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World Phone: +66-8561151; Skype stevenshepley
E-mail: scshepley@yahoo.com
LinkedIn public profile: Dr. Steven Shepley
Dr. Shepley holds two doctorates (Quantum Physics at Bedfordshire University in the U.K. and Agricultural Economics at Pacific Western University in the U.S.A.) as well as a Master’s in Agricultural Engineering at Cairo University, in Egypt. He has served a wide range of clients, including the ADB, the World Bank, IFAD, AfD, Lux Development S.A., DANIDA, the EU and USAID. His country experience covers , Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Egypt, Jordan, Somalia, Togo, Myanmar, Haiti, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, Bhutan. Dr Shepley’s language skills cover English (Native), French (Fluent); Thai/Lao (Fluent); Vietnamese (Fluent); Italian/Latin (Fluent), Spanish/Portuguese (Average), Arabic (Basic), Bahasa Indonesia/Bhasa Malayu (Basic). The following sections provide an illustrative, selective sampling of Dr. Shepley’s many projects and activities over his career timeline.
Dr. Shepley brings to FoodWorks 40 years of uninterrupted professional world-wide experience in both the supply and demand sides of agricultural commercial development. His underpinning approach to strategic development of the agricultural sector is adaptive value chain remediation. This approach uses econometric modeling to define and identify a priori development and policy alternatives, followed by rigorous empirical application of selected models in the field. An illustrative recent example of this approach was applied to the commercial rice sub-sector in the Lao PDR.
Econometric modeling identified the major constraints in the rice sector . These were found to be:( i) the use of low quality and inadequate inputs by the farmers; (ii) poor farming practices and poor post-harvest handling by both farmers and millers. The project developed by Dr. Shepley targets the use of 21 randomly selected rice millers as tactical development hubs to link both the supply and demand sides of rice production. Participating rice millers provide quality inputs, credit and training to rice producers, allowing them to increase productivity, and to help them unblock the key constraints to rice production in Lao PDR. In return for investing their time and money in small farmers, millers receive project credit-financing support to improving milling facilities and equipment. Improved milling efficiency and higher quality rice further increases the amount of rice available in Khammouane, while enhancing profitability for farmers and millers with greater supply stability of high quality rice for consumers in both domestic and export markets. The project connected 21,361 smallholder rice households with the 21 rice mills during the project’s 23-month implementation period. Each of the 21 mills now markets Grade A quality rice in branded bags. Quality control and branding has given the project’s targeted millers a competitive marketing edge. Since they have become price makers rather than price takers, the miller guarantees the quality of the rice through branding. This advantage has enabled project millers to set their own prices in terms within a competitive marketing environment. The final project evaluation carried out by an independent external evaluator, using empirical methods, identified the following impacts from increased grain quality: Farmer productivity of HYV commercial rice increased 30 to 50% from improved seed application and cultural practices which optimized the marginal productivity of land, labour and capital resources. Mills are obtaining 9 to 14% gains in prices for quality milled rice Farmers are receiving a 10% gain in terms of premium prices with those mills accessing quality domestic and export markets. The Khammouane model developed by Dr. Shepley is now under replication in all three of Lao PDR’s major rice production provinces.
Dr Shepley began his development planning and management career with the US Agency for International Development as Programme Officer, responsible for the Agency’s programmes in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. For his achievements, President Lyndon Awarded Dr. Shepley USAID’s Superior Honour Award
During the course of his long career, Dr. Shepley has managed successful agricultural development enterprises across the world from the Middle East and Africa to South East Asia. In Egypt, Dr. Shepley, prepared and implemented a $US 200 million USAID loan for the rehabiliation of 37 Nile River Irrigation Pumping Stations and the reconstruction of 10,000 miles of primary, secondary and tertiary canals. In Jordan, Dr Shepley, prepared and managed a $US 400 million structural development loan to improve the marginal productivity of irrigation water resources and to strengthen regional agricultural marketing for the USAID-financed Jordan Valley Development Programme.
In the South and Southeast Asian Regions, Dr. Shepley established his own agricultural produce export firm in Thailand, marketing value added fruits, vegetables, sea food and meat products to Japan, the EU and North America
As Chief of Party of the World Bank-financed Tree Crop Processing Project, Dr. Shepley prepared and implemented a US$ 300 million loan for the establishment of 20 palm oil and 13 rubber processing plants, linked to small holder nuclear estates for value addition and marketing of Indonesia’s most import commercial agricultural products.
As Special Advisor to the ASEAN Organisation for Peace and Development AOPD), Dr. Shepley is responsible for investment project design, public-private partnership investment finance mobilization for the East West Economic Corridor countries of Myanmar and Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia . Projects include agribusiness, energy, sustainable eco-tourism, connectivity infrastructure and natural resources exploitation.
As value chain consultant to SDC/Mekong Institute, Dr. Shepley designed farmer to market linkage approaches, including contract farming PPP mechanisms for organising and strengthening vertically integrated supply chains between farmer groups and super markets. The produce involved in linking farmers to markets included horticultural and field crops, poultry, swine, small and large ruminants. The project assessed supply chain nodal constraints and designed remedial measures to alleviate bottlenecks, including training, improved packaging and handling, strengthening backward and forward linkages between the various value chain levels and post harvest improvements.
For IFAD in Cambodia, Dr. Shepley prepared econometric modeling of rice and livestock (poultry, fish, small ruminants, swine and large ruminants) based farming systems. Identified supply chain bottlenecks and proposed remedial measures. He designed and proposed measures to improve value added processing of Cambodia’s agricultural produce. He prepared supply chain analyses for rice, vegetables and livestock, food safety protection measures for agricultural produce (SPS, GAP, HCCAP, GMP, etc.), Dr. Shepley proposed measures to improve all aspects of post harvest handing and linking farmers to markets through contract farming and equity holding in vertically integrated supply chains. The project recommended strategies of SME agribusiness development at the communal level. Dr. Shepley’s inputs included an extensive review of rural infrastructural performance including irrigation and rural roads and irrigation systems and their impact on driving small holder commercial agriculture.
For the Asian Development Bank in Pakistan, Dr Shepley analyzed bottlenecks in produce supply chains and proposed remedial measures to reduce costs and raise profits at various nodes through reducing the numbers of intermediaries in the marketing chain, through introduction of damage resistant packaging, promoting and establishing director farmer to consumer retail markets to bi-pass inefficient wholesale marketing operations, and introduction of grades and standards such as Global Gap, GAP, GMP and SPS.
Dr. Shepleys busy schedule allows some, but little, latitude for dividing his time between his permanent base in Khon Kaen, Thailand and the various countries of his working assignments in the Southeast Asian and other regions.
