Background

Peru is the largest exporter of animal protein. Peru holds the most abundant fishery resource in the world: the Peruvian anchoveta. We Peruvians, however, have not yet rationalized its use in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.

This confirms the paradox that says:

Peru is the largest exporter of animal protein, yet it lives with hunger and malnutrition among its own population.

The problem

The quality of canned anchoveta produced in Peru is deficient. The shortfall is caused by failure to meet the basic requirements of food quality. The lack of quality removes any inclination to consume it in the domestic market. The Peruvian anchoveta is recognized as the bearer of the best animal protein available. The high nutritional value of its composition makes it a food source of the first order, with availability assured throughout the year. The quality shortfall of canned anchoveta originates in the nonconformity of the processes and procedures along the whole value-adding sequence. The problem becomes delicate when the nonconformities appear at the CCPs (critical control points) of highest risk within the process flow.

The problem could be stated thus:

Canned anchoveta could be consumed on a massive scale at every socioeconomic level in the country, if the nonconformities that prevent compliance with the food-quality requirements demanded by international standards are eliminated.

Nonconformities identified

Observed on the artisanal boats that fish anchoveta for direct human consumption (CHD)

Observed in canning plants that can anchoveta for direct human consumption (CHD)

• Use of non-selective fishing nets on a single boat that both catches and collects.
• Deficient lifting, and bulk loading of the catch into the hold of the Catch Boat.
• Loss of quality of the catch loaded in bulk into the hold of the Catch Boat.
• Absence of an effective method for preserving the quality of the catch.
• Deficient method of unloading the catch at the landing pier.
• Deficient method of transporting the catch from the pier to the canning plant.
• Ineffectiveness of quality control throughout the fish-canning process.
• Cross-contamination with fishmeal production processes.
• Absence of an effective quality-management system in the process flow.

Corrective actions defined

Applicable on artisanal boats that fish anchoveta for direct human consumption (CHD)

Applicable in canning plants that can anchoveta for direct human consumption (CHD)

• Design of the operation for the pair-fishing system (two boats).
• Design of a selective fishing net for the capture of anchoveta.
• Design of the process of setting and hauling the net on the Catch Boat.
• Design of the catch-preservation system. Cold chain.
• Design of the process of lifting the catch onto the Collection Boat.
• Design of the process of stowing the catch on the Collection Boat.
• Design of the process of landing the catch at the pier.
• Design of the process of resupplying the boats at the pier.
• Design of the process of transporting the catch from the pier to the plant.
• Design of labels and metal packaging exclusive to the project.
• Implementation of the FAO best practices for handling the catch.
• Implementation of the ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 quality standards.
• Implementation and certification of the ISO 22001:2018 food standard.

Proposed solution

1. The project team has carried out the root-cause analysis for each of the nonconformities identified. The conclusions of the RCA enabled us to predefine corrective actions that will be implemented in the value-adding sequence. The project will obtain international food-quality certification under the ISO 22001:2018 standard and the official FSVP (Foreign Supplier Verification Program) registration of the FDA, in conformity with the FSMA.

2. Construction of the canned anchoveta supply chain, which will be made up of four direct participants who will be called, invited, selected, and chosen by the project team:

   • The vessel owner of an artisanal boat that currently operates in the anchoveta fishery for direct human consumption (CHD).
   • The owner of a vessel of 70 to 75 feet in length, withdrawn from the industrial fishery.
   • The owner of a fish cannery in operation, a small or medium-sized enterprise.
   • The owner of a metal-packaging factory, a small or medium-sized enterprise.

   The four participants take part in decision-making for the management of the project. They will be linked by a strategic alliance under the joint-venture model. Distribution of benefits in direct proportion to the contribution to the direct cost of producing the product.

3. The supply chain will work, as a priority, to increase and consolidate the product’s share of the domestic market. It will design and conduct a strategy to promote consumption of the canned anchoveta product. In the first instance, through the known and existing distribution channels. In the second instance, giving priority to the new sales network that will be created, under the commitment to deliver to the end consumer “a natural, healthy, safe, nutritious, and wholesome food, at a price that everyone will be able to pay.”

The objective

The objective of the project is to contribute in a real, efficient, and effective way to the reduction of hunger, malnutrition, and anemia in the most vulnerable social groups, made up of children of primary-school age, adolescents at secondary level, and pregnant mothers who, because of their condition of poverty, pass on to their unborn children the effects produced by the lack of food.

The project is in essence a model of social and food development. In our case, the term model means “sample” or “working example.” It has been created to be easily replicated. It is the result of an assembly of various applications of adaptive innovation. It is scalable, replicable, and sustainable; it will use existing assets and infrastructure; it does not require large investments; its implementation and operation do not depend on political decisions; it can be put into operation in a short time; it is extremely friendly to the environment; it is inspired by principles and values of human solidarity; it will have as consumers every segment of our population; and, finally, it will be a highly profitable business.

The project will be operated through an operations-management system that will continually improve the quality of the processes and products, within the value-adding sequence. It will maintain the highest quality of performance as a business model. The project introduces the FAO guidelines for the responsible handling of the catch, throughout the stages of capture, collection, and transport to the pier.

At the manufacturing stage, the quality requirements of the Codex Alimentarius standard will be applied. In addition, international food-quality certification will be obtained under the ISO 22001:2018 standard. Finally, the FSVP (Foreign Supplier Verification Program) registration of the FDA will be obtained, following the FSMA regulation on the safety of imported foods that will be consumed in the USA. These certifications will become the “seals of quality assurance” for the foreign consumers of the products made by the project.

Strengths

1. First strength: the idea that gave rise to this project began to be developed in 2017. The model we have applied has important points in common with the conceptual basis of the framework published in 2019 by IFAD, under the title: “Nutrition-Sensitive Value Chains from a Smallholder Perspective: A Framework for Project Design.” Isabel de la Peña, James Garrett, and Aulo Gelli.

   Spanish rendering: “Cadenas de valor sensibles a la nutrición desde una perspectiva de pequeños propietarios: un marco para el diseño de proyectos.” Isabel de la Peña, James Garrett, and Aulo Gelli.

   IFAD summarizes that document as follows:

   In sum, the framework has been validated technically as well as operationally, and we expect it can be useful for development organizations as well as governments that are interested in designing and implementing Value Chain projects that also work to improve nutrition of project beneficiaries. From a development and poverty reduction perspective, a Value Chain approach is an analytical framework through which to consider the elements of the chain as a whole.

   Spanish rendering: “En resumen, el marco ha sido validado técnica y operacionalmente, y nosotros esperamos que pueda ser de utilidad para las organizaciones de desarrollo, como también para los gobiernos que estén interesados en diseñar e implementar proyectos para cadenas de valor que trabajen para mejorar la nutrición de los beneficiarios del proyecto. Desde una perspectiva de desarrollo y reducción de la pobreza, un modelo de cadena de valor es un marco analítico a través del cual se considera a los elementos de la cadena como un todo.”

   A comparative analysis between the project and the framework prepared by IFAD shows that the project is the best proposal for giving material form to the conceptual basis developed in the IFAD framework. We must point out, however, that our research predates IFAD’s.

2. Second strength: the abstract of our project has been accepted in the current call of the FSN Forum. We assume that this acceptance is due, precisely, to the points it has in common with the contents of the three sets of recommendations that gave rise to the FSN Forum call.

   The three sets of recommendations are:

   1. Inclusion of small stakeholders.
   2. Access of the stakeholders to the market.
   3. Sustainability of the project.

   The project had already considered, before IFAD’s publication, the concepts set out within the three sets of recommendations of the IFAD framework.

   The first set proposes the inclusion of smallholders (stakeholders) in the formation of value chains. The project includes four smallholders: an artisanal fishing vessel owner, a vessel owner of a vessel withdrawn from the industrial fishery, the owner of a small canning plant that is in operation, and the owner of a small or medium-sized enterprise that manufactures food metal packaging.

   The second set of recommendations proposes that the participating smallholders have direct access to the market. The project considers the formation of a joint venture that will allow the four participants to take part in joint decision-making for the management of the whole chain. In addition, under the joint-venture model, the four participants will have access to the profits.

   The third set of recommendations establishes the condition that the value chain be sustainable as a business. The project rests on the assured availability of anchoveta as raw material. The supply of the anchoveta resource, when it is caught selectively, becomes permanent and sustainable. The only limitation on the supply of raw material to the plant will occur in the pre-spawning periods (gravid) and during spawning itself.

   At the other end of the chain, demand for canned anchoveta as the project’s final product is expected to increase immediately after consumers appreciate the value attributes that have been added to the product, such as quality, fitness for use, and guaranteed food safety.

3. Third strength: this is, without any doubt, the most important. Our pre-feasibility study is an application of technological innovation, supported by current science and technology, built on the founding ideas of an earlier project, prepared in the decade of the 1970s. The original edition of our project was called the Sarveta Project (a combination of the words sardine and anchoveta).

   That project was part of the Comprehensive Fisheries Study (Estudio Integral de la Pesca), prepared by CRC (Corporación de Racionalización y Consultoría). Consulting firms from the United States, Canada, and Europe took part in its preparation, such as Arthur D. Little, Tudor Engineering, ABS (American Bureau of Shipping), Rados Western Corporation, Vickers Hydraulic Equipment, MARCO (Marine Construction) of Seattle, Bluenose Fishing Nets, and Electronic ELAC (Electronic for Acoustic Detection), among many other consulting firms and suppliers of fishing equipment and machinery. It is important to note that the project had the technical assistance of Norwegian, Swedish, English, and Irish fishery experts, who were assigned to the project full time by the FAO Office in Peru.

   During the stages of validation and of checking the project’s assumptions, a metal-hulled vessel, of 65 feet in length, which had been withdrawn from the industrial fishery, was fitted out in order to carry out anchoveta capture tests using a selective fishing net. The vessel was named “Sarveta.” Under the direction of the FAO fishery experts, a selective fishing net was designed and assembled for the capture of anchoveta at its maximum size and development.

   The fishing results with the net were validated and verified. The report of the FAO expert who conceived, designed, built, and tested it defined it as “an effective tool for selective anchoveta fishing.”

   The Sarveta project was to operate at the La Puntilla Fishing Complex, in Pisco. Against all expectations, the Sarveta Project was abandoned for reasons we do not know. The Sarveta project was never put into operation, even though its evaluation recommended its implementation. In 1973, at the School of Economic Engineering of the UNI, a thesis was prepared that demonstrated the full feasibility of the project.

   Our updated version is a systemic model designed for the application of the method proposed in the OMBOK of APICS, for operations management centered on supply-chain management, which is operated through process management.

   The new version has taken up the fundamental part of the scientific and technological research carried out for the original version. An adaptation of the technology currently in force has been made, in order to innovate upon the earlier one. The process-flow diagram of this new version has been redesigned and updated, in order to use equipment, tools, and materials of the current technological generation.

   The implementation and the operation of the project involve no risk at all. Putting it into operation will mark the beginning of the solution to the effects caused by hunger and malnutrition in the country, together with the relaunch of a national fish-canning industry that will know and apply international standards of food quality and food safety as mandatory requirements in the production of food.

Positive impacts

The project will generate disruptive positive impacts in the various sectors of the productive activity of the fishing sector, with greater emphasis on the artisanal fishery and on small and medium-sized canning industry. The positive impacts of greatest relevance will be seen in the following fields:

• Scientific: it reorients research on the anchoveta as a food resource of quality, and no longer of quantity.
• Technological: it introduces methods of capture and handling of the catch applied in the developed countries.
• Industrial: it relaunches the national canning industry by supplying it with raw material on a permanent basis.
• Food: it effectively reduces the effects produced by hunger, malnutrition, and childhood anemia.
• Ethical: it rationalizes the use of anchoveta as healthy and nutritious food for the benefit of the population.
• Moral: it orders the use of the anchoveta catch quota assigned to direct human consumption (CHD), eliminating illegal fishing, or pesca negra (clandestine fishing).
• Social: it generates permanent jobs, giving the highest priority to the employment of women.
• Labor: it reduces the randomness of the work of artisanal fishers, making the fishing schedulable.
• Environmental: it restores to the anchoveta its natural right to remain alive in order to grow and reproduce.
• Academic: it opens new fields of professional specialization to fisheries and food engineering.
• Economic: the greater value added to the anchoveta makes it profitable, exportable, and a generator of foreign exchange.
• Popular: the family-size can of 1 kilogram net of anchoveta will feed five people, at an “affordable” price.