The Third Mekong Regional Land Forum on “Land tenure in Mekong forest landscapes: advancing the recognition of customary rights and responsible investment practices” took place online from 25 to 26 May 2021, organized by the Mekong Region Land Governance Project (MRLG) together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Land Portal.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is home to a large number of agribusinesses and forestry companies, making agriculture, including forestry and fisheries, an important sector for investment in ASEAN. FAO, Grow Asia and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) are collaborating to support the implementation of the ASEAN Guidelines on Promoting responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (ASEAN RAI) in a joint project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The three organizations presented their work on the second day of the Forum, which focused on how to manage and respond to patterns and practices of investment in Mekong forest landscapes and their effects on smallholders’ tenure security.

Setting the scene on responsible agricultural investment: Where from, where to go?

Grahame Dixie, Executive Director of Grow Asia, opened this day by setting the scene on responsible agricultural investment and how to engage with the private sector about it. He provided insights on the history and development of the ASEAN RAI, a regionally adapted roadmap towards better agricultural investments. The Guidelines were developed in 2017/18 at the request of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry with the objective to develop concrete guidelines based on the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI Principles) and adapted to the specific regional context of ASEAN.

The ASEAN RAI Guidelines as a regionally adapted roadmap towards responsible agricultural investment

These opening remarks were followed by a dedicated session on responsible agricultural investment in Mekong Forest Landscapes. Jana Herold, Associate Professional Officer at FAO, introduced the ASEAN RAI with a particular focus on Guideline 4 on Tenure Rights and Guideline 5 on Natural Resources. She emphasized that the idea of the ASEAN RAI is not to introduce a new concept. Rather, they can be seen as an umbrella that brings current initiatives, standards and certificates together and provides regional guidance to an existing landscape of standards.

Furthermore, she highlighted the importance of the different stakeholders involved in agricultural investments. While governments are key in applying the ASEAN RAI by aligning their national policies to this regionally approved framework, the private sector and civil society also play an important role in making RAI a reality on the ground. For the private sector, aligning their investment practices to the ASEAN RAI not only helps them to mitigate commercial and reputational risks. Eventually, it will help them in being prepared for a new policy landscape in which responsible investment practices will be required for license to operate. 

On the other hand, it is key to raise awareness among and strengthen capacities of civil society and local communities to enable their meaningful participation in related policy-making and investment processes. Hence, governments are essential in laying the foundation and creating an enabling environment for responsible agricultural investment. Yet, making responsible agricultural investment a reality in the ASEAN region is a joined effort of all stakeholders involved.​

Subsequently, two private sector companies from the region, Viet Nam Rubber Group and New Forests, presented their approach to responsible agricultural investment, followed by a panel discussion and breakout sessions on specific topics related to responsible agricultural investment.

Aligning legal and policy frameworks to the ASEAN RAI

IISD hosted a breakout session on the ASEAN RAI Alignment Assessment Tool, which was developed to support ASEAN Member States in assessing the extent to which their institutional, legal and policy frameworks are aligned with the ASEAN RAI.​

IISD highlighted that the Tool may be considered as a “non-exhaustive and illustrative checklist” of policy actions that could be taken to implement the ASEAN RAI, against which governments can score themselves. The Tool also provides for a peer-review process, which will help verify and validate the self-assessment result. The result will help governments to identify, prioritize, and implement new or existing reforms that give effect to the ASEAN RAI.

The Tool also benefits stakeholders outside the Government and policymakers. In particular, the Tool will help private sector with due diligence processes in making responsible investment decision, and can be used as an advocacy tool by civil society.

The participants of the breakout session shared experiences with similar instruments and provided insights about the challenges and results of related processes. The Tool itself is a “living document”, hence will benefit from future improvements based on lessons learnt from similar processes.

Lessons learned from the private sector

Grow Asia hosted a breakout session on case studies about agricultural investment in the Mekong region and the constraints private companies face.

The case studies demonstrated clear practical experience in Cambodia and Viet Nam of how companies with strong commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), including to the ASEAN RAI, could mitigate risks and realize long-term returns. These ASEAN RAI provide the basis for inclusive and Participatory Land Use Planning (PLUP) and Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). While responsible agricultural investment is gaining traction among investors, there remains a plethora of challenges to unlocking its full potential. The most prominent hurdle is the lack of sustainability policies at the local level to support and ensure a level playing field for businesses in adopting a responsible business conduct approach. On the other hand, change and returns will only materialize over a medium- to long-term horizon. As there is no one-size-fits-all approach to effective responsible investment, the discussion explored different pathways for companies to come up with innovative solutions to accelerate their responsible investment.

Main takeaways

The Mekong Regional Land Forum brought together a wide variety of participants not only from the Mekong region but also from across the world, including government officials, the private sector, academia, practitioners and civil society. It showed the importance of making the different stakeholders’ voices heard and providing them with clear tools to enhance responsible agricultural investments.

In the realm of the above-mentioned SDC-funded project on “Supporting the Implementation of the ASEAN RAI”, the implementing partners FAO, Grow Asia and IISD therefore take into account the diverse roles that the different stakeholder groups involved in agricultural investments play by focusing their activities on mainstreaming the ASEAN RAI through the actions of public, private and civil society actors at both national and regional levels. In doing so, the project aims to contribute to a measurable increase in the quantity and quality of responsible and sustainable private sector investment in ASEAN, thereby advancing the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

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Third Mekong Regional Land Forum: http://landportal.org/event/2021/04/3rd-mekong-regional-land-forum

Forum replay of the Third Mekong Regional Land Forum: https://landportal.org/event/2021/04/3rd-mekong-regional-land-forum/forum-replay

Further information on the ASEAN RAI and the SDC-funded project “Supporting the Implementation of the ASEAN RAI”: http://www.aseanraiguidelines.org

ASEAN RAI Alignment Assessment Tool Guidance: https://asean.org/asean-economic-community/asean-ministerial-meeting-on-agriculture-and-forestry-amaf/other-documents/asean-rai-alignment-assessment-tool-guidance/

The CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI Principles): http://www.fao.org/3/au866e/au866e.pdf

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC): http://www.fao.org/indigenous-peoples/our-pillars/fpic/en/

FAO: http://www.fao.org/in-action/responsible-agricultural-investments/en/

Grow Asia: https://www.growasia.org/

IISD: https://www.iisd.org/topics/food-and-agriculture