conduct research. KAS core platform will enable relevant stakeholders
currently operating/implementing agriculture activities in Cambodia to voluntarily share their data to
the platform. These data will be captured for analysis and to serve the basis of any innovative
applications.
To support this platform, 5 key applications will be developed. Among the 5 applications, traceability
system is one of the potential applications to be developed. This application is vital to track and trace
agricultural products at any value chain stages, improve product quality control, reduce incident offood poisoning risk, authenticate ethical credential, country of origin, produce provenance, andultimately build consumer trust and satisfaction. Moreover, this system is so much needed for theexport compliances. The study will be conducted in 2 stages: first one will be conducted with some of
the key actors of vegetable value chain and the second study will be conducted for export crops suchas mango, pepper, cashew nut, banana, and longan value chains.
The study is intended to understand different agriculture value chain actors’ (AgVC) perception in
applying the vegetable traceability system. Qualitative method combining with snowball sampling isused to conduct the study with vegetable value chain actors and the partied involved in this chain. The
findings of the study will enable the design of the functionalities and the portal of different actors.
ʹǤ  

This study seeks (1) to understand the need of the traceability system amongst AgVC actors ofvegetable, (2) to identify which AgVC actors having interest to operate this system, and (3) to confirm
whether traceability system is needed for vegetable value chain.
͵Ǥ  

Having a reliable traceability system was discussed amongst the Royal Government of Cambodia,
private sector, and development partners funded project including ASPIRE-vegetables, AMRU RICErice, and HARVEST 2-fruit & vegetables. This study specifically focuses on the traceability systemfor vegetable value chain and at the next stage will repeat with export crops such as rice, pepper,
cashew nut, mango, longan etc. The study was conducted in some of the biggest vegetable producing
provinces such as Kandal, Kampot, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang andBattambang.
ͶǤ 

Due to limited resources and time constraint, only 6 provinces and limited number of AgVC actors
were selected for this study. The study did not conduct the interviews with farmers as the objectives
stated above aiming to identify the needs of traceability system. The study seeks to get opinions from1the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (PDAFF) directors, wholesalers orcollectors, agriculture cooperatives (AC) or Producer Organization (PO), and some retail shops.
ͷǤ 

In 2017, an average Cambodian people consume vegetable of 83.02 grams per day which is equal to30.3 kg per capita per annum (FAO, 2019). This means that Cambodia is required to produce
approximately 489,000 MT of vegetable per year to meet the consumer demand. Moving away fromvegetable consumption, by looking at the outbreak of the foodborne disease has threatened the publichealth particularly the spinach outbreak in 2006, peanut butter and peanut paste in 2008 in the UnitedStates. Several patients were hospitalized. This resulted in economic loss (Jianrong, Z. & Tejas, B.,
2014). In Cambodia, a total of 134 outbreak of foodborne illnesses occurred from 2014 to 2019 werereported. This resulted in 5,825 cases of illnesses where 5,598 were hospitalized and 81 were dead(The Mekong Institute, 2019). Therefore, it is significant to have an effective product tracing system
which in turn provides consumer health protection. The benefits of the system would be clearly visible
to the public especially during food poisoning investigation period to determine the source of thefoodborne disease (Jennifer, Mc. et al., 2010). In addition, the management team could freeze theproduction line and recall back the contaminated products before it reaches out to end-consumer incase the incidence occurred.
     

Vegetable production in selected provinces was consolidated and compiled as illustrated in Table 1(Men, S. 2018).
Table 1: Vegetable production areas and average yield in selected biggest producing provinces
Province

Production
areas (ha)Harvested areas
(ha)

Yield
(MT)

Average yield
per ha (MT)Kandal8,936
8,292
61,111
7.37
Kampot
1,373
1,373
6,297
4.59
Kampong Cham
10,63010,566
128,958
12.20
Kampong Speu
1,653
1,653
5,968
3.61
Kampong Chhnang
6,876
6,876
93,97013.67
Battambang
2,156
2,106
38,521
18.29
Source: Men, S. (2018). Consolidated crop data in 2018. MAFF’s Department of Statistics andPlanning.
Amongst the 6 chosen provinces, Kampong Cham is the biggest province that contains the cultivatedareas of 10,630 ha follows by Kandal and Kampong Chhnang province with production areas of 8,936
ha and 6,876 ha respectively. The smallest cultivated area provinces are Kampong Speu and Kampot
that accounts for 1,653 ha and 1,373 ha respectively. In term of production volume, Kampong Champroduces the highest productivity accompanies by Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Battambang, Kampot,
and Kampong Speu with an amount of 128,958 MT; 93,970 MT; 61,111 MT; 38,521 MT; 6,297 MT;
and 5,968 MT respectively. Although Battambang is the third smallest cultivated area province, its
2average production is the highest follows by Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Cham province withthe average productivity of 18.29 MT/ha, 13.67 MT/ha, and 12.20 MT/ha respectively.
Vegetables market survey conducted by the Centre for Policy Studies in 2019 shown that local capacityfor vegetable production could only be supplied approximately 45% to the market during the wet
season and 70% in the peak period of the production in dry season. The survey also reported that about
552 MT or 52% of the total daily market demand were imported from overseas (CPS, 2019).
A recent survey in 2020 by SNV, implementing the Cambodia Horticulture Advancing Income andNutrition II (CHAIN II) project found that a daily demand in the 4 targeted provinces in the north-eastand south-east of the country were 53.6 tons of vegetables. The production in those provinces could
supply approximately 92% of the local demand. The remaining 6% were imported and about 2% were
produced from unknown sources (Hem, M. & Nimol, V., 2020)  

To ensure the food safety, technology has been introduced aiming to trace the sources of the
agricultural products sold. Traceability system is an effective method to measure food quality andsafety. Therefore, the EU, the United States, and several developed countries have introduced laws andregulations to enforce traceability system in the food supply chain to prevent food poisoning incidences(Changxiu, C. et al., 2012). Traceability system is defined as “the ability to discern, identify and follow
the movement of a food or substance intended to be or expected to be incorporated into a food, throughall stages of production, processing, and distribution” (FAO, 2017). The benefits of the system are “(1)to improve supply chain management, (2) to facilitate traceback for food safety and quality, and (3) todifferentiate and market food with subtle or undetectable quality attribute” (Golan, E. et al., 2004).
Traceability system requires all AgVC actors to record and pass those information from one
stage/chain to another till the end of the chain or the end-consumer. Farmer/producer will require to
perform its internal traceability system by entering data into its digital platform either via phone/tablet
or computer. The platform can be stored in cloud server where it will be syncing when the internet isconnected. The remaining actors in the value chain will be responsible for entering information into
processing, packing and more into the database (see Figure 1). The traceability system requires
complex activities to perform including good manufacturing practices (GMP), good hygienic practices(GHP), hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP), ISO standards, and total quality management
which is compliance with food safety and quality control regulations (Aung, M. M. & Chang, Y.,2014).

3

Figure 1: Food Traceability Information System
Source: Aung, M. M. & Chang, Y., 2014. Traceability in a food supply chain: Safety and quality
perspectives.
Each selected value chain actor has the role and responsibility to document all relevant activities
happened in its own stage/chain. For instance, farmer/AC/PO is responsible for recording agriculturalfarm activities, input supply control logbook, farm-record book, and sales receipts. Wholesale
distributor and retailer/retail shop have the same role to document vegetable supplier control, checkthe product identity, conduct the final inspection, and barcode or QR code labelling before placing the
products on the market shelves. Figure 2 summarizes each chosen AgVC actor’s responsibility (FAO,
2017).

4

Figure 2: Roles of AgVC in operating the traceability system
Source: Combined by Author which adapted from FAO (2017). Food Traceability Guidance.
Although there have been several vegetable value chain project interventions implementing by INGOsSNV, ICCO via World Vegetable, Dan Church Aids, the co-financed projects between RGC and IFAD
projects-ASPIRE and AIMS, ADB funded projects-TSSD2 and CASDP, none of them has integrated
the traceability system into their implementation plan. A bilateral cooperation project supported by
USAID namely HARVEST 2 has assisted SMEs in exporting cashew nut and Pailin longan to overseas
markets. A requirement for traceability system is mandatory for the compliances with the export
standards. Now the project is in the stage of negotiating with an Indian company to set up thetraceability system procedure for these SMEs prior to being legally able to export to intended markets.
One of the biggest rice millers, AMRU Rice company, has received technical support from OXFAM
financed by the Netherlands Government, to trial out BlocRice platform for the organic rice. BlocRiceis developed by a technical team based in the Netherlands using Blockchain technology. AMRU Ricehas faced a few challenges to implement the platform and had expressed an interest to look for technicalpartner to develop a localized platform.
Under SC 2.2 of the SAAMBAT project, the development of the traceability system has been includedin the project design. The finding of this study will contribute to conceptualize the traceability systemfor vegetables and export products.

5͸Ǥ 

The study uses purposive and snowball sampling method to capture the perceptions of the intended
interviewees. The respondents are selected based on their knowledge of the subject and their several
years of experiences as vegetable value chain actors or well-informed about the situation.
Figure 3 shows the value chain actors in the AgVC. Amongst these actors, only 3 actors within the
chain, farmer/AC/PO, wholesale distributor or village collector, and retailer or retail shop, and 2
external stakeholders, PDAFF director and a Vegetable Cleaning and Safety Control Centre Staff, wereinterviewed for their opinions on the adoption of the traceability system.

Figure 3: Selected AgVC actors and outsiders of the value chain for an interview
Source: Combined by Author
Farmer/AC/PO is responsible for supplying fresh products to the market as well as recording
agricultural production data. These documented information are very critical for vegetable traceability
system to exist.
Wholesale distributor should record the detailed information of their own distribution, the sourcing
origin of the products, and retailer/retail shop that they supply products to. Additionally, barcode or
QR code is commonly used in the traceability system to track and trace back the source of products inthe value chain.
Retailer/retail shops were selected because they play significant role in facilitating the free-flow of the
final products to the end-consumer. They have direct contact with the end-consumers, and they are in
charge of providing the sourcing origin of products to their customers. Their role is to ensure that thebarcode or QR code are sticked on the products prior placing them on the shelves.
The combination of the records made by farmer/AC/PO, distributor, and retailer are essential to supportand make the traceability system exist/possible.
Six PDAFF directors, who are not in the value chain of the AgVC chart but playing a vital role asregulator and supporter, were chosen to get their opinions. They provided invaluable insights ofvegetable cultivation data to the study such as the cultivation areas, production volume, and type ofvegetables produced in the areas.

6

Besides PDAFF directors, Kandal Vegetable Cleaning and Safety Control Center staff under the
management of Kandal PDAFF, was interviewed too. The center is specialized in checking agrochemical residues and issue certified chemical-free produce stickers. We seek their advice on vegetabletraceability system too.
AgVC actors that were interviewed are PDAFF directors and ASPIRE provincial managementadvisors, AC, ASPIRE business cluster and AIMS producer organization leaders (PO), wholesale
distributors, village collectors, chemical-free/organic retail shops, and a vegetable cleaning and safetycontrol center. A total of 45 interviewees were surveyed which is summarized in table 2:
Table 2: List of Interviewed AgVC actors
No

Agriculture Value Chain Actors

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Director of Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries
Agricultural Cooperatives
ASPIRE Business Cluster & AIMS Producer Organization Leaders
Wholesale Distributors
Village Collectors
Chemical-free/Organic Retail Shops
A Vegetable Cleaning and Safety Control Center Staff
Total

Number ofinterviewees
6
10
7
10
9
2
1
45

Three sets of interview questionnaires were developed and used to guide the interviews: List ofquestionnaires for PDA and DoA (Appendix 1), Questionnaire for Agriculture Cooperative (Appendix2), and Questionnaire for Village Collector/Distributor (Appendix 3). They are designed using a semistructured with open-ended questions. This study is not intended to collect quantitative number but
rather to get the opinions and perceptions of the subject matter. The finding will be analyzed based on
the content analysis method.
͹Ǥ

The primary purpose of this study is to understand the need of vegetable traceability system amongst
different AgVC actors. Respondents’ experience and feedback added insights to the study. Bylistening, paper-recording, and analyzing the experience shared by these actors, valuable information
are collected and help design vegetable traceability system.
According to the observation through content analysis, vegetable traceability system is not a newconcept to some of the respondents. They are well-aware of its benefits and challenges in applying thesystem.
PDAFF are sharpening their strategy to assist farmers to produce chemical-free products supplying to
the local market. Likewise, the 2 retail shops interviewed fully agreed the importance of this system
as they are currently supplying chemical-free products to their customers. There is a demand fromconsumers on the origin and production processes of the products sold in their stores. Currently, all
the AC/PO are required to follow strict agricultural production guideline by recording all relevant
information, which is part of the traceability, in exchange to a better price offered by the shops. The
retail stores which contracted with those AC/PO, from time to time, conducted some random
7inspections as part of the quality control. So far, the usage of digital platform to record or track the
inputs has not been practiced. After explaining the concept ideas to the 2 unfamiliar actors plus
experiences gathered by the other 3 actors, this study could conclude that all AgVC actors perceivethat traceability system is important and will add value to chemical-free products. This will benefit tofarmers, collectors as well as retailers. However, when asking about making a data record anddocument the input usage at every step of production, all actors express their feeling that the record isvery troublesome and time-consuming for them. Record keeping is challenging but doable.
Even though all the interviewed AgVC actors did agree that vegetable traceability system is very vital,
PDAFF in Kampong Cham argued that this system is indeed needed for the export purposes and thesupermarkets. It is not suitable for local markets. He added that generally people who reside in thesuburb areas of the province or rural areas have lower income and are price sensitive, thus, they tend
not to care where the products are sourced from. He also went on to compare 2 products that have thesame imperceptible quality and quantity, but the one which have the traceability identity will be higher
price than the non-having one. Therefore, it is not plausible for local provincial markets. He observed
customers at the weekend market, which organizes by AIMS in collaboration with ASPIRE, are willingto pay higher price for the products as they trust on the quality assurance of the project.
In response to the second objective of the study to identify the right actors to operate the system, there
are different perceptions among 7 AgVC actors (table 3). All PDAFF directors recommended that all
actors in the value chain need to involve in operating this system at different stages of value chain.
Each individual actor has the responsibility to document all of the information that occurs or contains
in their stage. However, AC/PO suggested that this role should be responsible for by wholesale
distributor/village collector as they are the ones who deal directly with retailer/retail-shop and endconsumer.
Table 3: Responses of AgVC actors to operate the traceability system

Respondents

PDAFF Director
ASPIRE AC
AIMS PO
Wholesale
Distributor
Village collector
Retail shop
A vegetable cleaningand safety control
center staff

Perception of actors who would have interest in operating the system
Wholesale
Farmer /Retailer /Input
Distributor
All
Producer
RetailConsumers
Suppliers/ Village
Actors/ AC / POshop
Collector
6
10
7
10
9

2
1

The third objective of the study is to confirm whether the system is needed. The respondents believethat the system would be beneficials to both parties such as: 1. building trust amongst customers, and8

2. Offering premium price due to the quality control and assurance. The formation of faith relationshipthrough the system will encourage local consumption of vegetable and will contribute to the “OneVillage One Product” policy promotes by RGC. All AgVC respondents agreed that the system is muchneeded to boost local trust on the quality of the fresh products sold in some well-known chemical-freeretail shops and supermarkets. If local consumers change their behavior toward getting the productswith sourcing traceability, it will contribute to the growth in local production. Farmer/AC/PO will beable to differentiate their produce from the imported ones. Some consumers are ready to pay premium
price for the high-quality produce.
ͺǤ   

The results show that there is a need of the traceability system amongst AgVC actors despite some
contradict perceptions of who should be responsible for operating the system. It concludes that it isnecessary to have the system. Despite some challenges in implementing the system, the project will
pilot the traceability system for vegetables by working closely with the supporters of ASPIRE’scommune extension workers and AIMS’s social mobilizers. Moreover, under the assistance of theservice provider in digital outreach activities of the SAAMBAT project, the piloting project would be
able to overcome farmer/producer’s reluctant habits to recording their agricultural production data. It
is hoped that this would, in turn, trigger a market demand-driven mechanism from better-off endconsumer of the traceability system for vegetables. It is recommended to repeat the same study forexport commodity crops such as rice, mango, pepper, cashew nut etc. It is likely the need for such
system is high due to the demand from the importing countries and to fulfill the export compliancestandards requirement.

9 

1. Aung, Myo Min & Chang, Yoon. (2014). Traceability in a food supply chain: Safety andquality perspectives. Food Control. 39. 172-184.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2013.11.007.
2. Center for Policy Study. (2019). Report on vegetable demand and supply for Boosting Food
Production.
3. Changxiu, C., Ping, J., & Juhua, L. (2012). A common traceability method for agricultural
products based on data center.
4. FAO (2017). Food Traceability Guidance. Retrieved fromhttp://www.fao.org/3/i7665en/I7665EN.pdf
5. FAO (2019). New Food Balances. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS
6. Golan, Elise & Krissoff, Barry & Kuchler, Fred & Calvin, Linda & Nelson, Kenneth & Price,
Gregory. (2004). Traceability in the U.S. Food Supply: Economic Theory and Industry
Studies. US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. 2.
7. Hem, M. & Nimol, V. (2020). SNV’s Cambodia Horticulture Advancing Income andNutrition (CHAIN II): Vegetable Market Study Survey Report.
8. Jennifer, M., Francis, F. B., Betty, B., & Martin B. C. (2010). Traceability (product tracing)in food systems: An IFT report submitted to the FDA. Comprehensive Reviews in Food
Science and Food Safety. Vol. 1. 100-101. https://doi.101111/j.1541-4337.2009.00097.x
9. Jianrong, Z. & Tejas, B. (2014). A guidance document on the best practices in foodtraceability. Institute of Food Technologists. Vol. 13. 1074. https://doi.10.1111/15414337.12103
10. Mekong Institute. (2019). News: MI, MoH support FORT team responding to foodborne
disease outbreak. Retrieved from https://www.mekonginstitute.org/newsactivities/detail/2019/12/04/mi-moh-support-fort/
11. Men, S. (2018). Consolidated crop data in 2018. MAFF’s Department of Statistics andPlanning.
12. Namrata, R., Darshana, P., Shephali, S., & Sokanya, H. (2013). Cloud documentation andcentralized compiler for Java & Php. International Journal of Computational Engineering
Research. Vol. 3. Issue 3.
13. OXFAM (2018). Can Blockchain Help Rice Farmer Fight Poverty? Retrieved fromhttps://cambodia.oxfam.org/can-blockchain-help-rice-farmers-fight-poverty
14. USAID (2017). New Project to Boost Cambodian Horticulture. Retrieved fromhttps://www.usaid.gov/cambodia/press-releases/sep-27-2017-new-project-boost-cambodianhorticulture

10

1.
2.
3.
4.

ͳǣ

Name: _________________________________________
Position: ________________________________________
Location: District_____________________ Province_________________________How many vegetable households in your district/province?
- # of vegetable HH in district _____________________- # of vegetable HH in province ___________________
5. Please list the most grown vegetable in your areas and average production capacity per monthincluding crop calendar (which vegetable grown in which month?)#
Name of crop
Avg. production per month (kg)
Production month
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
6. What are the main vegetables cultivating in your district/province?
 a. Leafy
 b. Root/bulb
 c. Flower d. Fruit
e. Spices
7. Are these vegetables for:
 a. A local market supply  b. Domestic supply
 c. Oversea export
8. Are those products sufficiently supplied to your local market?
 a. Yes b. No
9. If no, where do those vegetables import from?
 a. Other province (_______________)  b. Phnom Penh (____________market)
 c. Oversea-please specify (____________)
10. How many kg/tons do they import to your district/province per day/month? ____________kg
11. Do you know how many collectors are there in your areas? # ________________________
12. Please provide some names and contacts of collectors.
# Name of collector
Contact
Location
a
b
c
d
e

11

13. Do you think producers have separated between vegetables based on the standard of chemical-free,organic, chemical, CAMGAP vegetables?
a. Yes, why? _____________________________________________________________
b. No, why not? ___________________________________________________________
14. Do you think collectors separating the products per different sources i.e. farmer?
 a. Yes b. No
15. As per consumer’s perspective, do you think they need to know where the products are from, whogrow them, and do they spray insecticide?
c. Yes, why? _______________________________________________________________
d. No, why not? _____________________________________________________________
16. In your opinion to what extend do you think that the traceability system is important?
 a. Very important  b. Important
c. Not important  d. Other_______
17. If there is a need for traceability system, who would be the right actors in the value chain to operate
the system? Why? _________________________________________________________
18. Do you think that it is mandatory for farmers to record all production data?
a. If yes, what techniques would you use to encourage farmer to record all Ag production data?
_______________________________________________________________________
b. No, why not? ___________________________________________________________
19. Do you think there should be a traceability system for vegetable in order to prove the authenticityof the products and its provenance (for products safety tracing, building consumer trust, better pricetag)?
a. Yes, why? _____________________________________________________________
b. No, why not? ___________________________________________________________
20. When the traceability system is in-place, would PDAFF invest or co-invest for on this system inthe purpose of promoting the application of vegetable traceability system? assist to follow up thispractice?
a. Yes, why? _____________________________________________________________
b. No, why not? ___________________________________________________________
21. Would you assist us to follow up the usage of this system by keeping all data records?
 a. Yes b. No

12ʹǣƬ 

A. AC/PO profile
1. Interview Date: _________________________, Location: _________________________
2. Interviewee name: __________________Phone number: _________________________
3. Which group do you belong to?
 a. AC b. PO
4. Name of AC/PO: _________________________________________________________
5. Date of establishment __________________________
6. Type of buyers (choose only the dominated one answer)
 a. Wholesaler at distribution center b. Village collector
 c. Distributor
 d. retailer-shops or local market  e. End-consumer
7. AC/PO Address: __________________________________________________________
8. Number of group members: ______________Female: ________% of members below 35 years
old: ____________%
9. # of villages in this AC/PO: ________, Name of villages: ___________________________
B. Production of vegetable
10. Type of vegetable produce
a. Leafy
b. Root/bulb
c. Flower
d. Fruite. Spices
11. What type of vegetable standard does the AC/PO produce?
 a. Organic
 b. Chemical-free  c. CAMGAP
d. Other____________
12. Who do they supply to? _______________________________________________________
13. Who conduct the inspection and provide certification? _______________________________
14. Please list the most grown vegetable in your areas and average production capacity per monthincluding crop calendar (which vegetable grown in which month?)#
Name of crop
Avg. production per month (kg)
Production month
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
15. Does the group member record Ag production process?
a. Yesb. No. (Continue to Q18)
16. Which of the following info do the AC/PO member record?
a. Planting dateb. Pesticide application
c. Fertilizer application
d. Harvestinge. Selling to ________
f. Quantity e. All of above
17. what is the purpose of recordings? _______________________________________________
18. Does the AC/PO practice of post-harvest management?
13

a. Yesb. No. (Continue to Q20)
19. Which of the following post-harvest practices do you apply?
a. Cleaning
b. Gradingc. Packing
d. Weighing
f. Transportingd. Storinge. All of above
C. Buyer profile
20. # of buyers bought: ___________________
a. Name: ___________________, Contact: ___________________b. Name: ___________________, Contact: ___________________
c. Name: ___________________, Contact: ___________________
21. Where are they from? _________________________________________________________
22. Does the buyer record any info from the AC/PO?
a. Yesb. No (Go to Q24)
23. If yes, what are the info recorded?
a. AC/PO nameb. Location c. Quantity d. Products typef. All of above
24. An offered price is based on which of the following?
a. Quality
b. Market pricec. a & b
d. Other_____________
D. Products traceability info
25. How do you distinguish between CAMGAP, chemical-free, or chemical vegetables?
a. Veg appearance b. Smellc. a & b
d. Other_____________
26. To what extend do you think that the traceability system is important?
 a. Very important
 b. Important
c. Not important  d. Other______
27. If the traceability system is available, would you be interested in applying it?
 a. Yes. Why_______________________________________________________________
 b. No. Why not? ___________________________________________________________
28. If you were required to input data into the traceability system, would you do it?
 a. Yes. Why_______________________________________________________________
 b. No. Why not? ___________________________________________________________
29. Are you willing to invest or co-invest in setting up a system for farmer to input the data?
(Printing barcode, barcode scanner)
 a. Yes. Why_______________________________________________________________
 b. No. Why not? ___________________________________________________________
30. What is your technique to encourage all group members to record all Ag production process?
___________________________________________________________________________
31. Which AgVC actors would be the right person to operate this traceability system and why?
___________________________________________________________________________
32. Would this system be suitable for vegetable value chain and why?
___________________________________________________________________________

14͵ǣ Ȁ

Date: _______________________
Location: __________________________
I.
Village Collector/Distributor Profile
1. Name: ________________________
Phone Number: _________________________
2. Sex:  a. Male b. Female Age group: a. Younger < 35yrs  b. > 35 year
3. Are you a village collector or distributor?
 a. Village Collector
 b. Distributor
4. Do you have another job or income?
 a. Yes b. NoIf Yes, what is it? _____________________________________________________________II.
Information Collection
5. What type of vegetables to you buy?
 a. Chemical-free  b. Organic  c. Chemical  d. CAMGAP e. Any types
If the answer is a, b, or/and d then continue to Q2 and if not then move to Q5
6. Do you conduct any organic inspection or certification?
 a. If yes, name the institution_______________________________
 b. No
7. How often does the certified institution verify the certification procedure?
 a. Monthly
 b. 6 monthly
 c. Annually b. Others_____
8. How long will the certification expire and require renewal?
 a. 3 years b. 5 years c. Others__________
9. How often do you collect vegetable from the farmers?
 a. Daily b. Weekly
 c. Others__________
10. Which value chain actors do you purchase veggies from?
 a. Individual farmer
 b. PO name___________  c. AC___________  c. Others_
11. How many individual farm, AC, or PO do you collect from? ___________________________
12. What types of vegetable do you collect?
 a. Leafy
 b. Root/Bulb
 c. Flower d. Fruit e. Spices
 f. All of above
In what quantity? _____________________________________________________________
13. Do you collect on a seasonal basis?
 a. Yes b. If No. Specify______________________________
14. What information do you record when buying from farmers or AC/PO?
 a. Farmer profile & production dairy b. Only production dairy  c. Others_____
15. Is there any collection center in your area?
 a. Yes b. NoIf Yes, where is it located? ______________________________________________________
16. Do you conduct the quality control/post-harvest handling for collected vegetables?
 a. Yes. Continue to Q13
 b. No. Continue to Q14
17. Which of these practices do you conduct?
 a. Cleaning a. Grading c. Packaging/repackaging
 d. Labelling e. Transporting f. Storing/cold storage
18. Are you facing any challenges in collection process?
 a. No b. Yes, specify? ________________________
15

III.

Distribution Information
19. Where do you sell the products to?
 a. Local market____________  b. Neighboring province__________  c. Other______
20. Who is your customer? (One-step forward process) a. End-consumer
 b. Retailer
 c. Other__________
21. If you supply to retail shops, how many of them do you supply to? # of retail shops__________
22. How long does it take from collection to distribution?
 a. 7 hours
 b. 1 day c. Other_________________
23. Do you record any information during distribution process?
 a. Yes b. No
24. If yes, what are the information do you record?
 a. Supplier shipping address
 b. Delivery date c. Purchase order # d. Gross weight e. Serial number
 f. Others_________
25. What is your distribution process?
___________________________________________________________________________
26. How many distribution channels do you have?
 a. Only 1
 b. 3. Who are they? _______________ c. Others_________
27. Are you able to meet the market demand on a daily basis?
 a. Yes b. No. Why Not? ___________________________________
28. Are you facing any challenges in the distribution process?
 a. If yes________________________________________________
 b. NoIV.
Traceability Information
29. Do you know which products belong to which farmer? (One-step back process) a. Yes b. NoIf Yes, How? ________________________________________________________________
30. Does any of your retailer/customer wish to know the products origin?
 a. Yes b. NoIf Yes, what do you think? ______________________________________________________
31. Do you incorporate any technology to track the sources of vegetable provenance?
 a. Yes b. No. Continue to Q5
If yes, what is that technology?
 a. Barcode b. QR code
c. RFID d. Other________
32. Can you distinguish between chemical, chemical-free, or organic vegetables? (Organic
Collector)
 a. Yes b. NoIf Yes, How? ________________________________________________________________
33. Can you distinguish between chemical vs. chemical-free vegetables?
 a. Yes b. NoIf Yes, How? ________________________________________________________________
34. To what extend do you think that the traceability system is important?
 a. Very important  b. Important
c. Not important  d. Other______
35. If the traceability system is available, would you be interested in?
 a. Yes b. No. Why not? _____________________________
36. If you were required to input data into the traceability system, would you do it?
16 a. Yes. Why___________________________  b. No. Why not? _________________
37. Are you willing to invest in setting a system for farmer to input the data? (Printing barcode,
barcode scanner)
 a. Yes. Why___________________________  b. No. Why not? _________________
38. Which AgVC actors would be the right person to operate this traceability system and why?
___________________________________________________________________________
39. Would this system be suitable for vegetable value chain and why?
___________________________________________________________________________

17Ͷǣ  

Interviewing Vegetable Cleaning and Safety Control Center Staff in Kandal Province

Interviewing AC, AIMS social mobilizer, Wholesale Distributor in Kampot province

18

Interviewing PDAFF deputy director and ASPIRE provincial management advisor in Kampong Speu

Interviewing AC, PO, Wholesale Distributor, Village collector in Battambang province

19+855 81 922 329
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