5th Policy Roundtable on Building Capacities for Agricultural Competitiveness of Transition Countries in Southeast Asia
Aureum Palace Hotel-Resort, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, 1-2 April 2008
Post-event documents
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- Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar
- Korea FAO Association
- SEARCA
Representatives of international development organizations and from government agencies involved in biofuels will be participating in the event. (Note: Attendance is by invitation)
Policymakers and rural development practitioners from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) as well as from the Philippines and other Asian countries have met to exchange and discuss collaborative strategies and policy instruments to combat poverty and food insecurity vis-à-vis the increasing globalization, agricultural trade liberalization, and other emerging challenges facing the agriculture and rural sectors. They have reached a consensus on the need for capacity building to strengthen human resources for agricultural competitiveness through technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) among CLMV. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is following up previous initiatives on a TCDC capacity building program.
Energy security is a rising concern among governments, particularly in the face of climate change and its far-reaching impacts and globalization. Biofuels development has therefore become an aggressive pursuit, becoming a contemporary strategic area of research and policy. Furthermore, in the 4th Policy Roundtable held in Luang Prabang, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, biofuels was also recognized as a priority area that the Mekong Region would be interested to learn more about.
The advent of biofuels may augur well for agricultural producers due to the new markets that will be potentially available. However, its implications to food security, poverty and environments need to be more closely examined. A growing concern is that a large share of the world’s food supply will be diverted away from traditional food uses. To the extent that food demand remains at the same rate, the emergence of biofuels will have a major impact on world food prices that could hurt the poor. Biofuel programs likewise have spatial implications as well as implications on the use of other resources. To try to take advantage of the new opportunities that biofuels development offer, land would be required. This would mean conversion of current land uses into those for biofuels. This will adversely affect the production of feedstock as well as other crops, contributing to food price increases and increasing competition for resources, e.g., water and other agricultural inputs.
- To have a common understanding of the state of biofuel development in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam;
- To develop a concrete plan of implementation for priority capacity building programs on Biofuels Development, including a timetable and modality for mobilizing resources for the activity; and
- To explore possible partnerships between and among SEARCA, CLMV Governments, and organizations from East Asian countries to actively collaborate in the capacity building of these transition countries.
The roundtable will cover a discussion of biofuels and implications to food security through a paper presentation on Global and Regional Biofuel Development and Food Security: Challenges, Potential Impacts, and Emerging Policy Issues. Country Papers will likewise be presented on current biofuel development initiatives as well as prospective directions. These country reports will also include recommendations on regional or complementary capability building programs. The program will also include a brief presentation from funding agencies on their perspectives on the issues as well as possible collaborative arrangements.
For further details, please contact Research & Development Department
