Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD) Conference 2026

Southeast Asia's agrifood systems are at a decisive juncture. For decades, agriculture and rural development have underpinned economic stability, food and nutrition security, and social cohesion across the region. They have sustained livelihoods, supported structural transformation, and provided a critical safety net for millions. Yet the sector is now facing converging pressures: intensifying climate risks, environmental degradation, aging demographics, land tenure and governance, globalization of markets, and recurrent global shocks that disrupt food and input supply chains. These challenges expose persistent vulnerabilities in income security, nutrition outcomes, resilience, and institutional capacity, particularly among smallholder farmers, women, youth, and rural communities.

At the same time, transformative opportunities are emerging through digital technologies, data systems, climate finance, and innovation ecosystems. Harnessing these requires decisive policy actions aligned with global commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The ARD Conference 2026 is being organized to gather experts to deliberate on these challenges and opportunities towards identifying the needed appropriate strategies to transform agrifood systems into modern, resilient, inclusive, and sustainable enterprises for more secure global and regional food and nutrition security. Building on the intellectual legacy of earlier regional ARD conferences, this flagship event, convened for SEARCA's 60th Anniversary, will move beyond diagnosis to co-creating actionable solutions. Anchored on SEARCA's 12th Five-Year Development Plan with its Sustainable Transformation of Agricultural Systems through Innovation in Southeast Asia (SUSTAIN Southeast Asia)'s agenda, and its 4Ps outcomes — Pocket, Plate, Place, and People — the Conference will chart a collective vision for agrifood systems transformation that is holistic, market-driven, and environmentally conscious.

By convening governments, researchers, development partners, the private sector, civil society, and farmers, the Conference will generate actionable policy recommendations, drive partnerships, and set commitments that are better aligned to complex ground realities and vulnerabilities, thereby positioning Southeast Asia to lead globally in shaping sustainable, future-ready agrifood systems.