NAARAP

Check out Experts call for research on adapting plants to global warming

2010-08-17T16:01:00.001+08:00

ICRISAT calls for research on adapting plants to global warming

Agrobiodiversity Initiative Helps Sarawak Farmers Cope With Climate Change

2010-08-17T15:54:00.001+08:00

Source: Bernama.com Malaysian National News Agency

August 16, 2010 15:07 PM

By Caroline Jackson

KUCHING, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Sarawak stands to benefit from more economic opportunities with the use of agrobiodiversity by indigenous farmers and rural communities in order to cope with the climate change, said State Agriculture Research Centre Semenggok Senior Research Officer Jean Teo G.K.

She said the agrobiodiversity initiative was developed by the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research.

The large number of rice varieties still cultivated by a great number of farmers represented a rich opportunity for Sarawak and its farming communities by providing livelihood options through social, economic and ecological opportunities and have helped improve both environmental and community resilience. (For full article, click here)

Agriculture sector plays vital role in food security, poverty reduction: Minister

2010-08-17T11:07:00.001+08:00

Agriculture sector plays vital role in food security, poverty reduction: Minister

Italian companies keen to invest in agriculture in Pakistan

2010-06-28T14:34:00.001+08:00

Italian companies keen to invest in agriculture

Prelate tells Noynoy to prioritize food production - Nation - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

2010-06-22T11:12:00.000+08:00

Prelate tells Noynoy to prioritize food production - Nation - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

Organic Livestock and Poultry Farming in the Philippines

2010-05-21T16:01:00.000+08:00

ANGOC and its partners in the advocacy of the Organic Act in the Philippines were featured in the online version of Agribusinessweek last October 2009. Read on...

Is India Ready For Genetically Modified Foods? - India Currents

2010-05-14T10:10:00.000+08:00

Is India Ready For Genetically Modified Foods? - India Currents

Scientists ID bacterial genes to improve food and biofuel production

2010-05-14T10:03:00.000+08:00

Noynoy’s green agenda - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

2010-05-13T10:01:00.001+08:00

Noynoy’s green agenda - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Greenpeace and EcoWaste Coalition in the Philippines released the six presidential candidates’ answers to the 2010 Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) questionnaire and gave overall rankings based on the candidates’ stand on environmental issues such as climate change, solid waste, chemical pollution and consumer safety, sustainable agriculture
and genetically engineered crops, water, forests, nuclear power, mining, etc.

Click on the link above to read the answers of Philippine President-in-waiting Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Bangladeshi Agri Minister urges scientists to protect agriculture from Climate change impacts

2010-05-06T09:36:00.000+08:00

The New Nation

May 6, 2010
BSS, Dhaka

Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury on Wednesday called upon the agricultural scientists and experts to work together with total devotion to save the agriculture of the country from the wrath of climate change.

The minister made this call while addressing at the inaugural session of two- day International workshop on building climate resilient agriculture in Asia as the chief guest here on Wednesday morning.

"We need to develop many more varieties with higher saline and drought tolerance level. We have to develop more such varieties side by side raising the area coverage of rice cultivation in the coastal region need to combat against the effects triggered by climate change," said the minister at the function organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India with support from the Asian Development Bank(ADB).

More http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2010/05/06/news0294.htm

GM Biofuels: Another Planned Disaster By Rady Ananda

2010-05-06T09:17:00.001+08:00

GM Biofuels: Another Planned Disaster By Rady Ananda

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RP to get P23-billion yen loan from JICA | The Philippine Star News Business

2009-11-25T17:53:00.000+08:00

RP to get P23-billion yen loan from JICA | The Philippine Star News Business

What it takes to be a Rice leader

2009-11-16T15:46:00.000+08:00

by Lyn Resurreccion, Science Editor
Business Mirror, Manila, Philippines
November 15, 2009

BANGKOK—Good government policy and research. These are the main ingredients that make Thailand the world’s current top rice exporter, a Thai rice executive said.

“We have the prime minister, even our king, promoting rice. It is very important. Every government [official] is interested in rice,” Chairit Damrongkiat, deputy director general of the Rice Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of a media seminar in Bangkok conducted by Syngenta and attended by 22 journalists from Asia.

He said the king himself presides at the annual royal rice ceremony.

Damrongkiat noted that Thai farmers learn a lot on rice technology because they have experts who have doing researches in the past years.
“Now we have a lot of good variety of rice, so we can select the best one. Our department has released about 75 varieties but we still have a lot of local varieties, more than 4,000, which we use for niche market, for consumer and for nutrition,” Damrongkiat said.

He said his country has about 200 rice experts.

The world’s top rice exporter, Thailand exported 10 million tons (MT) of rice in 2008, or 33.8 percent of the world’s total of 29.6 MT. It is followed by Vietnam (4.6 MT, or 11.5 percent), other countries (4.5 MT, or 15.5 percent), India (3.3 MT, or 11.2 percent), the US (3.2 MT, or 10.8 percent), Pakistan (3 MT, or 10.1 percent) and China (0.9 MT, or 3 percent), he said in his presentation in the media seminar.

Saying, “Thailand is feeding the world,” Damrongkiat said it has been exporting to more than 150 countries in the past 28 years.

The world’s production of rice in 2008 is 445.6 MT. Of this, China was the top producer with 134.3 MT or 30.1 percent, followed by India, 99.1 MT (22.2 percent); other countries 93.08 MT (20.9 percent); Indonesia, 38.2 MT (8.6 percent); Bangladesh, 31 MT (7 percent); Vietnam, 24.4 MT (5.5 percent) and Thailand, 23.2 MT (5.2 percent).

On the other hand, the Philippines has become the world’s top rice importer. Damrongkiat said Thailand exports to the Philippines an estimated 1.8 million tons of rice annually. Manila last year bought a record 2.54 million tons (2.3 million metric tons [MMT]) of rice to plug a 10-percent domestic production gap, the Associated Press said. The rice crisis spiked the price of rice worldwide, and reached P40 a kilo in the Philippines.

The Philippines’ situation is made worse by the damage caused by Typhoon Ondoy and three other typhoons that damaged 13 percent of the targeted national rice production in the fourth quarter of the year. The country is importing 850,000 MMT to beef up its stock in the first half of 2010.

What is ironic is that many of Thailand’s rice experts studied from the rice research centers in the Philippines, such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), University of the Philippines in Los Baños or the Central Luzon State University (CLSU), he said.

(Read more at http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/18554-what-it-takes-to-be-rice-leader.html)

Agricultural Research for Development in Asia and the Pacific - The Way Ahead (APAARI-GFAR-ADB)

2009-10-30T17:51:00.000+08:00

The face-to-face meeting of the Asia Pacific region is taking place on October 30 and 31, 2009 at Bangkok’s Intercontinental hotel (Read the concept note that represents the baseline for the upcoming discussions). Some NAARAP members are invited to to the F2F meeting in Bangkok including ANGOC, SARRA and Devarao Shevaram Trust.

The joint initiative of APAARI, GFAR and ADB, building on the outcome of the recently concluded very successful regional E-Consultation (see summary), will ensure that the proposed Face-to-Face (F2F) Consultation in Bangkok, involving all relevant stakeholders would seek as to what specific changes are needed in the agricultural research, extension and education systems to render them more effective in contributing towards development processes that benefit especially the poor.

The 4 main objectives of the meeting areas follows:

Examine the extent to which development demands and associated research needs identified from the regional review and E-Consultation truly capture the key regional needs for delivering greatest development impacts for the poor.
Identify a set of researchable themes to address the needs of various categories of farmers, especially the smallholders and resource-poor in the medium- and long-term.
Suggest policy options to complement the research efforts to synergistically address development needs.
Assess whether the themes highlighted in the CGIAR Strategy document match with the aspirations of the region and suggest creation and management of linkages and synergies between the emerging aims of the CGIAR Consortium and the realities of the innovation pathways in the region.

Further information can be seen at: http://www.apaari.org/face-to-face-meeting/

The Importance of Indigenous/Traditional Knowledge in Agriculture

2009-10-06T03:55:00.000+08:00

Indigenous / Traditional knowledge is the knowledge that people in a given community have developed over time, and continue to develop. It is based on the experience, often tested over centuries of use, adapted to local culture and local environment, dynamic and changing.

Indigenous knowledge is not confined to tribal groups or the original inhabitants of an area of any country. It is not even confined to rural people rather. Any community possesses indigenous knowledge, Rural or Urban. This is also called “Local Knowledge” and “Traditional Knowledge”.

People have an intimate knowledge of many aspects of their surroundings and their daily lives. Over centuries people have learnt how to grow food and preserve and to survive in difficult environments. They know what varieties of crops to plant, when to sow and weed, which plants are poisonous, which can be used for control of diseases in plants, livestock and human beings. They know very well how to maintain the environment in harmony.

Indigenous knowledge is a valuable and sophisticated knowledge system developed over generations by local communities in various parts of the world. This knowledge is validated over time in a way that is different to the western empirical system.

Indigenous Knowledge is the basis for self-sufficiency and self-determination at least for two reasons:

A. People are familiar with indigenous practices and technologies. They can understand, handle, and maintain them better than introduced western practices and technologies.

B. Indigenous Knowledge draws on local resources. People are less dependent on outside supplies, which can be costly, scarce and unavailable regularly.

Indigenous Knowledge provides effective alternatives to western know – how. It gives local people and development workers extra options when designing projects. Instead of searching only among western technologies for feasible solutions, they can choose from indigenous knowledge or combine indigenous and western technology. Indigenous technologies and practices are often cheaper than western ones. They rely on locally available skills and materials and often require little or no cash outlay.

Agriculture in Nature

“Agriculture means the Science and Art of farming, Work of cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising the live stock.”

The Important Rules for Agriculture

1. The main source of energy for the production of carbohydrates is the sun. Maximum utilization of sun energy is most important for agricultural production.

2. It is only green plants which can use sun energy to produce carbohydrates. The degree of utilization of sun energy is dependent on the quantity of green plants.

3. The source of fertility (minerals, humus etc.) is organic matter which contains micro-organisms. A supply of organic matter is indispensable for soil improvement through fertilization (manuring).

4. Every living thing interacts and there is nothing which is unnecessary and harmful in nature.

by Rohini Reddy, South Asia Rural Reconstruction Association (SARRA) (Excerpted from "Traditional Practices in Agriculture Sourcebook", Rohini Reddy, SARRA, India, pp. 1-3)

NAARAP Secretariat participates in the Philippine National Organic Agriculture conference

2009-06-19T02:15:00.000+08:00

ANGOC, in behalf of the NAARAP secretariat, attended the Fifth National Organic Agriculture Conference (NOAC) in Davao City, Philippines last October 14-16, 2008, in time for the celebration of World Food Day. The Conference’s theme, “Sustaining the gains of Organic Agriculture: Enhancing Biodiversity, Providing Safe and Adequate Food”, was timely with the food and fuel crises made more turbulent by the collapse of financial market.

The Conference focused on showcasing current initiatives on organic agriculture from the Philippine government, through the Department of Agriculture (DA), from the civil societies, and from the local governments. From the policymaking side, efforts are well underway, with four house bills in the Congress and another four bills from the Senate formulated to support organic farming. The bills range from eco-labeling to the establishment of bio-organic demonstration farms, the formulation of an Organic Agriculture Program, and the creation of an Organic Farming Commission, and the like.
The three local government initiatives presented at the Conference (two municipalities in Mindanao and one district in Quezon Province) showed very encouraging results. The three local government executives illustrated the superiority of organic agriculture over conventional farming as demonstrated by the crop yield per unit area and income earned by the small farmers in each local area. The experience of local government chiefs showed how good local governance, leadership and will power can make a difference in the lives of small farmers and bring income to the local economy.

Looking back, the first Philippine NOAC, convened in 2004, led to the creation of the Philippine National Organic Agriculture Board (PNOAB). However, it was at the third NOAC in 2006 where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed an executive order calling for the “Promotion and Development of Organic Agriculture in the Philippines”. A series of island-wide consultations to nominate members of the newly organized NOAB and the Technical Working Group was conducted followed by the development of a national organic agriculture road map initially drafted by the Philippine Development Assistance Programme (PDAP).

The Conference was a collaborative effort of the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS), the DA-Regional Field Unit of Region IX, the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB), and the Go Organic Mindanao (GOM), a broad coalition of advocates and practitioners of organic agriculture in Mindanao. NAARAP can learn from the experiences of CSOs’ engagement with the Philippine government on policymaking and how to further explore collaborative efforts in local governance in making organic agriculture work more to bring incomes to the small farmer and to the local economy.

by F.L. Diola, ANGOC

NGOs share experiences in Agriculture Research for Development

2009-05-20T16:16:00.000+08:00

During the Bangkok workshop on Agriculture Research for Development (ARD) last April 2008, one of the Technical Sessions focused on NGO experiences in ARD in Asia-Pacific. The session was chaired by Dr. Roel Ravanera, Dean of the Xavier University College of Agriculture in the Philippines and co-chaired by Dr. Mahabub Hossain, Executive Director of BRAC in Bangladesh.

In all, the following five presentations were made:
I. Southeast Asia - Nathaniel Don Marquez, ANGOC/ Asia
II. South Asia - Suman Sahai, Gene Campaign/ India
III. PNG Women in Agriculture - Maria Linibi, Intoap Village/ Papua New Guinea
IV. Alternative Pathways to Sustainable Agriculture - Hiva Levi, PIANGO/ Fiji
V. China Association of NGOs - Huang Haoming, CANGO/ China

Don Marquez of ANGOC reiterated the need for concerted efforts to build linkages among NGOs, FO, Government, NARS and IARC to empower the farming communities. He also highlighted the areas needing priority attention as:

a) Inclusiveness and community empowerment involving area of land reforms, rights, policy research, etc.
b) Sustainable livelihoods that include microfinance and linking farmers to markets.

c) National resource management, including disaster management, responding to and mitigate climate change effects; and enhance farmer – scientist – NARS collaboration in research.

Dr Suman Sahai, representing Gene Campaign, elucidated several activities that have been or are being undertaken and future issues likely to be taken up by her organization in the regional context. These were:

a) Field research: Natural resource management and sustainable agriculture, document and disseminate under-utilized species; bio-resource based income generation; documenting ITK, training and capacity building.

b) Policy research and advocacy: Issues related to WTO, WIPO, ITP GARA, CBD;

c) Future issues: Approaches to cope with and mitigate effects of climate change and issues related to biofuels.

Ms. Maria Linibi made a presentation on PNG women in Agriculture (PNGWiA) as a forum to address the concerns and issues of women, youth and other disadvantaged groups in agriculture. The PNGWiA envisions to promote equal participation of women in agriculture and strives to deliver benefits to members, promote and support member activities and advocate gender diversity. PNGWiA is involved with PNG-NARI in collaborative research, technology transfer, field days, etc. The programs are being actively supported by ACIAR, NZAid, NARI, FAO, ADB, SPC and World Vision.

Mr. Hiva Levi, representing PIANGO made a presentation on alternative pathways to sustainable agriculture. It was mentioned that the SPC countries are moving away from chemical agriculture to organic farming by using traditional knowledge and methods, wherein national associations have been formed to promote organic agriculture being more beneficial in the long run. The forum facilitated national action plan for members, and mobilized resources to undertake planned activities with an ultimate goal to enhance both the income and livelihood opportunities for small farmers. He stressed the need for establishing quality testing system to meet international standards and favoured organic farming for long term sustainability and overall prosperity for the farmers in the Pacific

Mr. Huang Haoming, on behalf of CANGO presented details of the NGO consortium in China. He informed that there are about 380,000 NGOs (207,000 social organizations, 172,000 private enterprises and 1,370 foundations) and more than 148,000 farmer cooperatives in China. Some of the NGOs are involved in extension, but it is mostly done by NARS. In some provinces (such as Hubei), agricultural extension has become non-enterprise cooperative involving NARI, NGO and farmer organizations. In future, CANCO plans promotion of functional linkages amongst NARS-NGO-Farmers; establish networking between NARI and NGOs; support NGO development in rural areas and expand personnel exchange between NARS and NGO.

NAARAP Plans to engage ARDs at Global and Country levels

2009-05-20T16:13:00.000+08:00

Initially, NAARAP plans to pursue the following three major interventions and link them to GFAR and APAARI processes at the national, regional and global levels:

1. To participate actively in determining the direction, content and conduct of ARD at national, regional and international levels
2. To generate, document and share knowledge, experiences, expertise, and replicate successful practices and lessons learned in engaging with ARD
3. To document the entire partnership process in ARD and to develop possible modalities to above with farmers ARD experiences in their local languages. The specific goals and objectives under each of above three interventions should be:

I. Regional NGO Priorities in ARD

NGO competencies in ARD were identified and areas where they could contribute were articulated:

Linking Small Farm Holders, NGOs, CSOs and Agri Research systems (ARS), small farm holders and other clientele groups (e.g. women, rural youth, etc.) at the national, regional and international levels

* NGOs be involved in the planning, budgeting and decision making process of ARS (National, Regional and international), to reflect needs of NGOs/CSOs and SFHs in their research plans and priorities.

* Conduct farmer-participatory research on SFHs’ technologies, backed with science and required documentation for adoption by ARS.

* Enable on farm production of inputs to facilitate adoption and replication of successful technologies by SFHs.

* Facilitate access by SFHs to information, appropriate technologies, expert data banks and ARIs.

Impact Assessment and Advocating Policy Changes

* Identify constraints to adoption and advocate policy changes needed to remove the constraints.

* Assess outcomes and impact of technologies on SFHs and document, share with key stakeholders.

Thus, the following agenda have been identified by NAARAP: i) technology development, ii) sustainable natural resource management, iii) facilitating farmers’ access to markets and other support services, and iv) agenda for overall partnership.

On Sustainable Natural Resource Management:
· Adaptation study on the impact of climate change focusing on the vulnerability of agriculture and the SFHs. Specific topics would include mitigating losses, risk transfer, increasing resilience, coping mechanisms, nutrition and health, and recovery and rehabilitation.

· Sustainable natural resource management (land, water, forest, etc.) based on bio-diversity, gender equality and genetic diversity.

On facilitating farmers’ access to markets and other support services:
* Developing models of linking farmers to market where small farm holders could get a fair price for their safe, healthy, tasty and quality products.
* SFHs promoting producer companies (PCs), by, of and for the farmers, staffed by professionals, to take over all risks and responsibilities, other than farming and on farm activities.
* Developing internal control system (and/or standard for organic products) that is nationally, regionally and globally acceptable.
* Establishing mechanisms to reduce farmers’ financial vulnerability such as micro/farmers insurance, microfinance/credit and savings for self-reliance.
* Facilitating farmers’ access to information (digital, printed, radio, video) and documentation of local innovation development.

On Agenda for Overall Partnership:
* Moving national and international ARIs (institutions) towards adopting a more inclusive NARS (systems) approach that have significant role for CSOs, NGOs, SFHOs and other institutions engaged in social reforms, as partners.
* Advocate for a new research paradigm that is small farm holder-led. It should recognize the holistic and sustainable approach in agriculture farming system done by farmers of the area, as well as the pivotal role of women. Develop technologies and interventions that empower farmers and enhance sustainable livelihoods among indigenous and rural communities with ARS, nationally, regionally and internationally.
* Joint advocacy with public and public policy on development priority that should be given to agriculture, food, nutrition, health and rural development; need for funding the work of various stakeholders such as CSOs, NGOs, SFHOs.
* ARD institutions and extension systems be restructured for effective partnership with the local area PCs, NGOs CBOs and SFHs.

II. Knowledge Sharing and Communication Strategy

The Consortium would have to carefully consider this process as to how they communicate specially with each of the above categories.

Following the identification of those the group would need to communicate with, the group considered the question of what they would communicate.

Based on the discussions in preceding session, the main messages would be related to:
i. Problems of farmers, the value addition chain and their solutions

ii. New concepts, processes, skills and technologies

iii. Awareness, Sensitization and Advocacy related to critical issues in agriculture and its development as applicable to the local areas

iv. Funding in agricultural development and support for the Consortium and its members

Having identified the key categories of messages, the group then considered how they would communicate with the various categories of their clients for their communications. They had to consider issues of availability, accessibility, relevance, usefulness, accuracy and timeliness of the information and messages as key parameters in deciding the content and process of their communications. Careful consideration of who was being communicated with and what was being communicated would be needed to identify how the information and messages were to be communicated and the medium to be used. A wide variety of media and in different mixes could be used for the Consortium’s communications.

A matrix which indicates to whom the Consortium would communicate to, the category of information and messages to be communicated and the medium to be used would constitute the core of the Consortium’s communication strategy or plan.

The use of new ICT, especially cellular telephony and the Internet was considered. It was felt that with rapid developments in access to this new technology, new avenues in communication were emerging. The use of this technology would need to be looked at seriously.

The group also deliberated on the need to incorporate the concept of assessing the outcomes and impact of communications at every level in the communication process. It was felt that the Consortium’s primary aim in communication was to change behavior and attitudes of all with whom they were communicating. The evaluation of the Consortium’s communication should also include assessing these changes.

The group then considered the fact that providing information alone in a passive manner would not result in knowledge sharing. Knowledge results from learning from useful information and adding experience. Thus, the Consortium will have to consider creating learning systems for those they primarily wish to communicate with.

APAARI and GFAR offered the use of their platforms, APARIS and EGFAR, respectively for communication within the CSO groups at national, regional and global levels and with other stakeholders in agricultural research for development.

The group also felt that Workshop, as held for the Sub Saharan African CSO Consortium, to develop its communication system, may also be planned for this Consortium.

III. Possible Modalities for Partnership

Several modalities for working together were culled from various presentations by GFAR, APAARI and NGOs. It was further noted that appropriate structures/ mechanisms for partnership will be necessary for working at different levels – community, national, regional and global. Further, NAARAP should consider the following:

On information-sharing, forums and dialogue:

· Sharing of information; e-forums

· Forums and consultations for discussion, dialogue and exchange

· Developing joint research agendas together with SFOs; identifying priorities for ARD where sustainability/increased net incomes are ensured for SFHs; ensuring SFH and civil society voices in developing research agendas.

On advocacy and policy dialogue:

· Joint public/media advocacy on the importance of SFHs in agriculture as well as the need for ARD; joint sponsorship of events. However, it was noted that any joint public advocacy should be based on consensus among partners.

· Linking up research with policy reforms; implications of research on policy; ensuring enabling environment for SFHs; direct policy advocacy

· Discussion and advocacy on global policy and trends (WIPO, IPR over PGR, PGR access and benefit-sharing, CBD, WTO in agriculture, especially in the light of emerging food crisis, GMOs and bio-safety, agro-fuels vs food production)

On joint research-related activities:

· Conducting and assessing research need assessments

· Developing participatory approaches and modalities; promoting paradigms and practice that recognize “farmers teach farming to the scientists”; linking science of institutions on small farmer fields/community indigenous knowledge; giving recognition for indigenous knowledge and innovations; new paradigm shift of “farm-to-lab-to-farm”

· Ensuring transparency in information, ex., on risks of new technologies

· Linking small farmers/producers with markets; improving the product chain to ensure benefit for small farmers

· Debate on risks of new technologies

· Producer Cooperatives (PCs) to link with markets

· Improving the value chain to ensure benefit for small farm holders

· Collaboration on actual comparative field-level research and development, based on farmer-led approaches

· On-field adding value/processing, using technologies and approaches suitable to the farm conditions and meets people’s aspirations

· Discussion and consensus on what makes a good agricultural practice (GAP), participatory guarantee systems (PGS) for traceability, Standards, etc, separately for each area,

· Scaling-up the most successful farming systems of each area and scaling out all packages of practices in force

· Developing modules on sustainable agriculture; documenting under-utilized crops

· Documentation on indigenous knowledge systems, e.g. science of monsoons

· Mandating ARS to do comparative studies, giving farmers different options

On capacity-building:
· Training and capacity building that recognizes the contributions of indigenous knowledge of farmers, putting in the best that formal knowledge of science has to offer to optimize their operations

· Ensuring that SFOs and NGOs/CSOs play integral roles in national ARDs, as APAARI’s focus shift from dealing with NARIs (institutions) towards supporting NARS (systems)

NGO Association for Agricultural Research formed

2009-04-27T15:44:00.000+08:00

A new NGO consortium aiming to reorient agricultural research to more adequate respond to the needs of small farmers was formed following the Asia Pacific Regional Workshop on Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) organized jointly by ANGOC, Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) and the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR) in Bangkok, Thailand last 16-18 April 2008. The NGO group is called NGO Association for Agriculture Research in Asia-Pacific, or NAARAP.

A major goal of NAARAP is to engage with APAARI, GFAR and other international and global actors to facilitate a change in the orientation of agricultural research for development (ARD), particularly by adopting a systems approach where Smallholder Farmers Organizations (SFOs) and CSOs can play integral roles in determining the direction, content and conduct of ARD. The newly formed NGO Consortium came up with a plan of action that would promote the empowerment of small farmholders and orient agricultural research systems (ARS), both at the national and international levels, towards involving them and their partner NGOs actively in all research initiatives and use the knowledge and expertise of successful farmers in each area for replication after these have been vetted scientifically.

The Workshop Context

The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), including the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), are increasingly playing an important role in providing social services and assistance in activities such as food security, land reform, environmental protection, emancipation of the poor and marginalized sectors of the society, restoration of civil rights, etc., that aim at contributing towards faster economic progress and improvements in the quality of life of the poor and marginalized.

In the agriculture domain, NGOs have largely been promoting “sustainable agriculture” to enhance food security, environmental health, economic profitability, and social equity. Over the years, the CSOs, in general, have also made significant contributions towards advocacy for sustainable agriculture.

NGOs alone, however, cannot achieve the interconnected goals of sustainable agriculture. The whole gamut of sustainable agriculture and the continuum of agricultural research for development (ARD) requires a holistic multi-sectorial, multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary approach, through partnership among various stakeholders such as the Government, the National Agricultural Research System (NARS), the academic and research institutions, the private sector, and the civil society organizations at the national, regional, and global levels.

To operationalize the holistic approach and to ensure required impact, it is imperative to build partnership through an appropriate mechanism such as neutral Forum/Consortium so that various stakeholders are able to share their experiences and find out possible solutions or develop strategies through effective interactions. Such a Forum would also allow better planning of financial, physical, and human resources; avoid duplication and foster closer working relationships among the member institutions/organizations involved.

Recognizing the need for the establishment of a regional mechanism and in keeping with above mentioned objectives, a regional workshop was organized by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), in collaboration with the Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC), to discuss possible ways for strengthening regional cooperation among NGO community engaged actively in Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) and to explore possibilities for the establishment of a regional consortium which can provide a neutral platform for regular interactions and to provide legitimacy for NGO representation in the national, regional and global organizations engaged in ARD.

The Birth of NAARAP

The sharing of NGO experiences highlighted the need to redirect agricultural research with active participation of NGOs and agricultural research systems (ARS), national and international, towards meeting the needs of small farm holders (SFHs) and other marginalized groups. Also, much of the research should be in on-farm farmer participatory mode and not only on the research stations. This is essential in addressing the pressing development issues such as rural poverty, nutrition and food insecurity and the degradation of the environment, as have been articulated in the MDGs.

The deliberations were directed towards identifying areas of collaboration and defining a growth path for small holder farmers. Farmers empowering agro-technologies based on articulation of science to farmers’ traditional knowledge and integrated farming systems were supported for inclusion in the ARS mandate and research plans.

On above note, the NGO Workshop participants unanimously decided to form an NGO Association for Agriculture Research in Asia-Pacific or NAARAP. [1]

All participants as NAARAP members agreed that research partnerships must involve three major players i.e. APAARI research institutions, NGOs, and small farm holders. It was recognized that any follow-up should be inclusive, so that other NGOs not present in the regional workshop are also actively involved in future.

NAARAP members also noted that the partnership will have to focus on the need for a shift in the orientation of ARD, in terms of:

Research agenda; purpose of research
Paradigm, e.g. a fresh “learning” framework recognizing farmers as scientists
Working context of small farm holders, or the reality addressed
Methods of work; e.g. linking knowledge to field practice and policy; and scaling-out

NAARAP further noted the need for changes in the current nature of ARD, towards one that is (among others):

Farmer-driven and in partnership with NGOs and Agri Research Systems (ARS) at national, regional and international levels
Directed at the needs of the poor/vulnerable small farm holders
Intimately linked to farmer-to-farmer learning
Based on agro-ecology as a scientific basis, with traditional knowledge as a starting point
Fully inclusive of women, indigenous peoples and other under-represented groups
Producing outputs that are not privatized and that remain in the public domain
Embedded in a larger context of policy development that emphasizes poverty reduction, especially in rural areas
Directed at nutrition, health and food security, especially in marginal/vulnerable environments where the poor live, and guided by concerns of national food sovereignty, right to nutrition, health, food and equity
Based on full and real participation of small farm holders and CSOs in priority-setting, agenda formulation, research collaboration, governance and decision-making in partnership with ARS
Address issues of resource access for poor people, e.g., land, water, genetic resources

NAARAP believes that research partnership must be based on mutually-accepted working principles, which should be formulated and agreed upon. Some of these principles are:

General principles of mutual trust, and recognition of NGO autonomy
Inclusiveness and legitimacy
Built on recognition and credibility, capacity and constituency of each other
Working towards common goals

NAARAP also framed a plan of action for itself that would be directed towards enabling empowerment for small farm holders and reorienting the agriculture research systems, national and international, to involve them and their NGOs, actively in all research initiatives and use the knowledge and expertise of the successful farmers in each area, for replication after ratification with the needed science.

Rationale for the engagement

Asia-Pacific is the home for most of the world’s poor, majority of whom are small farm holders
Civil society carries a responsibility to develop community-based approaches for health and nutrition, food security, poverty alleviation, environment protection and rural development, incorporating the principles of social justice

Principles of engagement

Move towards an agricultural research system that combines community knowledge, verified by science, to address the needs of small farm holders and landless farmers, livestock keepers and pastoralists, fisherfolk, forest dwellers, rural and tribal communities, incorporating gender equity.
A major goal of NAARAP is to partner with APAARI, GFAR and other international and global actors to facilitate transformation from agricultural research institutes (ARIs) to ARS (systems approach, covering national, regional and international) where Small-holder Farmers Organizations (SFHOs) and CSOs play integral roles in determining the directions, content and conduct of ARD.
Conduct jointly the need assessments based on research prioritization for the region.
Policy research and advocacy for the region in ARD
Participate in research evaluation and impact assessment of ARD

It was noted that partnership must be based on mutually-accepted working principles, which should be formulated and agreed upon. Some of these points that were emphasized for the new research partnership to work are:
The need to involve, from the start, NGOs/CSOs and SFHOs in joint planning, budgeting and in shaping the agendas for research
The need for institutional-research system reforms, including changes in mandates, norms, values and attitudes, and the way by which institutions currently operate; not just “business as usual”
Responsibilities should not just be transferred to NGOs/CSOs and SFHOs; responsibilities should be accompanied by appropriate levels of authority and resources allocated to NGOs/CSOs and SFHOs under this partnership.

[1] The participants agreed on the following sub-regional focal points: CANGO for East, SARVODAYA for South, ANGOC for Southeast and PIANGO for the Pacific. These focal points will be responsible to bring in other NGOs into NAARAP. NAARAP shall also create sub-committees as needed, to fulfill specific roles such as resource mobilization, identifying research themes, etc. A resource generation committee has also been proposed composed of DST, Members BRAC, ANGOC, APPARI and GFAR. The members also committed to contribute annually US$100 as membership fee to demonstrate their commitment to NAARAP.

The Secretariat of NAARAP shall be small, and shall be rotated to the sub-regions every two years. It was decided that the First Consortium Secretariat will be located with ANGOC for the period 2008-2010.