ASEAN-CGIAR regional program being submitted to the 44th AMAF meet

After being successfully presented at the Special Senior Officials Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF) in August, the ASEAN CGIAR Innovate for Food Regional Program proposal will now be submitted to the 44th ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting for consideration.

The CGIAR, through its Southeast Asia and the Pacific Regional Hub, has been in dialogue with the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN Member States (AMS) to co-create the multi-year research and innovation for development (RI4D) program that will build on planned CGIAR and individual Center initiatives, maximizing their scope and impact, while ensuring that the region’s key agricultural, fisheries and food research and innovation needs, and demands are met.

In the design phase of the program, national consultation workshops were jointly organized with National Agricultural Research and Extension Services (NARES) partners in the first half of 2022 in Laos, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia. In addition, consultations were held with officials from Brunei, Singapore and Myanmar.

These consultations sought to identify potential project areas around nine thematic areas which were then developed into specific intervention packages. Additional feedback from over 60 representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, the AMS, CGIAR ASEAN Centers of Excellence, and key funders in the region were used to systematically  strengthen the intervention packages on: 1) Regenerative Agriculture & Aquaculture and Agro-Chemical Use, 2) Climate Neutrality and Climate Change, 3) Enhancing ASEAN Agrobiodiversity use and landscape biodiversity, 4) Enhancing Value Chains and Regional Trade, 5) Transboundary Pest and Disease, 6) Private Sector Investment and Sustainable Financing, 7) Farmer-led irrigation for Climate-Resilient Agri-Food Systems, and 8) Food Systems Transformation for More Nutritious and Healthy Diets.

The SOM-AMAF supported, “in principle”, the program proposal and encouraged the CGIAR to work closely with the ASEAN Secretariat and various ASEAN sectoral working groups for its finalization and presentation at the 44th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry in Lao PDR in the latter part of 2022.