SEARCA teams up with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in an IFAD-funded project on Rural Regional Transformation

By Maria Katrina R. Punto FANSSEA News

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR) - Chinese Academy of Sciences collaborate for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-funded project "Rural Regional Transformation: Pathways, Policy Sequencing, and Development Outcomes in China, the Philippines, and Vietnam." SEARCA will implement the Philippine component of the two-year project, while the China Center for Agricultural Policy (CCAP) of Peking University and the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD) will cover China and Vietnam, respectively. 

The project aims to provide recommendations for stronger and more equitable growth in sub-national regions of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam through rural transformations. To realize this objective, the project will identify the policy implications for other developing countries through cross-country comparisons and improve the capacity of participating organizations through their collaborative work in the project.

Five main outputs are expected to transpire from the project: (1) database on rural development and regional transformation in three countries established; (2) descriptive analysis and quantitative or spatially econometrical modeling developed; (3) a paper on typologies of rural regional transformation; (4) papers on the impacts of the policies based on quantitative analysis; and (5) policy briefs and policy impacts on the appropriate sequence of policies that could facilitate rural regional transformation and offer guidance on options towards achieving faster and more equitable growth of rural economy.

The Philippine Project Team is headed by Dr. Mercedita A. Sombilla, Assistant Secretary and Director of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Staff at the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). An inception meeting cum training will be held in Beijing, China on 4 to 6 November 2017 to officially kick-off the project and discuss the implementation activities among the three implementing institutions ― Peking University, SEARCA, and IPSARD. 

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