ATMI-ASEAN Project to conduct National Inception Workshop in Lao PDR

By Bernice Anne C. Darvin FANSSEA News

VIENTIANE, LAO PDR. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of Lao PDR, will conduct the fourth 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, in Vientiane on 22-23 June 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 of Vietnam; (2) consult various stakeholders – the AMS, CSOs/farmers' organizations, the private sector, research institutions regarding implementation of research project on ATMI; (3) identify promising commodities for regional and global value chains; and (4) develop Country Action Plan towards the achievement of the Programme's outcome, which is enhanced capacity of the AMS to identify and design national strategies, policies, programs, and national agrifood value chain investment initiatives that benefit small-scale rural producers (SSRPs).

Mr. Vilaysouk Khennavong, Director-General of the Department of Agriculture (DOA), MAF, will welcome the participants. Mr. Pattivong Soulivanh, Country Programme Officer of IFAD-Asia and the Pacific in Lao PDR will also deliver a message.

Dr. Pramod Kumar Joshi, IFPRI Director for South Asia will discuss the project and its deliverables, while Dr. Bessie M. Burgos, Program Head of the Research and Development Department of SEARCA will explain the workshop's mechanics. Representatives from IFAD, IFPRI, SEARCA, MAF, and the National University of Laos (NUOL), as well as the private sector and farmers' organizations will participate in the inception workshop.

The National Inception Workshop will discuss the current situation of Lao PDR's agricultural sector, with focus on the country's agricultural trade and value chains. Dr. Silinthone Sacklokham, Vice Dean and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Agriculture, NUOL, will present the national perspective on Laotian agriculture and the country's Draft Action Plan for implementing the project in Lao PDR. Dr. Phanpradith Phandara, Director of the Planning and Cooperation Division, DOA-MAF, serves as the project's focal person for Lao PDR.

The inception workshop is part of a series of activities to be conducted under the ATMI-ASEAN project to tackle agricultural transformation and market integration in Southeast Asia.

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