SEARCA and IFPRI partner with DA and DTI in the Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration Project

By Bernice Anne C. Darvin FANSSEA News

LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), together with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), will co-organize the fifth and final National Inception Workshop under the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-funded project, Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the ASEAN Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns. The inception workshop will be held at SEARCA, Los Baños, Laguna on 10-11 August 2017.

The national inception workshop will serve as a venue for participants to (1) gain good understanding of structural transformation and market integration as these relate to agricultural growth and food security in the Philippines; (2) level-off on what the project hopes to achieve and on the roles of various stakeholders; (3) identify promising commodities for regional and global value chains; and (4) develop a Country Action Plan towards the achievement of the Programme's outcome, which is enhanced capacity of ASEAN Member States (AMS) to identify and design national strategies, policies, programs, and national agrifood value chain investment initiatives that benefit small-scale rural producers (SSRPs).

Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya of the DTI will be welcoming the guests and participants, while Undersecretary Evelyn G. Laviña of the DA will deliver a message on behalf of Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol. Dr. Mercedita A. Sombilla, Assistant Secretary for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), will present the national perspective on Philippine agriculture, and the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 as these relate to agricultural transformation and market integration in the country. Other resource persons and panelists are from IFPRI, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) under the Department of Agriculture (DA), Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), NEXUS Agribusiness Solutions, Asian Farmers Association (AFA), and Asian Partnership for Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia (AsiaDHRRA). Other officials from the DA, DTI, IFPRI, and SEARCA, as well as representatives from the academe, the private sector, and farmers' organizations are expected to participate in the said workshop.

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