The Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) participated in the Rural Development and Food Security Forum 2019 held at the Asian Development Bank Headquarters in Mandaluyong City, Philippines on 28-30 October 2019.
During the farmers roundtable discussion, smallholder farmers from the Philippines, Nepal, and Indonesia and agriculture companies and development partners shared about their experiences as well as their concerns and aspirations with policymakers and other stakeholders. According to the farmers, among the main challenges they face are high cost of production, lack of infrastructures and proper irrigation.
Jose Romeo Ebron, Cooperative Development Program Manager of AFA, discussed about the challenges faced by farmers in the Philippines. He also urged the government, private institutions, and CSOs to work together to support smallholder farmers.
AFA’s knowledge products were also showcased and distributed at the Technology and Innovation Marketplace.
The RDFS 2019 is a call to action for DMC governments to provide active leadership to generate rural prosperity and effective stewardship to land and water (fresh and marine) resources to ensure sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable food production. The forum is aimed at (1) sharing and learning from best practices, recent trends and innovations to promote rural development and achieve food security; (2) strategising ways and means to scale up innovations in the Asia-Pacific region; and (3) discussing ways to built and strengthen synergies, networks, and partnerships. ###
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