The Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA), a national farmers’ confederation in the Philippines, and the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), a regional alliance of national farmers’ organizations in eight countries in Asia, will hold a ”Forum-Dialogue on the Rice Crisis in Asia: Farmers’ Situation and Responses”, to be held on May 28, 2008, 9:00-12:00nn, at Conspiracy Garden Café, Visayas Avenue, Project 6, Quezon City. Around 40 farmer-leaders and their support NGOs from seven countries in Asia will participate in this forum.
At the regional level, the forum-dialogue aims to understand the response of ASEAN to the rice crisis, being home to the largest rice consumers, rice exporters and importers in the world. The ASEAN has just discussed this issue and has agreed to some forms of cooperation to promote rice security in the region. The forum-dialogue also aims to know the status of the ASEAN Rice Reserve Scheme. At the end of the forum-dialogue, AFA would like to discuss how ASEAN governments and their small rice farmers can cooperate to meet the challenges of the current rice situation.
At the Philippine level, the forum-dialogue hopes to learn what the Philippine government is doing to solve the rice crisis in the Philippines and the steps it is taking to realize rice self sufficiency and to meet the consumers’ demand for rice and to help small-scale men and women rice farmers.
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