IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

Research article
erdAgri-Supply Chain in Tourism Market: A Case Study of
Koh Trong Ecotourism Community and Market in Kratie
Province
SAUT MOEUN*Royal University of Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Email: moeun.saut@gmail.com

MASAAKI YAMADATokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Received 15 December 2012

Accepted 30 January 2013(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Stable supply of agricultural products into tourism business is a key for the both
sectors to sustainably grow together; however, rural farmers still face challenges in
effectuating such a goal. The current research addresses how agri-supply chain exists intourism market and issues on such a chain in Cambodia through a case study inNortheastern Region. The triangulation methods were employed. Surveys were conductedon farmers, hotels/restaurants and vegetable sellers, whereas semi-structured interviews
were done with middlemen, community chiefs, NGOs and local authorities. The farms of
Koh Trong are operated with family labors. Most farmers do not have advanced
knowledge on farming techniques. Little pesticides are applied, while chemical fertilizers
are most commonly used. Most vegetables and fruits are shipped from Koh Trong bymiddleman across the Mekong River to town market, where they meet with the customers,
hotels and restaurants. While middlemen are the price setters, farmers are the price takers.
Tourism market consumes less than half of the total vegetables produced by Koh Trong
farmers. Besides, agri-products are brought in from other places and imported from
Vietnam. Koh Trong responds fairly little to the market demand. Small-scale farms of KohTrong are less competitive in terms of product variety; however, they are morecompetitive in terms of high quality and unique products. Major issues affecting the
supply chain include limited knowledge, limited transportation, supply irregularity, limited
market access and imbalanced power among chain actors. Tourism is yet a small market
for agri-products from Koh Trong, but implies a potential one. While conventional supply
chain is adequate, there is a barrier to overcome in making the chain more equitable for all
market actors.
Keywords supply chain, vegetables and fruits, farmers and tourism market

INTRODUCTION
Different researchers defined supply chain. “Supply chains are networks of firms interacting todeliver  a  product  or  service  to  a  predefined  market  segment” (Lockamy, Beal and Smith, 2000:23).
It contains network firms which are the suppliers, market which is the demand side, the products,
and services. Supplying products is done in accordance with service performances because theycannot be separated in sales. Some authors such as Cooper, Lambert, and Pagh (1997) cited in
Zhang, Song and Huang (2009) stated that supply chain occurred by a forward flow of products
and a backward flow of information. Meanwhile, Chen and Pauraj (2004) defined supply chain as a
network of materials, information, and services linked with the characteristics of supply,transformation and demand. These authors emphasized the flow of products, services and theinformation, which can be inferred that the producers supply based on demand. They also focused
partly on the relationship between product supply and information, while Lockamy et al., (2000)
paid more attention on the products and services.
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Some authors highlight the difficulties for local farmers to access the market. In the article“Supply  Chain  Models  for  Small  Agricultural  Enterprises,”  Jang  and  Klein  (2009)  concerned that
small farmers were not included in the coordinated supply chains. Similarly, Roekel et al., (2002)
identified the problems related to the small scale farmers in supply chain that challenge of the newmarket adjustment, least organized group and small capital were the constrains for small scale
producers, leading them to be the losers in market competition, while those accessing capital,technology and logistics enjoyed earning benefits. These issues are more severe for the businesses
occurring in agriculture in terms of  farmers’  environment,  especially  the  small  farmers  as  Jang  and  Klein pointed out because farmers had low knowledge on business.
Some models can be used for chain analysis. Supplier models are important for supply chain.
According to Philip (2006), there were several supplier models: traditional model, vertical
integration, cooperatives, and marketing companies. Out of the four models, marketing companies
are less applicable for the supply chain in which local farmers do the supplies. The relationshipbetween suppliers and customers were analyzed in three levels (Croom et al., 2000). First, dyadic
level referred to the relationship between only two parties, that of supplier and manufacturer or
manufacturer and retailers/ distributors. Second, chain level covered all the relationships in dyadic
levels. Last, network level involved the network of operations including upstream/downstream or
total/immediate. Besides, Roekel, Willems & Boselie in 2002 discussed the chain knowledge (insupply chain, and the actors in chain, especially the suppliers, are required to have the chain
knowledge.
There were a number of terms reflecting the linkage of tourism with agriculture. These terms
are farm tourism/farm based tourism (Dernoi, 1983; Hjalarger, 1996; Ramon et al., 2000 cited in
Sarpley and Vass, 2006; Busby and Rendle, 2000; Brandth and Haugen, 2011), Agro-or agritourism (Koc, 2008; Phillip et al., 2010), food tourism (Halloran and Deale, 2004; Ruben et al.,2006). Such terms illustrated the integrated development of tourism and agriculture. Farms wereused as the main tourist attractions with the accommodation, food and beverage provided by
farmers.
The interrelationship also occurred in terms of the supplies of the local products into
hotels/restaurants.  “The use of local foods in restaurants is a growing trend that reflects the desire
by many visitors to experience a culture through its footways” (Hjalagar, 2002; Fields, 2002 citedin Murphy and Smith, 2009). The statement showed how important the supply of local food is in
attracting tourists and the relationship between restaurants and local farmers as well. Some otherstudies illustrated the supplies of local agri-products to hotels/restaurants (Belisle, 1984; Torres,2003). Farmers sold their products directly to hotels/restaurants or by means of middlemen.
Farmers had relationship with hotels/restaurants in terms of fruit supply and hotels/restaurants sent
their  trucks  to  transport  the  fruits  from  famers’  fields  during  the  harvesting  seasons  (Verddouw  et  al., 2010 cited Torres, 2003). He also indicated that most of the hotels in Cancum had experience
with direct supply contracts with local growers.
Three factors affected the relationship of hotels and local famers (Torres, 2003). First was the
supply and production-related factors including poor local growing condition, growing insufficient
year-round quantities of products to supply, competition of labour between tourism and agriculture,inconsistent and/or poor quality of local production, poor economies of scale of local enterprises,
climate of uncertainty land tenure and limited local processing. Second was demand-related factors
related to tourist types, tourist food preference, and the concern of tourists and chefs on health andsanitation. Last was farmers’  marketing  difficulty,  which  might  be  the  serious  problems  for  local  farmers to access tourism market. Market-related factors included singular marketing; lack of tax
payment; lack of communication and deep trust between producers, enterprisers, tourism suppliers,and hotels; and infrastructure limitation. He also mentioned various supplies done in accordancewith the different sizes, grades, franchises, and the nationalities of the owners, managers and chefsof the hotels, which might consist of a variety of supply patterns.
The convenience and sanitation of products for cooking was another option for hotels/restaurants. Belise in 1985 stated that canned or frozen food was frequently used by hotels because
it was more convenient and saved time for cooking. In relation to sanitation, Torres (2003) statedthat the chefs of hotels chose the frozen foods on the simple consumption with higher sanitation,Ⓒ ISERD

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and   in   his   study   on   “Linkages   between   tourism   and   agriculture   in   Mixico”,   41   %   of   the   chefs  imposed the lemmatization procurement directly from local producers owing to the concerns ofhealth and sanitation. If hotels/restaurants use the local products, they need to spend longer timecleaning and/or preparing before cooking. However, the price of canned food may be higher, and it
depends  on  customers’  preferences.    
OBJECTIVES
1. To overview family farms of Koh Trong island in the Mekong River
2. To identify the structure of agri-supply chain at the local tourism market of Kratie Town
3. To analyze the factors affecting the supply chain of Koh Trong vegetables and fruits to Kratie
tourism market
METHODOLOGYBoth qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in the research. Questionnaire survey,
semi-structured interview and observation were used as the methods for primary data collection.
Surveys were conducted on 118 local farmers selected by simple random sampling, 23
hotel/restaurant owners chosen by convenience sampling and 61 vegetable sellers at market
selected by simple random sampling. Semi-structured interviews were done with local authority,
NGOs, chairmen of communities, local farmers, selected by purposive sampling, and middlemen,
selected by snowball techniques. Observation was done on the situations of the site and activities ofactors involved in the supply chain. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was
employed for analyzing quantitative data, while content analysis was used for analyzing qualitativedata.
The research was conducted in Kratie province, located in the north-eastern area of Cambodia,
about 240 km from Phnom Penh. Town centre is located next to Mekong River. It had 8 hotels, 18
guesthouses and 21 restaurants registered with the government (Department of Tourism, 2009). On
the other side of the river is Koh Trong, one of communes (Sangkat) gown. Koh Trong is an island
surrounded by the Mekong River. Boats were the only modes of transport between town and KohTrong. The total area of the island is 223 hectares with 383 families, who mainly lived on
agriculture (National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development, 2009). This island isalso one of tourism sites in Kratie.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Cultivation and sales
Majority of farmers (82.6%) on Koh Trong have education lower than upper secondary school,small sizes of farming lands and traditional tools in cultivation. Pesticides are used for cropping by
the higher percentage of farmers (64.1%), while chemical fertilizers are most commonly applied by
the lower percentage of the farmers (35.9%). Furthermore, 29.1 % of farmers used only own keptseeds for growth, with illiteracy of how such seeds may provide different yields from those boughtfrom market. Besides, they lack knowledge on business related to their products.
Most of the vegetables and fruits flowed from local famers to hotels/restaurants throughintermediaries. Most farmers (82.2%) sold their agri-products to middlemen. Middlemen collected
the products from farmers to sell in both wholesale and retail market of the town. They were theprice setters. Tourism market consumed less than 50% of the total vegetables produced by farmers
on Koh Trong, while the rest were consumed by household consumers. Besides Koh Trong, thevegetables were taken from other places and from Vietnam to the market. Thus, farmers on KohTrong have to compete with the suppliers of these vegetables and fruits, especially those fromⒸ ISERD

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Vietnam; however, they were more competitive in terms of high product quality and in particular,
unique sweet pamelos.
Supply responds fairly less to demand. In comparison between the top five vegetables: longstring bean, salad, tender green, leak and tomato farmers at Koh Trong grew with the top fivevegetables: carrot, tomato, cucumber, cauliflower and cabbage consumed by hotels/restaurants,
only tomato was supplied by farmers matched the demand by hotels/restaurants, so the other fours
consumed by the demand from households. Meanwhile, these hotels/restaurants bought tomato
supplied from other places and Vietnam. More remarkably, carrot was the special vegetable from
Vietnam that domestic farmers could not grow. Therefore, farmers of Koh Trong still supply
vegetables into hotels/restaurants fewer in variety than other places and Vietnam.
Supply chain
The whole supply chains of vegetables and fruits exist in two types of structures (figure 1). The
first type comprises of 5 groups of actors: farmers, hotel/restaurant owners, middlemen, NGOs andlocal authority. Second type consists of all actors, except middlemen. Farmers are the suppliers,
whereas hotel/restaurant owners are their final customers. Middlemen play crucial roles inconnecting suppliers and customers, but in second type, supply and demand connects with eachother directly. NGOs and authority play roles as facilitators because they support the local farmers
through the activities of community establishments, trainings, policy making, small fund, capitaland technical provision and promotion through tourism. However, core actors in chain are farmers,
middlemen and hotel/restaurant owners, which are similar to the statement of Lockamy et al.,(2000) that in supply chain, services and products flowed from suppliers and/or producers tocustomers directly or indirectly through distributors and/or retailers.
The current research illustrated some relationships partly similar to the supplier models byPhillip (2006). It found that local farmers grew and sold vegetables and fruits to local middlemen
after harvesting. The middlemen packed and took the products to markets to sell in both wholesale
and retail-sales. This phenomenon is relevant to what Phillip described as traditional model.
Moreover, some farmers, especially some middlemen, packed and took their vegetables and fruits
to sell in the retail markets. Such a phenomenon occurs in somewhat Philip called vertical
integration model. There are vegetable community and pamelo community on Koh Trong, of which
purposes to croup local farmers to grow and sell their produces cooperatively. Though it has notworked well yet, it works to some extent with pamelo community as Cambodia Center for Studyand Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) collected pamelos from Koh Trong through thecommunity to be on sales in its shop located in the town. However, there is a trend towards
cooperative model. Marketing company is not applicable.
Agriculture and tourism
The relationship between agriculture and tourism can be illustrated through the supply ofagricultural products with three forms (Fig. 1). The first form is Farmer-MiddlemanHotel/restaurant (FMH). FMH refers to the supply of vegetables and fruits done from local farmers
to hotels restaurants through middlemen. This is similar to the findings of some previous researches,by Belise, (1984), Field, (2002), Torress (2003) and Murphy, (2009) in relation to the supply of
local agricultural products to hotels/restaurants. Differently, the research illustrated that local
famers took their vegetables and fruits to hotels/restaurants through intermediaries. These showthat the different supply chains may vary according to classes and sizes of hotels/restaurants.
Second form is Farmer-Hotels/restaurants (FH). FH refers to the supply of vegetables andfruits from local farmers on Koh Trong to hotels/restaurants directly. This relationship is also
supportive of the previous researches in first form. It demonstrates the direct sales and/or
cooperation between local farmers and hotels/restaurants, and this is more similar to what Torres(2003) found. As stated in the first form, hotels sent their trucks to carry out the fruits from farms,
and he further said that most hotels in Cancum, Mexico, had direct supply contact with localⒸ ISERD

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growers. The present research found that some hotels bought fruits, especially pamelos, directlyfrom farmers on Koh Trong. They also had oral contracts with local farmers on the island forpamelo supply.
Compared with FMH, FH provides more advantages for the local farmers andhotels/restaurants. First, it provides more economic benefits i.e. the cross margins earned bymiddlemen can be divided for farmers and hotel/restaurant owners. Second advantage is building
the relationship. Selling and buying directly could make local farmers and hotel/restaurant owners
more understandable of each other. This also may lead local farmers to succeed largely in market
access and be more competitive in market. However, it contains some disadvantages. Without
middlemen, farmers have to take their vegetables to hotels/restaurants, or hotel/restaurant owners
have to buy on farms, in which either needs to spend extra money and time. There are someproblems including supply regularity, transportation, quantity, and seasonality, which is supportiveof the issues raised by Torres (2003).
3

NGOs 2(4a)2NGOs 1

Tourists

MarketCommunities

Farmers

1

Hotels/restaura
nt/home-stays

MiddlemenCommune councils

Provincial Departments(4b)

Flow of most vegetable and fruits within tourism market
Flows of small amounts of vegetables and fruits within tourism market
Flows of smallest amounts of vegetables and fruits within tourism market
Direct flow of fruits to tourists
1 = Agri-supply chain into tourism market
2 = Actors involving in supply side
3 =Tourism market (demand side)
4a = NGOs supporting

4b= Authority supporting
NGOs1= Local NGOs
GNOs2 = International NGOs

Fig. 1 Supply of vegetables and fruits with chain actors
Third form is Farmer-Tourist (FT). FT refers to the relationship in which local farmers supply
their agri-products directly to tourists or they do businesses on their own farms based on tourism,
known as farm tourism or farm based tourism.
CONCLUSION
The farms on Koh Trong are small-scale and family-oriented farms. Tourism is yet a small market
for agri-products from Koh Trong, but implies a future potential one. While conventional supply
chain is adequate, there is a barrier to overcome in making the chain more equitable for all market
actors. Limited knowledge, limited transportation, irregular supply done by Koh Trong farmers,Ⓒ ISERD

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limited market access and imbalanced power among the chain actors are the issues affecting the
supply chain. Farmers should increase growing crops to supply more regularly and build group for
supplying their agri-products so that they can gain more power in negotiating the price of the
products with middlemen.
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