AsiaDHRRA Online

AsiaDHRRA joined two Seminars organized by the International Poverty Reduction Center of China (IPRCC). The first seminar on “Policies and Practices of Rural Poverty Reduction in China and ASEAN countries” was held in Wuhan City, Hubei Province last October 12-18, 2011. Twenty five (25) participants from 9 ASEAN countries and China. The second seminar on  [...]

Binadesa shared with us a declaration document they signed together with a multitude of Indonesian CSO’s on the issue of people’s sovereignty in ASEAN. The declaration is entitled “Building People’s Sovereignty in South East Asia Region: Refuse and Oppose the Domination of Global Capitalism” “We, Indonesian people, representations of peasants, workers, migrant workers, fisher folk, [...]

AsiaDHRRA has been tapped by the ASEAN Secretariat to anchor the drafting process of the ASEAN Rural Development and Poverty Eradication Framework Action Plan (RDPE FAP) for 2011-2015.  We are facilitating, together with our national CSO partners and in coordination with the national ASEAN SOMRDPE Focal Points, a series of national consultations this month of [...]

OrganicSaturdays shares this tidbit from GlobalResearch.ca about how Philippine Farmers are reaping the benefits of going organic. MASIPAG-trained farmers have not used chemical pesticides for decades now, he said, with ducks for example an excellent natural control against golden snail; “it converts biomass into eggs and meat as well,” he observed. MASIPAG organic farms, he [...]

This study is part of an initiative to strengthen social accountability mechanisms for food security and agricultural development. Specifically, the program aims to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to monitor and analyze public expenditure processes of IFIs, in particular, the ADB, and the national agencies focusing on agriculture. This paper will: Provide background information on [...]

Something we picked up while browsing The Economist. Food for thought when planning anti-poverty programmes The Economist CELIA ORBOC, a cake-seller in the Philippines, spent her little stipend on a wooden shack, giving her five children a roof over their heads for the first time. In Kyrgyzstan Sharmant Oktomanova spent hers buying flour to feed [...]

Something to read and think over during your downtime… The Rural Poverty Report 2011 is a comprehensive resource for policymakers and practitioners, especially those in developing countries.  The report looks at who poor rural people are, what they do and how their livelihoods are changing.  It explores the challenges that make it so difficult for [...]

FarmFriday shares this interesting newsbit we picked up from PhilRice about a research they conducted that showed Filipino rice farmers have steadily improved their socio-economic status over the past 10 years or so. Any reactions? There is a steady improvement in the social and economic status among Filipino rice farmers and their household for the [...]

HungerWednesday shares this disturbing news at Asia Sentinel we picked up from Manuel Quezon’s FB updates about the yet another rice crisis looming just up ahead. “This year, I will not have enough rice to eat for the whole year,” says Kong Chanthorn, a rice farmer in Srayov Kharng Tbong village in Cambodia’s Kompong Thom [...]

An interesting newsbit from the Inquirer.net about IFAD’s new programs in the Philippines. MANILA, Philippines—Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad) plans to allocate some $73 million for three proposed projects on coastal resource management, agribusiness and upland developments in the country. According to project documents, the amount represented Ifad’s share in the cost of [...]

We are very pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of the activity monograph of the Regional Conference on the Impact of the Global Economic and Financial Crisis on the Vulnerable Sectors in the Region: Civil Society Voices and ASEAN. The booklet is available in both digital and printed format. You can download [...]

Okay, i kid you not, now you can actually construct your house using cow dung bricks!  FarmFriday brings this cool technology developed by the cool guys and gals of  EcoFaeBrick, an Indonesian organization set up to tackle the problem of excessive waste in farming areas.

A report by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), “Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Asia and the Pacific”, highlights that food insecurity is still very much alive in the Asia Pacific region, home to the largest number of hungry people. Sustainable agriculture and food security was the theme topic [...]

By Chee Yoke Heong | Third World Network Features While the current global financial and economic turbulence continues to grab headlines, the food crisis of recent past is still with us. The former should serve as a critical opportunity to address the food problem that would worsen given the multiple challenges to sustainable agriculture and [...]

Luoyang, China (CNN) — Fifty-year-old farmer Du Jianmin says if it doesn’t rain soon in his corner of northern China, his winter wheat crops — which his village of 120 people relies on for food for the year — will die. Henan province is suffering one of China’s worst droughts in 50 years. Henan province [...]