The workshop took place on Wednesday and was chaired by the Deputy Director-General of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), Dr Chanhsamone Phongoudome, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) representative in Hanoi, Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Thanh Tung. The objective of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for NARDT country stakeholders to discuss and gain a better understanding of NARDT’s mandate, project organisational structure, technical design and operational mechanism to achieve the overall objective of the project.
The country-level project comprises state research institutions in Laos that carry out research on agriculture and rural development as core partners along with civil society organisations.
Agricultural production in the sub-region in general and specifically in Laos has improved in recent years. But there continue to be many difficulties due to poor resources, low labour productivity, slow growth and the widening development gap between urban and rural areas. Furthermore, natural disasters and disease outbreaks among animals, such as African swine fever, have led to huge losses, Dr Chanhsamone said. Laos is underdeveloped in agriculture and forestry as well as rural development and needs good policy formulations to push development, even as neighbouring countries such as Vietnam are experiencing new rural development and agriculture commercialisation, he added. This project can benefit from the experiences of neighbouring countries through cooperation in the Mekong sub-region. They can exchange and share good practices in agricultural and rural development through extensive policy advisory networks of not only government agencies but also of non-governmental organisations and the private sector. With the help of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and active coordination between the Mekong sub-region countries, this project will help improve the effectiveness of policies in the sub-region. At the same time, this can help strengthen partnerships and promote the development of effective and responsible trade and investment between countries for agricultural and rural development, said Dr Chanhsamone.
By sharing knowledge, advocacy activities and capacity building for organisations and individuals that do policy research, joint research and policy dialogues could be held to address development issues in the region, and a specific policy can be formulated for the Lao context, he added. The NARDT objectives are to improve cooperation through the establishment of researcher networks, to share policy experience and information towards sustainable agriculture and rural development, to identify regional opportunities, challenges and key issues in agriculture and rural development, to implement joint policy actions, and facilitate the institutionalisation of relevant innovations. The project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The NARDT network includes the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, Myanmar’s Centre for Economic and Social Development, Laos’ National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, and the Cambodia Development Resource Institute.
Information source: Vientiane Times.
