Department of Planning and Cooperation (DOPC) and Department of Agricultural Extension and Cooperatives (DAEC) co-hosted the policy dialogue on “Maximizing benefits of agriculture exports from Lao PDR”, which was organized under the framework of EU funded project entitled “Developing Capacities in Agriculture Innovation Systems: Scaling up a Tropical Agriculture Platform Framework” (TAP AIS) at the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), Vientiane on Sept 6.
The dialogue was chaired by the Director General of the DAEC, Mr. Somxay Sisanonh, and co-chaired by Deputy Director General, Dr. Phommy Inthichack, FAO Representative to the Lao PDR, Mr. Nasar Hayat, and Programme Manager of the EU Delegation to the Lao PDR, Mr. Inpone Senekhamty.
The TAP-AIS is global project funded by and a part of the larger European Union Initiative “Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA): Towards climate-relevant agricultural and knowledge innovation system”. The project has been implementing at global, regional and country levels, in nine countries. Three in Asia (Cambodia, the Lao PDR and Pakistan), five in Africa (Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Malawi, Rwanda and Senegal); and one in Latin America (Colombia) from August 2019 to July 2023.
In the Lao PDR, the project works with multi stakeholders aiming to contribute to promoting climate-relevant, productive and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems through developing capacities to innovate at national level.
The objective of this important event is to bring policy and decision makers together to provide insights and direction on how to maximize benefits from export of agriculture products by Lao stallholder farmers.
As an input to this national policy dialogue, with technical assistance from FAO TAP-AIS, DAEC hosted multi-stakeholder dialogue on 22 June 2022, followed by technical discussions with technical departments, private sectors and farmers. The results from those are the policy recommendations and policy brief, which were shared and discussed in this dialogue to guide a way forward for increased collaboration to facilitate and enable rural producers to benefit from export markets.
The policy dialogue was attended by a dynamic group of stakeholders with representatives from key departments of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, relevant Ministries, farmer organization, development partners, private sectors, academia, and relevant actors in agriculture value chain in Lao PDR. The dialogue was also made available virtually for those who could not attend but were eager to contribute for a fruitful discussion.
Key messages from the policy dialogues are:
Most Lao agriculture exports are unprocessed products for which smallholder farmers receive less economic value than traders and processors, who produce brand name items.
Lao products are not competitive, current farming systems cannot ensure consistency of quality products and regular supplies for export markets; production certification and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) are critical for agriculture export.
Sustainable agriculture practices will help produce more with less with an aim to reduce post-harvest loses, labor saving technologies, low input cost, etc.
Attracting more investment in the manufacturing of agriculture inputs including fertilizer and animal feed, there is a greater need to improve the agribusiness environment and the efficient application of regulations.
Strengthening relevant capacities of smallholder farmers and their organizations would enable them to benefit from the agri-food system transformation, commercialization and access to markets.
Coordination and collaboration among government departments, public and private institutions, investors and farmers are key to addressing export issues e.g. high production cost, export procedures, and enabling all stakeholders, including farmers, to mutually benefit from partnership.
Lack of evident based research and studies to provide analysis and policy options to address issues involving different actors. It is beyond the mandate of the agriculture sector to address these issues alone especially high production costs and coordination among key actors.
Developing capacities of key organizations and improving the policy environment can strengthen Lao agriculture innovation systems and drive the transformation of agri-food systems. Building on experience and achievement on agriculture export, Lao could realize its unexploited export potential in agriculture products by more effectively implementing policies to improve the agribusiness environment and the application of quality and safety standards.
The policy dialogue was successfully completed with fruitful discussions and contents and with policy recommendations by DOPC and closing remark by the chair, Mr. Somxay Sisanonh, the DG of DAEC.
Source: Lao News Agency