An Assessment of the Efficiency and Performance of the Distribution Chain of the Marine Capture Fisheries Products in Lucena Fish Port Complex, Lucena City
Date
5-2018
Degree
Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management
College
College of Economics and Management (CEM)
Adviser/Committee Chair
Nanette A. Aquino
Committee Member
Jeanette Angeline B. Madamba, Rachelle A. Mariano, Agnes T. Banzon, Normito R. Zapata, Jr.
Abstract
This study was conducted in Brgy. Dalahican, Lucena City where the biggest fishing port in Southern Luzon is situated. For the previous years, demand for fish has been increasing as a result of the country’s growing population at 1.9% every year. In the Philippines, Quezon Province is known to be one of the top producing provinces in the fisheries sector. In the CALABARZON region alone, it accounts for 33% of the fisheries products wherein most of them usually come from Lucena City. However, the growth of the sector in the area is hindered by the poor management practices and poor road infrastructure as well as transportation services resulting to higher spoilage rate.
This study was conducted to meet the following objectives: 1) to present and characterize the socioeconomic profile of the key players involved in the distribution chain of marine capture fisheries; 2) to map out the transformation and value addition of the fishes from the sources to the demand areas; 3) to evaluate the distribution according to the metrics posted including spoilage rate, traveling time, traveling distance, and gross margin among others; 4) to analyze the issues, bottlenecks, and opportunities in the distribution chain that might affect the efficiency of the chain; and 5) to recommend possible solutions to address the problems and opportunities.
In order to have statistically sound results for this study, simple random sampling was used to obtain the number of respondents for fishermen, traders, and retailers while complete enumeration method was used to obtain the number of respondents for the truckers and wholesalers. Primary data were obtained through interviews and surveys of the key players in the chain as well as the City Agricultural Officer. A total of 40 fishermen, 35 traders, five truckers, 20 wholesalers, and 25 retailers were interviewed for this study. Descriptive analysis was used to describe the results through charts, tables, and figures. Product, information, and payment flow analyses were also done to trace the transformation and significant changes that happen in the products all throughout the chain. Value chain, and cost and return analyses were also used to keep track of the value-adding activities as well as the costs incurred by each player.
All of the fishermen interviewed in this study are male since this requires intensive work activities, and also because of the fact that the women in the area want to be more engaged in selling activities and creating relationships with customers. Around 73% of them come from the adult population since the more corporate-driven younger generation is not interested in this type of job anymore. In addition, half of the respondents did not even reach the secondary level of education which made them settle with this type of job. Their source of capital mostly comes from credit for the four (4) commodities such as saltwater sardines (tamban), yellowfin tuna (tambakol), trevally (talakitok), and mackerel tuna (tulingan).
Most of the traders interviewed are female (57.14%) and 48.57% of these respondents are able to finish the college level. In terms of reliance on trading as source of income, 42.86% mentioned that they heavily rely here while the remaining respondents said that they have other sources of income including sari-sari store, apartment rental, online business, and fruits and vegetables stall, among others. Furthermore, the average number of years of the respondents in trading ranges from 6 to 10 years although there are still respondents who are already in this type of business for more than 25 years.
Truckers were responsible in the transportation and distribution of the fish products from the supply area to the demand areas in Luzon. All of them are male and 60% finished high school while the remaining 40% are college undergraduates or graduates. From Lucena City, they transport the marine products to different areas including Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Quezon City, Alabang, and Bicol among others.
For the wholesalers and retailers, most of them finished college and are already in the business for at least 11 years. This made them familiar with the operations and marketing. Also, most of them have other sources of income.
Upon analyzing the data collected, five (5) value chains were identified. The first and one of the most commonly used is the case where the fishermen directly sell their product to the end consumers. The second chain is from fishermen to the traders and then end consumers. Meanwhile, the other three (3) marketing chains identified were the ones that are also used by the key players. The first one include the fishermen, traders, wholesalers, retailers, and end consumers. On the other hand, the second one include the fishermen, retailers, and end consumers. Finally, the last chain includes all the key players from the fishermen, traders, truckers, wholesalers, retailers, and end consumers. Of all the value chains identified in the study, it was noted that the fifth one gives the most value to the fisherfolks. This chain incurs the highest total value added for all the key players in the distribution chain of marine capture fisheries products in Lucena, and was followed by the third, second, fourth and first chains, respectively.
As for the financial flow, it was noted that the fishermen’s profit ranges only from Php 0 to Php 10 per kilo. The traders imposed a Php 10 to Php 30 mark-up price per kilo while the wholesalers and retailers imposed a Php 10 to Php 100 mark-up price. Of all the players in the chain, wholesalers and retailers set the highest mark-up prices per kilo. Meanwhile, for the information flow, the market supply and demand as well as the prevailing prices are disseminated across the key players through the PFDA situated in Lucena City. Some interventions are also done by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The overall distribution and transportation system was evaluated based on the volume of spoilage, traveling time, and transportation cost incurred. The spoilage rate of the marine products is relatively high given that it accounts for Php 900,000 to Php 9,600,000 per year. On the other hand, the traveling hours using the unpaved roads are longer compared to that of the paved roads resulting to the marine products being in the road for a longer time. Lastly, the transportation cost incurred by the key player ranges from 3.89% to 19.43% relative to their selling prices which is quite efficient for tambakol, talakitok, and tulingan but not for tamban. However, if the transportation becomes more efficient, it can reduce the costs and the selling price of the products. Therefore, the distribution and transportation system of marine capture fisheries products in Lucena City is inefficient because of the high transportation cost amounting to Php 2,500 to Php 14,500 per week coupled with huge total loss amounting to Php 900,000 to Php 9,600,000 in a year.
After the survey and interviews were conducted, various problems by the fishermen were identified such as: 1) unstable prices due to seasonality of marine products; 2) trend of fish supply decline in the summer season; 3) traditional bulungan system due to information asymmetry, inefficiency, and sacrificed price uniformity among others; 4) low income generated; 5) limited access to capital; and 6) weak communication channel. As for the traders and truckers, problems experienced include the following: 1) poor road conditions; 2) traffic congestion; 3) high transportation cost; 4) underutilized postharvest facilities and equipment; and, 5) unpredictable weather conditions. Lastly, for the wholesalers and retailers, the problems identified were: 1) uncollected debt by the consumers; 2) high operating cost; and, 3) quality deterioration of the marine products.
Based on the problems encountered by the key players of the chain, various recommendations to be done by government, private sectors, and public-private partnerships were made to increase efficiency and profitability of all the key players especially the fishermen who are the backbone of the country’s fisheries sector. This includes the construction of paved roads from the fish ports to the markets, development and use of railway road system, provision of financial and technical assistance to the fishermen, securing fishing permits, and continuous provision of updates regarding the fisheries sector. Lastly, possible investment opportunities were determined such as engagement to transportation services, full utilization of the cold chain storage facility in the LFPC, and provision of services to mitigate the effects of climate change and other natural phenomena.
Language
English
LC Subject
Fishery Industry, Fishery products
Location
UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)
Call Number
LG 993 2018 M17 D35
Recommended Citation
Dalawampu, Fritz Jay T., "An Assessment of the Efficiency and Performance of the Distribution Chain of the Marine Capture Fisheries Products in Lucena Fish Port Complex, Lucena City" (2018). Undergraduate Theses. 12077.
https://www.ukdr.uplb.edu.ph/etd-undergrad/12077
Document Type
Thesis
Notes
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