Attapeu Province, 2 August 2024 - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Attapeu Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO) jointly organized the final project workshop on 2 August 2024, at Attapeu PAFO Meeting Hall. This event was conducted under the “Building Climate-Resilient and Eco-friendly Agriculture Systems and Livelihoods” (Climate REAL) project, which is a part of the Integrated Programme for Climate Resilience and Empowerment in Attapeu Province (IPCREA), funded by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

This final workshop brought together all relevant stakeholders to (1) present and showcase the project achievements including good practices and proven approaches introduced by the project; (2) discuss lessons learnt, challenges and solutions; and (3) present the project exit strategy and areas for continued institutional support, while strengthening it with the feedback from the stakeholders. 

During the final workshop, Mr. Khamboun Duangpabang , Vice Provincial Governor of Attapeu as the chair acknowledged that the project was formulated and implemented since August 2020 to enhance the climate resilience of the Government of Lao PDR and the Attapeu community, particularly those affected by the flooding in 2018. He highlighted that the ultimate goals were to make people’s lives better than before the disaster, through improvements in agriculture productivity, climate resilient farming practice, skills development, and disaster risk management in line with the Government agriculture development priorities. He expressed that without the technical support from FAO and financial contribution from KOICA, the livelihoods of those living in the target areas would hardly be lifted.

Ms. Kyung-Mee Kim, FAO Representative to Lao PDR, as the co-chair of the final workshop, highlighted that Climate REAL was designed specifically to boost small-scale agribusiness through inclusive value chains while supporting the communities to improve and sustainably manage water access, land use and soil quality. She also said the project was able to strengthen local government and communities’ capacities for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector, reducing vulnerability and strengthening disaster preparedness. Ms. Kim expressed her appreciation to all relevant government counterparts for their leadership and dedication for the work of FAO in Attapeu province during the project period to good results and success. She also appreciated generous funding from KOICA.

The project was successfully implemented in 31 target villages of three districts of Attapeu province (Samakhixay, Saysettha, and Sanamxay districts), in close collaboration with central and local government agencies. Despite some delays at the beginning of project implementation due to COVID-19, 2,641 farming households (including 307 model farmers) and 181 government officials and village authorities have benefited from the project interventions. Indirectly, Climate REAL project benefitted 7,873 households, approximately 37,091 people in 31 villages through community infrastructure and capacity building, and approximately 235 government officers at national and local level through capacity building.

The final project workshop was attended by Ms. HangThiThanh Pham, FAO Lead Technical Officer (Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific - RAP), Dr. Soulaphone Inthavong, Deputy Director General of Department of Planning and Cooperation of MAF, representatives from various government divisions including District Governors of Samakhixay, Saysettha, Sanamxay, Sanxay and Phouvong, representatives from KOICA, and model farmers on rice production, vegetable production, fish production and watermelon production.

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