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SEARCA, ATWGARD, GIZ Network tackle the Promotion of Climate Resilience in Rice and Other Crops in the ASEAN Region

  • 30 January 2014

The workshop participants: ATWGARD focal points, SEARCA regional and national teams, representatives from Thailand Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, GIZ Indonesia, CCROM, Climate Sense, and IRRI.

PATTAYA, Thailand – The ASEAN Technical Working Group on Agriculture and Research Development (ATWGARD) tackles the Promotion of Climate Resilience in Rice and Other Crops in its Special Meeting on 21–22 January 2014 at the Nong Nooch Garden and Resort in Pattaya, Thailand. This project was proposed by Thailand and adopted by ATWGARD. The project aims to advance the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) and the ASEAN Multi-Sectoral Framework on Climate Change: Agriculture and Forestry towards Food Security (AFCC).

In support to this initiative, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH funded the project through the ASEAN-German Programme on Response to Climate Change (GAP-CC), and SEARCA was commissioned by GAP-CC to carry out the project in seven ASEAN Member States (AMS).

The workshop brought together the resource persons from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, commissioned by SEARCA, who will undertake their respective case studies on climate change impacts of the selected sectors, and the ATWGARD focal persons of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, who have been designated to support the conduct of said national case studies. Also present at the kick-off workshop were representatives from the Department of Agriculture (DoA) and the Rice Department of the Thailand Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), Climate Risk and Opportunity Management in Southeast Asia Pacific (CCROM-SEAP), Climate Sense, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Dr. Suwit Chaikiattiyos, DoA Deputy Director General, as represented by Mr. Arak Chantuma from the DoA Rubber Research Institute, served as the Workshop Chair. Dr. Felino P. Lansigan, National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) - Hugh Greenwood Environmental Science Awardee, serves as the Regional Agricultural Value Chain/Climate Resilience Expert in this undertaking. Other workshop presentors include Ms. Myriam Fernando (Senior Advisor, GAP-CC), Mr. Douglas Black (Director, Climate Sense), and Dr. Rizaldi Boer (Executive Director, CCROM-SEAP).

 

Dr. Lope B. Santos III, Program Specialist-OIC, Ms. Imelda L. Batangantang, Program Associate, and Ms. Kristine Joy S. Villagracia, Regional Knowledge Platform Coordinator of SEARCA’s Project Development and Management Department (ProDev) organized and facilitated the event. (Kristine Joy S. Villagracia)