Meeting in Lao PDR discusses sustainable and inclusive agricultural development in ASEAN Member States

Mr.-Xaypladeth-Choulamany-Director-General-of-the-Department-of-Planning-and-Cooperation-2-6

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the German Regional Cooperation project’s ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, together with Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Lao PDR organized the 6th Project Partner Meeting and related meetings on 17-20 November 2015 at Vientiane Plaza Hotel in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR.

ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) as part of the ASEAN-German Programme on Response to Climate Change in Agriculture and Forestry (GAP-CC) being implemented by GIZ is now in its second phase from 2014-2017. As Food Security in ASEAN requires national sustainable agrifood systems that sustain, the livelihoods and competitiveness of agriculture and supply sufficient staple food throughout the region, ASEAN SAS supports development of regionally-coordinated policies, strategies and dialogue concepts for a sustainable agrifood sector; promotion of the use of sustainable inputs and crop management practices through capacity development; and promotion of sustainable cross-border value chains in collaboration with the private sector.

This 6th Project Partner Meeting is another important milestone for ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems to review past achievements and discuss challenges to develop strategies for project implementation beyond 2015.

Dr. Matthias Bickel, Project Director of ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Considering the progress and achievements of project activities over the past years, these meetings provides a platform for project partners from the ASEAN Member States and private sector to discuss challenges and lay out work plans and strategies for project implementation in the coming years.

Mr. Xaypladeth Choulamany, Director General of the Department of Planning and Cooperation and Leader of the Senior Official Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF) for Lao PDR, officially opened the meetings. He highlighted the commitments and efforts of all ASEAN Member States and the support from Development Partners and international organisations contributed to the success of the realisation of the ASEAN Community by the end of December 2015. He reiterated the commitments of the ASEAN Member States made at the 37thAMAF Meeting in the Philippines to continue the cooperation and deepen regional integration beyond 2015 to improve ASEAN’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors and to achieve regional sustainable food security and nutrition. He recognized the efforts of the Member States with the support from the Federal Republic of Germany through ASEAN SAS to enable ASEAN Member States to implement the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework at national level and to strengthen the promotion of sustainable food production in the region.

In her Welcoming Remarks, Ms. Sri Dyah Kusumawardhani, Senior Officer of Agriculture Industries and Natural Resources Division of the ASEAN Secretariat underlined the importance of regional as well as global cooperation and partnerships for achieving food security and nutrition particularly through engaging civil society, private sector and research institutions. She emphasized the importance of sustainable food production through sustainable agrifood systems as addressed by ASEAN SAS and its contribution to food security. She also stressed that the meetings shall highlight emerging threats to food security such as environmental and climate-related changes and identify sustainable approaches for securing food production in the ASEAN region.

Dr. Matthias Bickel, Project Director of ASEAN SAS underscored in his Introductory remarks the German efforts to strengthen food and nutrition security through the promotion of sustainable agrifood systems to ensure food security at national and regional levels under the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework. He highlighted the progress made through the productive collaboration with the Member States to address sustainable food production in three intervention areas of policy frameworks, production technologies and market linkages. Considering ASEAN recognized World Economic Forum (WEF) and supported Grow Asia Partnership, which was officially launched in April 2015 to facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration to enable sustainable and inclusive agricultural development in 10 ASEAN Member States, he emphasized that collaboration and partnership with private sector is the core factor for a success in achieving our goal. At his end note, Mr. Bickel concluded that this meeting is another important milestone for ASEAN SAS to review past achievements and discuss challenges to develop strategies for project implementation beyond 2015.

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22/11/201508/08/2017

Training on Food and Nutrition Security in Lao PDR

Food and nutrition security remains a priority agenda for the government of Lao PDR. The Lao government has shown its commitment in addressing food and nutrition security in the country by recently launching the National Zero Hunger Challenge aiming to eradicate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. At ASEAN level, Lao PDR engaged in the development process of the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework and the Strategic Plan of Action on Food and Nutrition Security in the ASEAN Region (SPA-FS) which provide scope and joint pragmatic approaches for cooperation among ASEAN Member States in addressing food security in the region.

At the national level, Lao PDR has developed and implemented a number of policies and strategies to strengthen food and nutrition security, namely the Agricultural Development Strategy to 2025 and Vision to 2030, the National Rice Production for National Food Security Strategy, Development Strategy of the Crop Sector 2025 and Vision 2030, and the National Nutrition Strategy and Plan of Action for 2010-2015.

One of the key recommendations from the Policy Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework in Lao PDR which ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) organised in collaboration with the Lao Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) on 10 July 2015 in Vientiane is the need for capacity development of government officials and farmers at both national and local levels to ensure effective implementation of relevant food and nutrition security policies and strategies in Lao PDR.

In line with the project strategy to enable ASEAN Member States to implement the AIFS Framework at national level, ASEAN SAS works with Lao government to strengthen capacity of its personnel on food and nutrition security in order to develop and implement effective policies and strategies addressing food and nutrition security in Lao PDR.

The Training on Food and Nutrition Security in Lao PDR co-organised by Department of Agriculture and ASEAN SAS on 5-9 October 2015 aimed to create understanding and enhance knowledge on food and nutrition security and strengthen facilitation skills of participants. 17 young and motivated officials from line Ministries including the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Sport, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and National University of Laos have participated in the training. It is expected that these trainees shall take part in future activities of Lao government to strengthen provincial and district-level capacity in improving food and nutrition security situation of Lao PDR.

by Duangruetai Surasakjinda, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

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13/11/201508/08/2017

Partnership project to promote organic value chain in Vietnam

A strategic alliance between German organic companies and private-sector actors in Vietnam, so called Organic Value Chain Partnership (OVCP), is soon to be set up with the mandate of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – Sector Project “Agricultural Trade and Agricultural Value Chains”. Its aim is to realize multi-year projects promoting different organic value chains in Vietnam.

In the context of growing organic markets in Europe as well as developing and emerging countries, the organic sector in Germany is becoming increasingly interested in sourcing from the BMZ partner country Vietnam. These private-sector actors have a need for reliable, sustainable and certified sources of production. Promoting organic value chains including the trade of these products in Europe can contribute to income growth, promotion of employment, sustainable management of natural resources, local value added as well as improved food safety and quality.

As part of the project initialization, GIZ – Sector Project “Agricultural Trade and Agricultural Value Chains”, with support from the ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) project in Vietnam recently conducted two market studies on the Vietnamese organic sector and one German organic company visiting tour from July to October 2015 in the south of Vietnam. The objective of these activities is to get a reliable assessment of the current conditions of the organic sector in Vietnam and to identify potential entry points for value chain development in the sector.

organic coconut intercroping with cocoa orchard

The next steps concerning OVCP in Vietnam include:

Follow-up possibility discussion with German organic companies about which impressions they got during the mission within their companies then report back to the Sector Project where they see the most interesting opportunities for a project.
Based on their feedback, the Sector Project will prioritize and decide which projects will be developed further. By mid-November, project concepts will be sketched which will define what are the specific roles, responsibilities and inputs of both the private partners and GIZ will look like. This should then provide a good basis for further discussions with the local partners.

The aim is to get the final permission for the Strategic Alliance from BMZ until the end of this year (2015) and beginning of next year in order to being able to start with the implementation of the project(s) early 2016.

05/11/201508/08/2017

Farmers greet Indonesia’s DG for food crops with pest discussion

When Indonesian Agriculture Ministry’s Director General for Food Crops visits a Farmer Field School in North Sumatra’s Nagur Village, Indonesia, farmers are discussing about pest and diseases they regularly spot in their rice fields among their farmer classmates. The class is part of the Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA), a cooperation of public private partnership and a sister project of German ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS).

Dr. Hasil Sembiring, Director General for Food Crops (right) and Mr. Isnaini, BRIA Deputy Manager for Agriculture Component (left) at the Farmer Field School in Nagur Village, North Sumatra.

“Coming to learn about the BRIA activities today is very important for both the Indonesian government and farmers,” said Dr. Hasil Sembiring at the Farmer Field School in Sedang Bedagai District. “The government encourages farmers to adopt innovative agriculture technology to increase productivity to fulfil food security for our population and the BRIA training helps us to be able to achieve the goal.”

Dr. Sembiring’s visit to the Farmer Field School is part of the monitoring activities from Indonesian government to BRIA activities as part of MOU signed between Ministry of Agriculture and GIZ Indonesia.

There are 15 Farmer Field Schools in North Sumatra and East Java under BRIA currently. Participated leader farmers exchange their traditional farming practices and experiences with BRIA Field Facilitators and in the mean time learn about innovative and environmentally friendly agriculture technology for better and higher yields to increase their profits for a long term solution for food security. The 14-topic module consists of, for instance, land preparation, seed technology, soil and nutrient management, pest management, post harvest, farmers organization strengthening as well as market access.

Farmers draw pictures of pest and diseases that they spot in their rice paddies and present to their classmates.

Each school consists of 25 farmers including female farmers, young generation farmers and community leaders. They meet approximately once a week for half a day learning one topic each time. For example, in the topic of pest and disease control and management, the day of Dr. Sembiring’s visit, farmers are assigned to work in groups to identify pests and diseases they regularly spots in the rice fields and draw pictures and make presentation to their classmates. The class discusses about the causes and symptoms and how to effectively treat them with safety.

The participated farmers do not receive any financial supports or any incentives to attend BRIA’s Farmer Field School, but the attendance rate is up to 80 to 90 per cent.

Abdul Aziz Hasibuan, 34-year-old farmer at Nagur Village says he wants to learn about the best farming practices in this BRIA School. “I want to increase the productivity in the rice field. But I don’t have knowledge and skill. So I am interested although there is no cash incentive.”

Another farmer participant, Sugiati, 42, adds: “Knowledge is an incentive. When you have knowledge to increase productivity, cash will come later.”

Dr. Sembiring visited the BRIA Farmer Field School in Nagur Village, North Sumatra on 14 June 2015.

Story and photos by Rojana Manowalailao, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Field Facilitator tells about pest and diseases to her student farmers at the Farmer Field School.

27/10/201508/08/2017

Challenges in Lao crop sector discussed in the country’s newly launched ‘Development Strategy’

In Lao PDR, the population is forecasted to reach 7,5 million and 8.3 million in 2020 and 2025 respectively and these figures do not include tourists who visit the country by 3 million times per year, according to the ‘Development Strategy of the Crop Sector 2015 and Vision 2030’ recently launched by Lao’s Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

To support the population growth, countries around the world are requested to increase 60 per cent of the current world food production.

However, according to the ‘Development Strategy of the Crop Sector’ challenges in Lao PDR comprise changes in land use and climate, and low quality of agricultural products and commodities.

In Lao PDR, more land under food and cash crops keeps changing to other crops such as industrial crops and the changes leads to land use conflicts. Changes in crop land will continue until relevant regulations and land tenure are strictly enforced.

Besides, an average amount of rainfall is estimated to increase by 4.2 per cent with more natural calamities such as floods and droughts that result in rice insufficiency and food insecurity, and further result in a delay in planting and lower production in some areas along the Mekong River and its tributaries. It is noted that an increase in temperature (greenhouse gas) will have detrimental effects on crop productivity especially crops that prefer low temperature. It is also noted that the rising temperature is a possible cause for a higher incidence of pests and weeds that leads to more investment and results in a higher food price.

Agricultural products of Lao PDR are seen with low quality. One reason is that the low quality agricultural products in Lao PDR result from a scattered farming, low farm infrastructures and technology, and less quality control and those products will not be traded and exported.

Integrating the Lao economy into the world and regional economies is an important factor that contributes to growth of the agriculture sector and that provides an opportunity for agricultural products of Lao PDR to enter international and regional markets.

At the same period, agricultural products and commodities from other countries will enter Lao PDR and they will share domestic markets. It is, therefore, necessary to improve quality of agricultural products and commodities of Lao PDR to meet regional and international market requirements such as food safety. It is noted that relevant regulations on sanitary and phytosanitary, quality control and certification need to be strictly enforced for meeting the requirements applied by WTO.

Agricultural products and commodities in Lao PDR need to be certified for quality and food safety, and thus quality certification and control for organic agriculture (OA), Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) and other forms of farming are key measures for exporting commodities. In this connection, the crop sector in Lao PDR needs to formulate and develop policies and regulations for improving farming practices that ensures food safety and acceptable quality.

The Lao’s ‘Development Strategy of the Crop Sector 2025’ is one of the strategic documents, which include an analysis of crop production and development of the crop sector which has been carried out recently. The strategy contains vision, objectives and goals for development of the crop sector in Lao PDR until 2025.

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The ‘Development Strategy’ is formulated with an aim of providing a policy reference for short, medium and long term development planning and for implementation of the Lao government’s policies, laws, regulations, national socio-economic development plans, and regional and international integration. A focus has been given to production of food and cash crops that is safe for producers, consumers and the environment, development for technical capacity, plant protection and plant quarantine, establishment of standards, regulations and information systems that can be integrated internationally and regionally. Focus has also been given to allocation of land areas for cultivation of food crops and cash crops by being based on the local conditions such as natural resources, cultures and local knowledge. A further focus has been given to sustainable management of farming systems, resources and water resources, and allocation of agriculture land in the whole country.

13/10/201508/08/2017

Winding road trip with the Indonesian Director-General for Food Crops

Left and right and right and left… Traveling from Kabanjahe to Perbulan Village of Karo Regency of Indonesia requires a lot of concentration and attention. While many several curves in this long and winding road can be exhausting and tiring but for the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry’s Director-General for Food Crops, Dr. Hasil Sembiring, this three-hour trip is tiny.

Mr. Sulaiman Ginting, a Regional Project Coordinator of ASEAN SAS, travels with Dr. Hasil Sembiring to meet farmers at Perbulan Village in the North Sumatra.

About a hundred of farmers are waiting for his arrival at the village. This is the first visit of the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry’s Director-General for Food Crops to this rice and maize production area.

“I am very happy that the Director-General for Food Crops comes to our village,” says one of the farmers. “Our village is not a core area, neither in terms of political nor economic influence, but he makes it here today.”

District of Karo’s local government invites Mr. Sembiring to the village to meet the farmers and learn about their challenges and difficulties and he agrees. He says Karo is his hometown.

Here at the village, challenges and difficulties include poor irrigation system, flooding, minimal use of land for its optimal output, and low quality of rice seed for planting.

Farmers at Perbulan Village of Karo Regency comes to meet and greet Dr. Hasil Sembiring, the Director General for Food Crops

Mr. Sembiring says that the Indonesian government encourages farmers to adopt innovative farming practices and technologies to increase rice production and reduce labor cost. He urges the local government of Karo District and farmers at Perbulan Village to request for national budgets to improve the situation.

He also extends his warm welcome to a GIZ representative who joins him in this trip and expresses his wishes to further develop cooperation with GIZ in improving the situation.

Regional Project Coordinator of German-ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS), based in Medan, Mr. Sulaiman Ginting, accompanies the Director General on the day. The ASEAN SAS is the only development agencies invited by the District of Karo’s local government to join this field trip.

Mr. Ginting says the field visit gives a great opportunity for the ASEAN SAS to look for possibilities for further future cooperation to support the national and local governments as well as the farmers.

“We are thinking about a capacity development project to help farmers in this area to produce their own quality rice seed for planting,” says Mr. Ginting.

And now back to the three-hour bumpy winding road but smiles are on the face.

The field visit was organized by District of Karo on 13 June 2015.

Story and photos by Rojana Manowalailao, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Dr. Hasil Sembiring watches a planting machine demonstration at Perbulan Village of Kabanjahe District.

29/09/201508/08/2017

Policy Dialogues organized in Lao PDR and Myanmar discussing priority actions for improving national food and nutrition security

With a new set of Sustainable Development Goals on the table to be formally adopted by world leaders at the UN Sustainable Development Summit on 25 – 27 September 2015, food and nutrition security remains one of the top priorities of the post-2015 global development agenda.

A high level Policy Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework in Lao PDR was held on 10 July 2015 in Vientiane.

The governments of Lao PDR and Myanmar showed their commitments in the fight against hunger by launching the National Zero Hunger Challenge (ZHC) which aims to eradicate hunger and ensure food security for all.

In June this year, Lao PDR and Myanmar have received special FAO awards for their achievements in the fight against hunger. Both countries have reached the Millennium Development Goal (MDG-1c) which aimed to reduce the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half between 1990 and 2015. According to the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 published by FAO, IFAD and WFP, the prevalence of undernourishment has decreased from 42.8% in 1990-92 to 18.5% in Lao PDR while in Myanmar the prevalence has decreased from 62.6% to 14.2%.

The governments of Lao PDR and Myanmar reiterated the importance of food and nutrition security for their countries by organizing the Policy Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework in collaboration with a German regional cooperation project’s ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) on 10 July 2015 in Vientiane and in Nay Pyi Taw on 3 September 2015. Both events brought together stakeholders from concerned Ministries, Development Partners, Civil Society Organizations and the private sector. The Dialogues provided a platform to discuss and exchange information on key challenges, issues and roles of responsible agencies and the contribution of Sustainable Agrifood Systems towards food security and to agree on recommendations, priority actions and cooperation mechanism to foster collective efforts in implementing national policies and strategies which are in accordance with regional and global policy frameworks for food and nutrition security including the AIFS Framework.

Lao PDR and Myanmar have received special FAO awards for their achievements in the fight against hunger.

(From left) U Soe Win, Director of Land Use Division, U Aung Kyaw Oo, Director of Plant Protection Division and U Naing Kyi Win, Deputy Director-General of Department of Agriculture, Myanmar give an interview about the Policy Dialogue to a journalist from Farmer Channel.

Lao PDR has implemented a number of policies and strategies to strengthen food and nutrition security in the country including the Agricultural Development Strategy to 2025 and Vision to 2030, the Rice Production for National Food Security Action Plan, and the National Nutrition Strategy and Plan of Action for 2010 – 2015. The Policy Dialogue highlighted the importance of Sustainable Agrifood Systems, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), sustainable water management, research and development, promotion of farmers groups, and Public-Private Partnerships in ensuring food security in the country. To achieve national food and nutrition security in Lao PDR, the Policy Dialogue recommended that more efforts should be put into strengthening cooperation among agencies at national and local levels, measuring of progress and achievements of food and nutrition security interventions, and providing capacity development of both government personnel and farmers.

Myanmar is in the process of finalizing the Myanmar National Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Security (MNAPFNS) to be launched by the end of 2015. The Action Plan shall offer a 10-year vision and timeframe providing an overarching framework and priority interventions to guide sectoral operational plans. To strengthen food and nutrition security in the country, the Policy Dialogue identified priority actions which include policy, institutional and legislative improvements, development of enabling support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), product and product standard development, development of market and price information systems, nutrition improvement, and access to finance and investment. In view of continuation to develop sustainable agriculture and ensuring its contribution to national food and nutrition security, the Policy Dialogue put an emphasis on management of natural resources, effective use and optimization of agricultural inputs, climate smart agriculture, harvesting and post-harvest efficiency, capacity development and effective extension services, and investment in agribusiness and value chain development.

The Policy Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework in Myanmar was held in Nay Pyi Taw on 3 September 2015.

To support the implementation of the new Action Plan and relevant policies and strategies, the Policy Dialogue recommended that Myanmar should provide capacity development of government officials, develop food and nutrition security monitoring and evaluation, and strengthen inter-agency collaboration and partnership with other stakeholders in agriculture such as private sector, civil society, academic and research institutes.

ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems Project took note the discussions and recommendations from these Policy Dialogues to provide further support to Lao PDR, Myanmar and other ASEAN Member States to strengthen their capacities in implementing food and nutrition security policies and strategies that are in line with regional and global policy frameworks. Tailor-made trainings on food and nutrition security at national level are being planned in collaboration with the local partners to address the needs and priority actions raised during the Policy Dialogues.

By Duangruetai Surasakjinda, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

24/09/201508/08/2017

Farmers and pesticide retailers to get trained in integrated pest management in Vietnam

CropLife International and GIZ recently agreed on carrying through a training programme for farmers and pesticide retailers called “Promotion of Integrated Pest Management to address plant hopper outbreaks in Rice”. ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) is implementing this project in the context of the Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) together with Vietnam’s Plant Protection Department (PPD), the Southern Regional Plant Protection Center (SRPPC), and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in three provinces. At least 15,000 farmers and 300 pesticide retailers will be trained in agro-ecological practices and the effective use and safe application of pesticides.

From left: Mr. Raghavan Sampathkumar, Stewardship Director of Croplife Asia; Mr. Le Tien Phong, Interpreter; Keith Jones, Stewardship Director of Croplife International; Ambros Dotzer, Head of Component/ Regional Coordinator ASEAN SAS; and Ms. Do Thi Thanh Huyen, Senior Project Officer ASEAN SAS Vietnam.

In Vietnam, farmers are rarely applying natural, mechanical and biological control methods, and rely heavily on the use of chemical pesticides which results in high productions costs due to unnecessary expenses and unsafe practices. For developing new training modules for farmers and retailers, ASEAN SAS cooperates with the Can Tho University and the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLLRI). The training modules address the protection of natural enemies of pests, the accurate diagnosis of problems, definition of action thresholds and consequent decision making on the choice of appropriate products that are registered for control of plant-hoppers (and/or other rice pests), in order to avoid problems of resistance and resurgence.

In September 2015, a “Project Partners Meeting” was held at the SRPPC in Tien Giang province, together with the provincial representatives of PPD and DARD of three provinces involved in the project. Keith Jones, Stewardship Director of Croplife International, and Raghavan Sampathkumar, Stewardship Director of Croplife Asia, assisted at this meeting. Provincial partners showed their commitment by announcing financial contributions to the project. In this regard, the impact of the project would be multiplied and the contents of the training would become part of the working agenda of the partner institutions.

In the beginning of October this year, the first phase of the project will start with the Training of Trainers. Thirty-nine staff from the partner institutions in the three provinces have been selected to get trained and afterwards assuming the function of Master trainers, who will train both groups of smallholder farmers and retailers during the whole project period. The project will be accompanied by an awareness campaign at community, districts and provincial levels, involving schools and agricultural colleges as well.

Participants at the “Project Partners Meeting” in Tien Giang province

14/09/201508/08/2017

Life outside a coconut shell Food safety auditor raises different perspectives to fruit juice standard

Life outside a coconut shell: Food safety auditor raises different perspectives to fruit juice standard

Napaporn Rattanametta compared her life as a frog living in a coconut shell. With her nine-year experiences working in Thailand’s fruit juice industry she thought she knew a lot, but after starting working in a private partnership project “Improved Product Safety and Quality for the Thai Fruit Juice Industry”, she changed her mind.

Ms. Napaporn Rattanametta climbs up a stock juice tank for checking effectiveness of Cleaning In Place system.

“Working as an auditor for this project, it is like I was given a new pair of glasses that made me sees a different new world. I feel like I came out of the coconut shell I once lived in.”

Started three years ago, this private partnership agreement between Sure Global Fair (SGF), a global voluntary certification system for fruit processing industry based in Germany, and GIZ’s ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems looked for opportunities in increasing safety and quality standard of Thai fruit juice products in complying with national and international recognized standards.

Since then, climbing a fruit juice stock tank of a two-storey high to check its hygiene becomes common for Ms. Rattanametta as part of her on the job training as the SGF auditor. Opening a cover of fruit pressing machine smelling fermented juice due to improper equipment cleaning additionally becomes her ordinary life. Plus, stretching out her hand inside a peeling machine to take photos in a blind spot for checking residues of cleaning chemical substances becomes her expertise.

“Although there is a cleaning system in all production machines, you cannot rely on it alone. Your fruit juice consumers can be young children and if you are concerned, you should do more in checking your factory hygiene,” she said.

Ms. Rattanametta discusses with a fruit juice factory manager after her audit of how to improve the fruit juice safety and standard assurance of the factory.

“I do not think it is just about putting the factory to meeting the certified standard. Every quality assurance team of all factories should do the same as the SGF auditor does. When everything is right, your fruit juice quality will be right. Besides, a risk of product damage will be reduced, and consequently a cost of production will be minimized.

“This should be a common standard to all factories to improve the fruit juice product quality,” she said.

For improving fruit juice safety and quality standard, according to Ms. Rattanametta, two major factors involve selecting good raw materials and cleanliness of the production machines.

“In Thailand, for example, due to a high demand and competition, pineapple fruit juice production factories pay more attention to receiving a large numbers of raw materials for production rather than getting a right kind of the raw materials with no chemical residue and proper maturity.”

Thailand is the number one exporter of pineapple fruit juice. There are about 20 pineapple juice production factories in the country. Ms. Rattanametta visited almost every one of them.

Ms. Rattanametta takes a retain sample for analysis at an external laboratory.

In her three years, she gained her best knowledge and experiences. With SGF she learnt about European fruit juice standard and production techniques and how to produce fruit juice with good taste and safety for consumers, and raise awareness on plant hygiene, for instance.

“My SGF mentor auditor is very knowledgeable and he taught me a lot including auditing tips and techniques. He also said all mistakes occurred during a fruit juice production can be identified from a laboratory sample test analysis.”

Besides on the site auditing, SGF collects fruit juice samples at a production line for lab analysis on safety and authenticity substances.

“When you use unripe raw material, it can tell from the lab result. When the production machines are not clean, it can tell from the lab result. When water is leaking during production, it can tell from the lab result,” she said.

Ms. Rattanametta is now the certified SGF auditor, the only one in Thailand and South East Asia.

“I’m happy and proud that I can take part in improving the Thai fruit juice industry and help the Thai factories who are looking to find solutions for their production problems in getting the answers in improving their products.

“My answers make me sound like a beauty queen, but I am not. I am just the fruit juice auditor,” she said with a smile.”

Ms. Rattanametta is also a project manager on food safety for ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems.

The project “Improved Product Safety and Quality for the Thai Fruit Juice Industry” recently ended in April this year.

By Rojana Manowalailao and Napaporn Rattanametta, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Ms. Rattanametta trains factory staff about plant hygiene

10/09/201508/08/2017

High level ‘Policy Dialogue’ discussing national policies on food and nutrition security in Myanmar

Myanmar has been preparing the Development of National Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Security (2015), which will provide a strategy for strengthening the agricultural food and energy sector, including nutritious food production. U Naing Kyi Win, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Agriculture said during his opening and keynote speech at a high level policy dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework at New Ayar Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on 3rd September 2015.

GIZ team with moderators and panelists for the Policy Dialogue

U Naing Kyi Win highlighted the importance of food and nutrition security in Myanmar through its commitment to eradicate poverty and hunger. He stated that a number of national level initiatives have been undertaken for development of policy and institutional reforms for poverty reduction, national economic development, and human resource development in Myanmar. He believed that this Policy Dialogue would play a significant role in addressing long-term food security and improvement of the livelihood of farmers not only in Myanmar but also in ASEAN Member States.

At the Dialogue, he also emphasised the effort of the Myanmar Government in addressing food security at the regional level by engaging in the development process of the AIFS Framework and its Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region (SPA-FS), 2015 – 2020 and by fulfilling an obligation in providing emergency food stocks to the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR).

The Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation hosted the High Level Policy Dialogue on Food and Nutrition Security and the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework. The German regional cooperation project’s ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) supported the event. The project is part of the ASEAN-German Programme on Response to Climate Change in Agriculture and Forestry (GAP-CC) and is being implemented by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH).

During a presentation by Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, Senior Regional Advisor of ASEAN SAS

The policy dialogue provided a platform to discuss and exchange information and agree on recommendations, concrete actions and coordination mechanisms to implement national policies and strategies on food and nutrition security in Myanmar in accordance with national, regional, and global policy frameworks. The AIFS Framework, adopted by the ASEAN leaders in 2009, is thereby the key regional framework for Myanmar. The event brought together stakeholders from the Myanmar Government, Development Partners, Civil Society Organisations and the private sector.

Ms. Pouchamarn Wongsanga, Senior Regional Coordinator of the GIZ’s ASEAN SAS highlighted in her welcoming remarks the German efforts to strengthen food and nutrition security through promotion of sustainable agrifood systems under the AIFS Framework. By this, long-term food security and improved livelihoods of farmers could be achieved.

She emphasised that the Policy Dialogue was a crucial step that would lay a foundation for practical implementation of relevant policies and strategies on food and nutrition security in Myanmar. The experiences and opinions to be shared during this Dialogue would be integrated into final recommendations and commitments that would help making progress towards achieving sustainable food production and food security in Myanmar.

Ms. Pouchamarn Wongsanga, Senior Regional Advisor thanked the Department of Agriculture for hosting the event.

ASEAN SAS provides technical assistance to ASEAN Member States of which a number of cooperation activities have been implemented both at national level in Myanmar and in the ASEAN region. Myanmar has been participating in ASEAN SAS activities including the development of the ASEAN Guidelines on the Regulation, Use and Trade of Biological Control Agents (BCA), which were endorsed by ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) in 2014, and the ongoing development of the ASEAN Guidelines on Soil and Nutrient Management, and various capacity development activities to promote food and nutrition security and sustainable agrifood systems.

By definition at the World Food Summit in 1996, food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Sustainable Agrifood systems are a long-term approach towards food security in the ASEAN region as it responds to the region’s special needs. Best practices to achieve sustainable agriculture, to optimise production inputs and the farming practices that integrate climate resilience are being identified and shared. Environment-friendly approaches and the reduction of pesticide use have also come into play to produce safe and good quality agrifood products.

About the ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) project

Overall objective of the ASEAN SAS project is to support ASEAN Member States to implement the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework and its Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region (SPA-FS). The project focuses on the promotion of sustainable food production at the national level and development of regionally-coordinated policies and strategies for sustainable agriculture as solutions for long-term food security in the region. This includes the promotion of cross-border value chains in concert with public decision-makers, agricultural enterprises as well as farmers and private associations.