Good News for Mekong Farmers
BEIJING, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA - Farmers, especially smallholders, and the rural poor of six nations stand to benefit from a new program that aims to foster cross-border trade and investment in agriculture, contribute to food security and poverty reduction, and promote environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources. The Core Agriculture Support Program (CASP) was endorsed today by the agriculture ministers of Cambodia, People’s Republic of China (Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, which make up the Greater Mekong Subregion or GMS. This was the first time that the agriculture ministers of the six countries have come together. The meeting was hosted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. The program is the centerpiece of the Strategic Framework for Subregional Cooperation in Agriculture, which the agriculture ministers have approved. It is the latest in a series of cooperative strategies and programs among the six countries, which have been working together for their mutual benefit under the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Program since 1992. Other areas of strategic cooperation include energy, environment, telecommunications, transport, and tourism. A major thrust of the CASP is to ensure that the benefits from new opportunities opening up in agriculture through biofuel crops and the attendant new technologies, and the opening of borders among GMS nations will be spread out equitably. A number of local and global developments present opportunities and challenges for the sector. In recent years the region has been marked by deregulation, opening of borders, and increasing trade, especially along economic corridors that crisscross the region. On the global scale the region is proving susceptible to increasing risks of transboundary animal and crop diseases, and vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change. World hydrocarbon prices are spurring interest in biofuels. Against such a backdrop, agriculture is now viewed not just as a source of food, but clean energy as well. While these developments present new opportunities for the sector, it has also resulted in serious concerns over the future food security in the subregion. Small producers will need to adapt in this rapidly changing environment, and will need access to market information to be competitive. To assist them, the Beijing participants launched the Agriculture Information Network Service – part of a larger project on gathering, managing, and sharing agricultural information using innovative means of communication. The project, in which partnerships between public and private sector organizations will be a prominent feature, will also provide technology to farmers. “The service is a landmark in providing agricultural information. It can benefit all the farmers in the subregion as well as development partners, managers, policy makers, traders, and the general public,” said China’s Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai, whose department is hosting the Agriculture Information Network Service. The CASP will also address concerns over the spread of animal diseases, especially those that can affect humans, such as bird flu, which in recent years, has affected the subregion. Through the CASP, subregional emergency response mechanisms for agriculture-related crises, such as outbreaks of transboundary animal diseases, will be established. “We are very happy that the other GMS countries share our concern about these diseases,” said Cao Duc Phat, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam. “The project on control of transboundary animal diseases will minimize the chance and effects of outbreaks in the future.” Donor agencies active in the region also participated in the meeting. Several agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research, presented proposals for new areas in research and development. ADB has been supporting the GMS Economic Cooperation Program since its inception and coordinated the ministers’ meeting. “ADB will do its part to facilitate stronger cooperation and higher level of investment,” said ADB Vice President Lawrence Greenwood in his closing remarks. Mr. Greenwood highlighted the spirit of cooperation that brought the region’s agricultural ministers together and resulted in the launch of the CASP. He urged the GMS nations to move quickly to keep pace with global developments. “If the region is left behind in dealing with subregional agricultural issues, the economies and peoples of the countries will not realize their potential,” said Mr. Greenwood. About ADB | 
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