The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is funding the project and has tapped SEARCA to lead its implementation in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services (APIRAS) and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS).
The 36-month project aims to significantly broaden and add value to the support provided to smallholder farming and rural transformation, thereby contributing to rural poverty eradication, sustainable agricultural development, and global food security and nutrition.
In particular, the project aims to promote innovative, pro-poor approaches and technologies with the potential to be scaled up for greater impact; strengthen partners’ institutional and policy capacities; enhance advocacy and policy engagement; and generate and share knowledge for development impact.
The target stakeholders include agricultural advisory service providers from public, private, nongovernmental, and civil society sectors that are serving poor smallholder farmers in the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Fiji.
The inception workshop was intended to build trust, ownership, and commitment of all involved in the project. It sought to ensure that there is a common understanding of the project’s rationale, direction, and scope among the project‘s key leaders, partners, and stakeholders. They also discussed and agreed on the project deliverables, action plans, timetable, and indicative budget, as well as effective working modalities and collaborative relationships.
The event was organized by SEARCA through its Project Development and Technical Services (PDTS).