GACSA and ASEAN-CRN contributing to the Regional Conference on Food Security “Let’s get to work. Building a food secure future”, organized by Vietnam and the Netherlands (Hanoi, Viet Nam, 22-23 March 2017)

 Ms. Mi Nguyen, Co-Chair of GACSA, and Mr. Marwan Ladki, Expert in Sustainable Agriculture at the GACSA Facilitation Unit, participated in the South-East Asia Regional Conference on Food Security “Let’s get to work.  Building a food secure future”, held on 22-23 March 2017 in Hanoi, Viet Nam, upon invitation of the Governments of Viet Nam and the Netherlands, two members of GACSA. 

This report details their contributions to this regional dialogue.

GACSA’s participation and support in this regional conference was part of its commitment to strengthen dialogue and linkages with regional stakeholders, especially regional CSA alliances and networks.

GACSA, jointly with the ASEAN Climate Resilient Network (ASEAN-CRN, regional CSA network in South-East Asia), supported in organizing the Working Group on CSA - one of the four key topics of the conference along with food losses, sustainable aquaculture, and food safety.  This working group, moderated by GACSA, included a panel of representatives from key partners of GACSA, namely FAO, CCAFS/IRRI, the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture & Rural Development (IPSARD) of Vietnam, and the Asian Farmers Association (AFA) through the Vietnam National Farmers’ Union (VNFU). 

Panel discussion stressed the need to improve coordination at all levels (global, regional, national, local), among diverse stakeholders (governments, farmers, research, CSOs, etc.), and across sectors (crop production, fishery and aquaculture, livestock) to improve coherence and avoid duplication in scaling up CSA. A series of “Food Security Deals” on CSA have also been developed by participants during, and after, the Working Group on CSA, from scientific cooperation to operational project implementation on the ground. 

The final communiqué of the conference is stressing, inter alia, "The need to support an inclusive and multi-stakeholder approach to CSA development in Asia, building on existing regional networks”. The final communiqué is available here.

Regional Workshop on “Effective Climate-Information Services for Agriculture”, organized by ASEAN-CRN in Cebu, Philippines (21-23 March 2017)

The ASEAN Member States (AMS) have identified Climate Information Services (CIS) for agriculture as a priority practice for collaboration and scaling-up in their efforts to promote climate resilience in agriculture in ASEAN. In that respect, the ASEAN-Climate Resilience Network (ASEAN-CRN) has organized a regional workshop on “Effective Climate-Information Services for Agriculture in ASEAN” in Cebu, Philippines, on 21-23 March 2017. The objective was to generate actionable learnings and collaboration which participants can use to promote the effective provision of CIS for agriculture in ASEAN.

For more information on the content of the workshop follow this link.

For more information on the outcomes of the workshop.

Additional resources: “Vietnam gears up for expanding their agricultural insurance program”

ASEAN-CRN concluded its support project to Viet Nam to field-test a stress tolerant variety of rice to adapt to climate change

Supporting farmers in adapting to climate change and at the same time contribute to their livelihoods and protect the environment, was the goal of a small pilot project in Cambodia, initiated by the ASEAN Climate Resilience Network (ASEAN-CRN), which has now successfully concluded.

For more information on the project click here.

GACSA and WBCSD participated in the Regional Workshop on Developing ASEAN Public-Private Partnership Framework for Technology Development in the Agriculture Sector (Siem Reap, Cambodia, 15 May 2017)

The Workshop on Public-Private Partnership Framework for Technology Development in the Agriculture Sector was held on 15 May 2017 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The Workshop was attended by representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the ASEAN Secretariat. The Workshop was also attended by representatives from GIZ, FAO/RAP, USAID, CropLife Asia and USABC, WBCSD, and GACSA. 

The overall objective of the ASEAN PPP Regional Framework for Technology Development in the Agriculture Sector (TDAS) is to increase collaborative investments in sustainable technology adoption in the FAF sector (Food, Agriculture and Forestry) in ASEAN, through private-sector participation in technology development and dissemination in agriculture value chain, as well as the dissemination of respective technologies.  

GACSA’s objective in participating in this meeting is to foster cooperation between GACSA members, especially the WBCSD, and ASEAN-CRN and its members, in developing this PPP framework. 

Third Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Climate Resilience Network (Siem Reap, Cambodia, 16 May 2017) 

ASEAN-CRN, chaired by the Department of Agriculture of Thailand, has convened its third Annual Meeting, hosted by the Cambodia Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The objective was to review its accomplishments and contributions to the Strategic Plan of the ASEAN Food Agriculture and Forestry Cooperation Vision (FAF) 2025, and more importantly to agree on a way forward to continue to advance climate change related responses in the context of recent developments (NDCs, Paris Agreement, mitigation, SBSTA, landscape approach, other land-use sectors, global alliance, PPPs). 

This meeting aimed at further developing the Work Plan 2017-2020 of ASEAN-CRN, based on support from international development agencies and national stakeholders, and drawing from the initial ASEAN CRN Bali Action Plan 2015-2017. 

The event was hosted by the Cambodia Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and organized by GIZ through the Forestry and Climate Change (FOR-CC) project of the ASEAN-German Programme on Response to Climate Change (GAP-CC), and in close cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC). 

The event brought together focal points of the ASEAN Technical Working Group on Agriculture and Research Development (ATWGARD), representatives from ASEAN Ministries of Agriculture and development partners who are working with or would like to collaborate with the ASEAN-CRN. 

GACSA was invited to participate, to foster cooperation between GACSA (and its members) and ASEAN-CRN (and its members). GACSA and ASEAN-CRN are currently working on developing joint activities for the ASEAN region, to be considered in the upcoming Work Plan 2017-2020 of ASEAN-CRN.

For more information, contact ASEAN-CRN: [email protected] / [email protected]