Iran Rural Cooperatives Are on the Path to the Sustainable and Smart Supply Value Chain
The increasing variability of food markets and crops along with the consumers' demands of the metropolitans has made rural cooperatives attain more flexibility.
Iran's agricultural sector is a very competitive space, therefore the efficiency and effectiveness of the supply chain in the agricultural cooperatives, unions, and holdings is a very critical aspect. Today enhancing fair trade practices is dependent upon coordinated data circulation among the production and trade sector as well as an integrated agricultural value chain.
The increasing variability of food markets and crops along with the consumers' demands of the metropolitans has made rural cooperatives attain more flexibility. It has proven that the way of reaching cost advantage is not to produce high volume crops; rather it depends on the management of the supply value chain in the very nature of the local economy.
A food agricultural supply chain includes all the stakeholders that involve in the production, processing, packaging, marketing, retailing, and consumption. All these components comply with good governance. A responsive supply value chain (RSC) refers to a competitive strategy that focuses on product information, traceability, and food quality by considering the tripartite facets of social, environmental, and economic resiliency of the crops. The success of a sustainable supply chain depends on the participatory leadership viewpoints, improving the social and economic of trader and producers. However, the main point is full-cost accounting that is a strategic necessity. The costs of the supply chain include the costs of production, purchasing, weight loss, subordinate costs, transportation, and processing. Unfortunately, all the mentioned costs in the rural cooperative network are very high, due to the inefficient international bargaining and negotiations, lack of branding, lack of financing, debts, and lack of mortgages in the banking relations and the bullwhip effect[1].
The survey of Iran's agricultural value chain proves that there is a tight relationship between innovations and the production of safe crops. Meanwhile, supporting the dynamicity and variability of the rural economy should be accompanied by respect for agricultural biodiversity, high standard crops, low energy consumption, professional health, farmers 'welfare, timely and logical production, and distribution.
Unfortunately, the agricultural sector has been searching for logical and sustainable crop patterns for many years, while the management of a sustainable supply chain is dependent upon many factors including a planned survey of the production resources, certificated cropping, food security and immunity, correct market factor evaluating, appropriate supply policies, improving facilitators' and farmers' knowledge, detecting emerging markets, good transportation system, marketing, and public relations.
Today, both the CORC and the network of the rural cooperatives should revise the management of the supply chain in the light of sustainable development, social change, urban and rural social well-being.
Having a sustainable cropping pattern required to apply marketing and non-marketing policies to satisfy the agricultural community. The cropping pattern should not be designated as a mere technical aspect. Having a smart sustainable supply chain requires giving appropriately agricultural input and loans, provide correct and timely mechanization service, and reinforce partnerships in the farmers' community through appropriate institualization.
* H.Shirzad: Agriculture-Jihad Deputy Minister and Chairman of the Board of the Central Organization for Rural Cooperatives of Iran (CORC)
Notes:
[1] The distorted information from one end of a supply chain to the other end can lead to tremendous inefficiencies: excessive inventory investment, poor customer services, lost revenues .misguided capacity plans, ineffective transportation, and missed production scheme. Translator's Note.
Source: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-bullwhip-effect-in-supply-chains/