Fostering competitiveness to increase market linkages in the avocado sector in southern Shan, Myanmar
UNIDO successfully supported 36 avocado producers in quality certification and enabled them to access new international markets. The support has resulted in an impressive realization of over two million US dollars in avocado exports at premium prices to Malaysia and Thailand during the past harvest season. This achievement is particularly important for the sector to maintain the momentum of sustainable development and contribute to poverty alleviation that has been affected due to the double shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and the military coup during the past two years.
The remarkable achievement was made under the UN Trade Cluster project which is a joint collaboration with UN sister agencies to support the horticultural value chains in southern Shan, Myanmar and their market linkages with the local tourism sector and international markets. Under the project, UNIDO trained the avocado producers on sustainable farming practices, food safety, environmental conservation and the welfare of workers embedded in Global G.A.P guidelines and also guided them to implement effectively. Through a cost-sharing mechanism, 36 avocado farmers obtained successfully Global G.A.P certification and recertification, and are enabled to export their avocado products at premium prices to Malaysia and Thailand in the 2022-2023 harvest season. The process of supporting the avocado producers in southern Shan is anchored with the Myanmar Avocado Producers and Exporters Association (MAVO) and their institutional capacity is also strengthened through the project to provide sustainable services to avocado farmers in Myanmar beyond the project.
The project is part of UNIDO's broad programmatic interventions to support sustainable and inclusive economic development through improving quality along value chains and enhancing trade standards compliance capacity of value chain actors.
The UN Trade Cluster project is an initiative funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland and jointly implemented by UN trade cluster agencies including UNIDO, UNCTAD, ITC, ILO and UNOPS. The overall objective of the project is to improve the economic situation in the Shan State through upgrading horticultural (tea, ginger and avocado) supply capacity and sustainable tourism in view of establishing value chains leading to income generation and employment, as a contribution to poverty reduction.
See more about the project results in the brochure attached.
For more information, please contact Mr. Cong Wu at: c.wu [at] unido.org (c.wu@unido.org)
