The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), in partnership with the Office of the Undersecretary for Livestock of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA), will conduct an online inception workshop cum policy roundtable discussion on 16 February 2022, to kick off the national technical assistance (TA) component in the Philippines of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-funded Project Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the ASEAN Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns (ATMI-ASEAN).
The TA is intended for the development of a national roadmap of the processed pork industry in the Philippines. The roadmap will take off from the value chain study conducted by the Philippine research team from UPLB under the Project. This will also be in line with the hog industry roadmap currently being developed by DA.
Several stakeholders from relevant government agencies, private sector, key industry players, as well as research and development organizations, will join the back-to-back workshop and policy roundtable to discuss the plans in moving forward with the exercise as well as gather insights and recommendations for the development of a national roadmap for the processed pork industry in the Philippines.
Specifically, the half-day event aims to provide an overview of the TA's specific activities in relation to the development of the Philippine processed pork roadmap and involve relevant stakeholders of the processed pork industry in developing the national roadmap through a participatory approach. The event will also discuss the value chain study on pork-based processed products and gather insights that will address developmental challenges posed by the African Swine Fever (ASF) and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ATMI-ASEAN Project is being implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as lead, and SEARCA as partner.