Workshop Report pdf - IFAD

Mongolia:
The Rural Poverty Reduction Programme supports rural households in growing vegetables
for consumption and sale to increase income. Rural households are provided with potato
and vegetable seeds, hand tools, greenhouses, funds for potato storage, and training
related to growing and preserving vegetables. Growing vegetables helps rural families in
Mongolia improve nutrition and reduce food expenditures.
The Philippines:
IFAD-supported projects in the Philippines address food sufficiency through documentation
of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and practices on highland organic rice production,
promotion of appropriate and improved farm technology, provision of agricultural
infrastructure support, and high value fish culture. In particular, the display presented
success stories about the introduction of Diversified Farming System, construction of
Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS), promotion of High Value Fish Culture, Bio Intensive
Gardening and Improved Seaweeds Farming.
Sri Lanka:
The Dry Zone Livelihood Support & Partnership Programme supports the implementation of
Farmer Field Schools (FFS), development of marketing linkages through contract farming
and forward sales agreement; promotion of self employment through subsidiary loan
scheme, and improvement of living standards by providing basic infrastructure.
Viet Nam:
In Ha Tinh province, because of the small size of the average landholding, agriculture
remains at subsistence level. Among the successful project activities implemented to
support agriculture development in the project area: high quality rice, high quality sweet
potato, pig raising, duck raising, aquaculture techniques.
ICARDA
The display covered the work of ICARDA on linking Tajik mohair producers and women
spinners with consumers in the United States, with the objective of increasing incomes
from mohair production and processing. ICARDA’s collaboration with Tajik farmers on
Angora goat breeding and work with women’s groups on spinning luxury mohair in yarns for
export has been presented. The display also showed how American knitters are included in
testing the yarns and providing feedback to the spinners, and how the participants and
activities re-enforce one another through collaboration and synchronized incentives and
generate a powerful dynamic that opens new opportunities for Angora goat production and
mohair processing, with positive impact on the livelihoods of rural women. Mohair
products formed part of the ICARDA exhibit.
ICIMOD
ICIMOD presented a case study from North East India on Coping with Change: Emerging
vulnerabilities with agricultural transformations and climate change. The findings of a
recent field survey to assess the impact of agricultural transformation and climate changes
in four districts in Meghalaya were presented. With changes in climatic conditions being
perceived over the last few years – erratic rainfall, longer dry periods and increasing
temperature – recurrent incidences of productivity declines, die back of saplings and pests
have emerged. In areas with large scale cashew plantations, reduced volume of water
flows in rivers and drier conditions are perceived. New pest attacks in arecanut have been
reported which threaten the plantations set up by communities. These conditions render
even rich farmers highly vulnerable and if the die-backs and pest attack continues, even
rich farmers could slip back to poverty as their traditional risk aversion mechanisms have
been completely replaced with monoculture cash crops.
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