Civil conflicts and the December 2004 tsunami have impeded the development of local fruit germplasm despite the inherent high quality and potential of Aceh’s fruit germplasm. Most of Aceh communities are composed of small scale farmers with land ownership averaging from 0.25 to 4 ha per capita; they plant various trees species (fruits, rubber, cocoa, etc.) in a mixed-tree based system (agroforestry) with extensive management. In Aceh' village markets most fruit is produced by local farmers.

Vegetable production has an increasing importance in most of the Asian countries. The leader in production per capita is China followed by South Korea, North Korea and Vietnam. In Vietnam, vegetable production is at the moment on 4th place of all agricultural commodities. In the past, in Vietnam as in other South-East-Asian countries, the production of rice, sugar cane, cassava and maize often as monoculture was typical.

The social and economic consequences of horticultural product food losses from farm to the consumer remain unacceptably high. In developing countries postharvest losses compromise food security, income generation and poverty alleviation for millions of families. In developed countries substantial product losses result in economic losses to supply chain participants and reduced supplies of healthy products into international markets.