LAO PDR COMPONENT OF ATMI-ASEAN TACKLES PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF MAIZE VALUE CHAIN STUDY
31 July 2019, Vientiane, Lao PDR
Photo Credit: SEARCA
The Lao PDR research team for 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), presented the current progress and preliminary findings of their policy study entitled Cross-border Maize Value Chain Analysis in Xiengkhuang Province during the 2nd Lao PDR National Project Steering Committee (NPSC) Meeting held on 31 July 2019 at Vansana Riverside Hotel here.
The Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF-DOA), the focal agency for Lao PDR of the ATMI-ASEAN Project, co-organized the meeting with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). SEARCA is the implementing partner of the project with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as lead.
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Chantha Thipphavongphanh, Deputy Director General of the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). In his Welcome Remarks, he said that, in support of Lao government's priority given to food security and commodity production, MAF-DOA is providing policy and technical support for implementation of programs on macro-management, plant protection and quarantine, clean agriculture, agriculture inputs management, and investment in crop production. He acknowledged the importance of the ATMI-ASEAN Project and its initiatives in promoting food security in Lao PDR and in the ASEAN region. He added that the discussion that will follow the presentation of the preliminary findings of the study will hopefully make the study more informative and useful for policymakers in the country.
