The annual forum is a venue for exchanges of views to address emerging agricultural policy issues as well as to evaluate and strengthen the process of policy and trade reform through forward looking analysis.
Dr. Saguiguit's participation in the forum is related to the SEARCA-implemented OECD-commissioned research on the review and assessment of the Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) in ASEAN. The results of the research work form part of the ASEAN-OECD project titled Building Food Security and Managing Risk: A Focus on Southeast Asia, which is the focus of this year's GFA.
The global forum tackled the issue on overconcentration on rice sufficiency in Southeast Asia. According to Dr. Saguiguit, "the prescription of the forum is to diversify crops of smallholders and concentrate on high-value ones in which there is comparative advantage. This will also make farming more profitable and arrest the tendency to move away from agriculture."
Dr. Saguiguit noted that said consensus at the OECD forum discussions affirms SEARCA's focus on inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development (ISARD), value chains, and agribusiness, among others.