Page 55 - Agricultural innovation

LFN also supports its members to improve farming techniques through experimental research by
the farmers themselves, group learning, and disseminating information.

5.1.3. Opportunities and challenges
Several innovations are developed by the LFN. LFN has a network with business partners by helping
farmers to connect to sell vegetables to Mueng Lao Food, rice to Phoun Nguen, and asparagus to
Gentera. Farmers have a certain amount of production according to the contract with business
partners of LFN. In addition, LFN supports rice farmers in Jaeng village to have a contract with a rice
mill factory. Regarding the contract, farmers earn more than the market price around LAK 500/Kg
and farmers tend to be more commercialized because of the price incentives.
LFN supports Jhai Coffee Cooperatives to access finance. The purpose of lending is to use as
working capital during the coffee collection period. LFN totally lent 200,000 USD to the JCFC with 3%
interest for 6 months.
In the case of vegetables, LFN supports seeds, training, materials, and funds to the members. The
vegetable network had a huge impact on the restriction policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The
estimated total loss was LAK 17 billion. LFN recommended to the network collect seeds rather than
overproduce the vegetable.
LFN also connect Thongmung Farmer Cooperatives and customer through direct sales. Thongmung
Organic Agriculture Cooperative (TOAC) delivers vegetables in a set menu such as bamboo soup set,
chicken soup set, and suki set to customers. However, TOAC signed a contract with CP company to
supply vegetables of around 50 Kg per day and TOAC is not able to continue delivering the set menu
to customers.
There are many challenges for LFN to support the members as the number of members is increasing
while the budget is limited. It is difficult to offer new technology and innovation to the members as
they are used to traditional production. The budget of LFN relies on donors, but LFN has a target to be
self-sufficient by 2025.

5.1.4. Conclusions
This is a model of farmer concentration so that the body can overcome difficulties in the production
process and create connections with other actors in the industry value chain, especially the cross-
linking to improve the efficiency of harmonized production and receive scientific and technical
advances as well as the consumption of agricultural products by farmers.

5.2. Model of Bolaven Plateau Coffee Producers Cooperative in Laos
5.2.1. General information

Bolaven, located in the Southern part of Laos, is one of three plateaus covering the area of four provinces,
Champasack, Saravan, Sekong, and Attapue. Unlike the other two plateaus in the central and Northern
regions, Bolaven is an ideal place for coffee plantations because of its rich volcanic soil. After the early
20th century when the French brought coffee to grow in Bolaven, the coffee plantation became a
primary source of income contributing to improving the livelihood of many thousand households.
Although there is a large expansion of coffee plantations, small-scale coffee farmers in Bolaven
face many difficulties, namely access to the market, low bargaining power, limited value-added, use
of chemicals in production, etc. These problems lead to the born of Bolaven Plateaus Coffee Producer
Cooperative (known as CPC). From its first establishment until the present, CPC has become a role model
for other production groups and cooperatives in several aspects such as organization management, value
creation of products, and friendly production to the environment and community. The achievement of

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