SAPA Project – Short Review

The SAPA (Sustainable and Affordable Poultry for All) project which is being implemented in Myanmar and runs from 2015-2020. The fourth project year has just been finished and we made a short preview of the project. The final documentary will be ready at the end of the project, which will show all the received results. Curious to see what the SAPA project is about and what we have achieved so far?

Please watch here:

Myanmar: Vet training 2 focuses on health and housing

A second Training of Trainers (TOT) for the SAPA project was executed at the SAPA Poultry training center at Naypyidaw, Myanmar.

Poultry health, including Post Mortem check on broilers was one of the topics of the 2 weeks training. In addition to many useful theoretical and practical knowledge provided by poultry specialists Ernst Beitler Aeres University and Jan Cortenbach De Heus Animal Nutrition, The Netherlands, field trips and practical classes on the subjects of housing and climate control were also included in the 2 weeks practical oriented training for SAPA trainers.

Cooperation between the SAPA project and University of Veterinary Science (UVS), Prof. Dr. Ye Htut Aung was well received by the trainees. Prof. Dr. Ye Htut Aung discussed the most emerging poultry diseases in Myanmar, proper medication and vaccinations in broiler production. The training was organized with a useful mix of theory and practical experiences. In this SAPA training also attention was given to training skills and didactics led by Jolanda Stolk, from Aeres, The Netherlands. The technical knowledge and training skills will support SAPA trainers and advisors in their work as a consultant in the field. The question “what are the challenges poultry farmers are facing” was often discussed during the 2 weeks training. And answers on this valid and relevant question were mostly related to disappointing business and financial results and poultry health problems. On 14 September 2017, after 2 weeks training, on poultry Health, Housing and equipment for broilers and training skills all 14 participants received their certificate.

Kick-off broiler training and opening Poultry Training Centre in Myanmar

Monday 6th of February was a milestone for the SAPA project. The first broiler training took place for 10 selected veterinarians. At the same time the first Poultry Training Center in Mandalay opened as part of the training.

One of the main components of the SAPA Project is the capacity building of farmers, both broiler farmers as corn farmers. Last Monday 6th of February two milestones of the SAPA project took place: firstly, the kick-off of the first broiler training for 10 selected veterinarians in Mandalay and secondly, this training took place at the first Poultry Training Centre (PTC) of Myanmar.

The PTC is built on the farm of broiler farmer U Win Hlaing, who was selected and eager to participate in SAPA to upgrade his existing farm into a PTC. This PTC will be used throughout the whole SAPA project to train veterinarians, broiler farmers and workers until 2020 on various topics related to broiler farming. The reason why this PTC is so special is because this is the first training centre on a broiler farm, where trainees receive theory and are immediately able to observe, reflect and apply the acquired knowledge into practice. In the coming months two more PTCs are opened: in NPT and Yangon.

Esther Wintraecke of Fresh Studio Myanmar.

The first broiler farmer training is a 10 day training for 10 selected veterinarians, who have the responsibility to train 750 broiler farmers and workers throughout the whole of Myanmar. The topics of this first training were: farm management and bio-security. In the coming year two additional training modules take place so that at the end of the training courses the veterinarians are certified SAPA-trainers. The topics addressed are: health, nutrition, housing, entrepreneurship and the broiler production standard.

As the opening of the PTC and the kick-off of the first broiler training are a very important milestone in the SAPA project, a special opening ceremony was organised with members of the Mandalay Livestock Federation and the deputy general of the LBVD (Livestock, Breeding and Veterinary Department) and the director of De Heus Myanmar and a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Read more about the SAPA Project

Minister Koenders opens Dutch embassy in Myanmar

On Wednesday (12 October) Minister Koenders (Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands) opened the Dutch embassy in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). An unique moment because everywhere else in the world the Dutch embassies are closing down or at least decreasing the number of staff. But in Myanmar a new Dutch embassy is being established.

Furthermore, this was the first Dutch political mission to the new Myanmar government. The last political elections in November 2015 were the first elections in 60 years in which the leading party (NLD: National League of Democracy) was democratically chosen by a majority of votes. After 60 years of military rule, and hardly any focus on the development of the country and the people, the current government has a very challenging task but certainly shows the mentality to succeed.

Only two months ago the first Dutch ambassador arrived in Yangon. This changed the economic mission of the Netherlands in Myanmar into a more ambitious mission which results in having a Dutch embassy present in Myanmar. Surely this indicates the potential of Myanmar in general, and specifically in trade and the water and agro-food sector.

During his 3-day visit to Myanmar Minister Koenders had meetings with the private sector in order to stimulate and strengthen the economic relationships between the Netherlands and Myanmar. This is also something he stressed several times during his speech at the opening of the embassy.

For SAPA, these are encouraging and beneficial developments: the establishment of the Dutch embassy in Myanmar; the continuous strengthening of the economic relationships between the Netherlands and Myanmar; and finally the focus on developing and improving the agriculture of the new government.

Read more about the SAPA project:

Improving food security and livelihoods in Myanmar

SAPA is a Public Private Partnership project in which strengths are combined of European companies and knowledge institutions and local NGO’s and knowledge institutes active in the poultry value to chain …

Developing the first safe, traceable and sustainable pork value chain of Vietnam

Vissan, De Heus and Fresh Studio have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the first safe, traceable and sustainable pork value chain in Vietnam. The Ceremony was held on the 15th of August at the Vissan premises in HCMC.

The partnership between Vissan, De Heus and Fresh Studio has opened a united direction in the development strategy of the parties with the aim to bring to Vietnam safe and traceable pork products.

Accordingly, the parties will maximize their capability to establish a safe supply chain from farms, slaughterhouse to finished products and distributing to the market, in accordance with the TRACEPIG standards.

The “TRACEPIG” set of standards has been developed to guideline all parties involved in the production chain to follow a standardized procedure to obtain a high quality and safe pork. This is to answer growing concern of consumers about food safety, workers conditions, animal welfare and environmental protection.

All products will be labeled with traceable origin and do not contain chemical residues or pathogenic microorganisms that exceed the legal limits. Uniquely, all involved parties must also comply with the Animal Welfare module during the process of farming, transporting and slaughtering. In addition, TRACEPIG also integrate compliance with the Ethical Trading Initiative standard principles to ensure a fair working environment for all employees along the chain.

The following flow chart defines the roles of each party: 

Vissan is one of the leading enterprises in the food industry with specialization and business focus on production of chilled and frozen meat products, as well as processed foods from meat. With company strategic orientation is to approach the market through food quality and safety, Vissan has been implementing the closed process system in production, and continues to improve the efficiency and superior product quality. In addition, Vissan also actively cooperates with business partners and mobilizes the social resources to focus on the supply chain from production to processing as well as distribution.

DHFS – Safe Pork is a joint venture between De Heus LLC and Fresh Studio Innovations Asia to cooperate in creating the first safe and traceable value chain pork products in Vietnam. De Heus has over 100 years of experience worldwide in animal feed production and animal husbandry management. Meanwhile, Fresh Studio has possessed an insight and extensive experience in the fields of sourcing, market research and business development, and management and promotion of safe food products.

This signing event between Vissan and DHFS is the milestone for sustainable long-term cooperation between the three companies, in accordance with the Dutch – Vietnam subsidy cooperation program for farming, and it will contribute to the development of the food industry in particular and Vietnam agriculture in general.

Sustainable dairy zone project breaks ground in Ha Nam

A groundbreaking ceremony marked an important milestone and is considered a first encouraging step for the development of sustainable dairy zones in Vietnam, the company said in a press statement.

This project is a partnership between FrieslandCampina, De Heus, Wageningen UR, Friesian Agro Consultancy B.V, Fresh Studio, Ha Nam authorities and the Dutch Government within the Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV) for the 2014-2018 period.

It is expected in the project that by 2018, three dairy zones will be established, with each zone having about 50 dairy farms, to produce at least 7,000 tons of fresh milk per year and create approximately 350 jobs.

After five years of participation in the project, each dairy farm is expected to have a herd of 50 to 80 head of cattle. In addition, the project aims to develop and implement training programs, set up a dairy cattle feed supply chain, and provide financial services for farmers participating in the project.

As the main partner in the project, FrieslandCampina undertakes the roles of management, execution and direct investment, and will establish three specialized dairy zones in Vietnam with two pilot dairy farms in each zone.

The company will help farmers gain access to preferential loans; provide training and supply technical advice for farmers; and develop and establish procurement and control systems to ensure good milk quality as well as the consumption of fresh milk at competitive prices.

The dairy zone in Ha Nam is considered a model of public-private partnership in close collaboration with national and provincial government agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture, the provincial government of Ha Nam, and Ha Nam’s Department of Agriculture.

FrieslandCampina has been in Vietnam for over 18 years, with more than 1.5 billion high-quality milk units supplied a year and with many favorite brands such as Dutch Lady, Friso, Yomost, and Fristi.

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Source: www.talkvietnam.com

Publication date: July 2014

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