Title of document: ALiSEA National Board of Members introduction in Vietnam Authors/editor: ALiSEA, PHANO, NOMAFSI, CISDOMA, RCRD, CARES Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: ALiSEA BoM Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Vietnam Main issues/ topics addressed (for example: …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: A significant milestone in the history of ALiSEA Network was reached towards an autonomous member-managed network with the creation of the National ALiSEA Board of Members in three countries: Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam! The National ALiSEA Board of Members (BoM) will play a key role in supporting the network structuration, shaping its governance, building a shared vision among members and developing national strategy and action plan… This presentation is for the online meeting “ALiSEA National Board of Members in Vietnam - Introduction Session” 6 May 2021. You can read the full article here.   Read More

Title of document: ALiSEA National Board of Members introduction in Cambodia Authors/editor: ALiSEA, UNi4coop, DCA, ECOLAND, ACTION AID, CFAP Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: ALiSEA BoM Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Cambodia Main issues/ topics addressed (for example: …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: A significant milestone in the history of ALiSEA Network was reached towards an autonomous member-managed network with the creation of the National ALiSEA Board of Members in three countries: Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam! The National ALiSEA Board of Members (BoM) will play a key role in supporting the network structuration, shaping its governance, building a shared vision among members and developing national strategy and action plan… This presentation is for the online meeting “ALiSEA National Board of Members in Cambodia - Introduction Session” 7 April 2021. You can read the full article here.   Read More

Title of document: ALiSEA National Board of Members introduction in Lao PDR Authors/editor: ALiSEA, CLICK, HJA, RDA, MHP Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: ALiSEA BoM Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Lao PDR Main issues/ topics addressed (for example: …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: A significant milestone in the history of ALiSEA Network was reached towards an autonomous member-managed network with the creation of the National ALiSEA Board of Members in three countries: Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam! The National ALiSEA Board of Members (BoM) will play a key role in supporting the network structuration, shaping its governance, building a shared vision among members and developing national strategy and action plan… This presentation is for the online meeting “ALiSEA National Board of Members in Laos - Introduction Session” 26 April 2021. You can read the full article here.   Read More

Title of document: Risk Perception and Lowland Rice Farming Change in Savannakhet Province, Southern Laos Authors/editor: Chanthavisouk Ninchaluene, Santi Piyadeth, Ian G. Baird Journal’s name if any: European Journal of East Asian Studies Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: Savannakhet University, University of Wisconsin-Madison Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Lao PDR Main issues/ topics addressed (for example: …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: Lowland rice cultivation is changing in southern Laos. A formalised survey and informal interviews in the lowlands of Savannakhet Province indicate that while some farmers still raise water buffaloes, farmers now mainly use hand-held mechanised ploughs to till their fields. More chemical fertilisers are being used, and improved seed varieties have become dominant, with native varieties disappearing. Due to these changes, rice yields have increased substantially, with many more farmers selling surplus rice. The trade-offs are, however, not simple…   Read More

Title of document: Bridging the gap: How to get climate services to farmers Authors/editor: FAO, MONRE, MAF Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: FAO, MONRE, MAF Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Lao PDR Main issues/ topics addressed (for example: …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: The Lao Climate Service for Agriculture (LaCSA) provides agro-meteorological information in a compact format relevant to Lao farmers. The challenge addressed here, is the delivery of the provided information to farmers and other end-users. While the standard output channel are bulletins that are published online and sent to subscribed receivers, these resources may be beyond the reach of many farmers. Under the SAMIS project, FAO in collaboration with the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) and the Department of Agriculture and Land Management (DALaM), have tested a number of pathways to give farmers access to the produced content. Based on their testing, a number of ways have been identified that allow farmers to take advantage of tools that are normally out of their reach. To drive this process, the National Agriculture and Forestry Institute (NAFRI) has trained DAFO and DONRE staff throughout the country in the use and retrieval of LaCSA information. The purpose of this leaflet is to present the identified dissemination options and insights, to encourage subsequent projects in taking them up or building on them.   Read More

Title of document: Production of Vegetable Fern (Diplazium esculentum Reytz.) Under Varying Levels of Shade Authors/editor: Patrick Trail, Yuwadee Danmalidoi, Abram Bicksler, and Rick Burnette Journal’s name if any: EDN Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: ECHO Asia Impact Center Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Asia Main issues/ topics addressed (for example: …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): http://edn.link/hk96zz Summary: This topic of interest dates back a few years to when Rick Burnette served as Director of ECHO Asia. Observing that local edible vegetable ferns were only being wild-harvested and made available at market certain times of the year, he rationalized that perhaps this local Neglected and Underutilized Species could be cultivated on-farm, using artificial shade, thus making it marketable in the ‘off-season’ as well. Since that time, the experiment has been replicated and wrapped up (with the help of many hands), and the following article summarizes what we have learned   Read More

Title of document: Insect Pest Management Authors/editor: Annie Deutsch and Stacy Swartz Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: EDN Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Asia Main issues/ topics addressed (for example: …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): http://edn.link/ipm2 Summary: Insect pests affect all forms of agricultural production, from densely planted field crops to high-value nursery plants to grains in storage. This article explains some principles and practices for conducting in-field observations (sampling) to inform pest management decisions. General principles and practices are discussed for detecting, identifying, and monitoring pest populations, in order to inform next steps.   Read More

Title of document: Managing Pesticides for Greener Growth in Lao PDR (Ver. English & Laotian) Authors/editor: World Bank Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: World bank Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Lao PDR Main issues/ topics addressed (for example:…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary: Pesticides management is important for sustainable agriculture and green growth. Sound pesticides management and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in particular are widely acknowledged as important mechanisms to mitigate pre- and post-harvest losses and to achieve sustainable agricultural intensification.   Read More

Title of document: Seasonal organic rice revival in Mekong Delta Authors/editor: Dr. Nguyen Van Kien Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: The Saigon Times Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: Vietnam Main issues/ topics addressed (for example:…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): https://en.thesaigontimes.vn/tinbaichitiet/80949/?fbclid=IwAR31-rjqmkl3LhN3yxLXP8VdjkJykpu-xjIrueD0-KcJCH5yc3yXb4FBpA0 Summary: According to the analysis by QY Research published in 2020, the total value of global organic rice exports in 2018 was US$1.5 billion. The figure was forecast to increase 9% in the period 2019-2025 and reach US$2.78 billion by 2025. In Vietnam, seasonal organic rice, which has been seemingly extinct after some time, is gradually reviving and proving its outstanding value to farmers and the ecology. In 2020, the Mekong Delta had over 1,400 hectares of rice in the provinces of Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Kien Giang and Vinh Long which were certified up to the international organic standards (USDA/EU/JAS—U.S. Department of Agriculture/European Union/Japanese Agricultural Standards). Ca Mau had the largest area of organic rice-shrimp production. Meanwhile, the seasonal rice, the kind of seasonal floating rice grown without chemicals likely to be converted to organic certified rice, has begun to revive on the delta soil…   Read More

Title of document: COVID-19 building back greener and more resilient: Contributions of agroecology to a “new normal” in Asia and the Pacific Authors/editor: FAO Journal’s name if any: Ministry/Government Agency/Organization: FAO Year of publication: 2021 Geographic focus: SEA Main issues/ topics addressed (for example:…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb3114en Summary: Besides the severe health crisis, the COVID-19 epidemic also caused the global economy to contract at a rate not seen since the Second World War and led to a severe increase of poor and food insecure people as well as a sharp projected decrease of production of agricultural goods in Southeast Asia. The effects of the pandemic on agriculture have been exacerbated by the way in which the current industrial farming system is set up. Integral to Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) common vision for sustainable food and agriculture, agroecology echoes the goals of the 2030 Agenda and can be seen as a key part of the global response to this climate of instability, offering an original approach to meeting significant increases in our food needs of the future while ensuring no one is left behind. As recognized by the World Bank and FAO-led global agriculture assessment (IAASTD 2019), landmark reports from IPBES (2018; 2019), IPCC (2019), and FAO (2019a), agroecology has the capacity to reconcile the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. This paper is a contribution to the regional dialogue on how to respond to the COVID19 crisis. It first highlights some of the impacts of the pandemic on agriculture and food security in the Asia Pacific Region. Then, mobilizing the FAO’s 10 elements of Agroecology framework, it provides selected examples of how agroecological approaches can contribute transforming food systems and developing a greener, more resilient and more inclusive “new normal”   Read More