TUGAS

Asia-Pacific regional rice strategy

R

ice is the the most important stapel food of the Asia-Pasific region and some 90 percent of the world’s rice is grown in teh region . Its production dominates the agricultural landscape and is an important base of economies, the environment, culture and livelihoods for hundreds of miliion of farmers.

     However, the rice economy is suffering from resource scarcity, notably water and, while rice farming is also blamed for greenhouse gas emissons and degrading natural resources. Rice cunsumption per person is declining as household incomes grow and diets change.

     In 2012, at the 31st FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Hanoi, Viet Nam, FAO member countries asked the Organization to coordinate the developmet of a regional rice strategy.

In response, FAO established the External Rice Advisory Group (ERAG)to formulate a region-wide rice strategy. Professor M S Swaminathan, one of the pioneers of  India’s green revolution , agreed to chair the ERAG working with the group’s tam leader, R B Singh, a former  FAO  Assistant Director General  and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.

     ERAG is composed of executives and rice expets from the following organization: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Inernational Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Asian Development Bank (ADB),  M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), The World Bank (TWB), Farmer and Nature Net (FNN), Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), an advisor to Thailand’s Minister for Agricultureand Cooperatives, and a distinguished Harvard Professor of development studies.