AsiaDHRRA Online

A five-member Asiadhrra delegation spearheaded by Ms. Marlene Ramirez, Asiadhrra Secretary General and Mr. Yoshikuni Yatani, Asiadhrra Execom member and Dr. Bui Quang Toan, Vietdhrra Chairperson, has been invited to participate in the 31st session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific which will be held in Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, from 12 to 16 March 2012.

The five day conference will be held at the Melia Hanoi Hotel and is hosted by the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

“The agenda focuses, firstly, on regional and global policy and regulatory issues such as the state of food and agriculture in Asia-Pacific, and on two initiatives by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)  – the process to map food security and nutrition actions, and the preparation of the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition, the need for sustainable intensification and diversification of crops towards food and nutrition security, and value chain development and post-harvest loss reduction for small-scale farmers.

Secondly, the conference will consider programme and budgetary matters and review proposals for enhancing FAO’s effectiveness and efficiency at country level and make recommendations on the most suitable structure and skills mix of the network of FAO offices in the region.

The report of the senior officials will be reviewed and endorsed by ministers, between 15 and 16 March, focusing on measures to speed up progress by Asia-Pacific countries towards the November 1996 World Food Summit goal of halving hunger levels by half by the year 2015.”

more about the 31st APRC here…..

Asiadhrra is co-organizing with fellow regional CSOs and the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VNFU) the “CSO Meeting: Consolidating Efforts for Effective Engagement on Food and Agriculture Governance”  in conjunction with the 31st FAO-Asia Pacific Regional Conference.

It will be held at the Khan Quang Do Hotel in Hanoi, Viet Nam on March 10-11, 2012.

The CSO Meeting will bring together representatives of farmers, fisher folk, Indigenous
Peoples, rural women, rural youth, cooperatives, NGOs and other civil society organizations, to discuss the priority issues that are affecting the food security of the region. Partners from governments, donor community, international and intergovernmental bodies are expected to join.

The CSO Meeting aims to provide the 31st FAO-APRC critical inputs from various CSO
perspectives and positions on the priority issues they have identified through consultative processes over the last several years. They are anchored on field experience, giving voices to the concerns and aspirations of the marginalized rural peoples.

Among the objectives of the CSO Consultation are:

1. To exchange situation of agriculture and food in the region and share experiences with a view to enhancing mutual understanding, solidarity, friendship, cooperation among the CSOs in South East Asia and South Asia for sustainable  development of agriculture .
2. To analyze the situation of agriculture and food in Asia and the Pacific region and   to  make recommendations at the same time  working  out  proactive, active and constructive measures to cope with common challenges / problems.
3. To facilitate the integration of the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) in the FAO-CSO regional processes and promote other innovative CSO mechanisms in the region towards the strengthening of the role and participation of CSOs  in the development processes at all levels.

Our warmest congratulations to the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) who celebrates their 10th Anniversary today as they hold the event entitled “AFA@10: Celebrating Successes, Taking On More Challenges: AFA Regional Consultations and 5th AFA General Assembly” on March 7-9, 2012 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

AFA came into fruition after a series farmer exchanges in several countries in Asia facilitated by AsiaDHRRA and was formally launched on May 2002 in Malaysia.

AFA’s membership currently includes farmers’ organizations from Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.

Ms. Marlene Ramirez, representing the Asiadhrra network, joined the Fourth Meeting of the Farmers Forum (FAFO)  held on Feburary 20-21, 2012 at the IFAD Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The Farmers’ Forum “is an on-going, bottom-up process of consultation and dialogue between small farmers’ and rural producers’ organizations (FOs), IFAD and governments, focused on agricultural and rural development and poverty reduction. The Forum is rooted in concrete partnerships and collaborations at the country and regional levels. The Farmers’ Forum was born in 2005 and it meets every two years for a global consultation, in conjunction with the Governing Council of IFAD.

The Fourth Farmers’ Forum highlighted the importance of the participation of the youth in agriculture by  “inviting young farmers and representatives of rural youth movements [to the meeting]…..to share experiences and views of young rural people from different regions and to contribute to the formulation of successful policies and programmes.”

More info on the Fourth Farmers’ Forum here….

Interesting news about China pushing out new legislations “restricting research, field trials, production, sale, import and export of genetically engineered grain seeds. The draft stipulates that no organization or person can employ unauthorized GE technology in any major food product in China.”

“This is actually a world-first initiative that deals with GE food legislation at state law level,” according to my colleague, Fang Lifeng, a food and agriculture campaigner with Greenpeace.

“There are currently too many loopholes and weak control over GE food and technology in China. This law needs to clarify what ‘relevant laws and regulations’ can be applied to regulate GE crops. We urge legislators to accelerate the legislation of Genetically Engineered Organisms Bio-safety Law, and also to enhance the supervision of GE food and other products. Otherwise, this law will only be paying lip service,” Fang warned.

 The grain law will likely have significant ramifications for China’s rice, the country’s most important staple food. The origins of rice cultivation can be traced to the valleys of the Yangtze River, with some estimates suggesting cultivation began over 7,000 years ago. It dictates the lives of millions of farmers in the Chinese countryside and feeds over a billion Chinese citizens each year. And using experimental GE technology to meddle with such a widely eaten crop could spell disaster – ecologically, financially and for human health.

continue reading here….

RAWANG, Feb 2 (Bernama) — Forty-two people received their identification documents, namely Mykad, Citizenship and birth certificate today.

Among them were a 49-year-old barber M. Soundrarajan from Rasah, Negeri Sembilan and Hartini Abd Rani, 33 from Hulu Bernam.

During the event organised by The Development of Human Resources in Rural Area (DHRRA Malaysia), its President and Hulu Selangor Member of Parliament P. Kamalanathan handed over the documents to the recipients.

“Without a Mykad, I could not find a better job and not able to carry out any official task, including applying for bank loan,” Soundarajan told Bernama here today after receiving his MyKad from Kamalanathan in Bukit Beruntung, Rawang here Thursday.

Hartini meanwhile, said she had lost her MyKad in 2007 and had to go through a torrid time, including failing to register the birth of her second child Sri Nurazrin Zaaba, who is now four years old.

“After losing the MyKad, I could not afford to pay the RM300 fine and as a result could not register the birth of my second child,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kamalanathan advised those with important documents like MyKad, birth certificate and citizenship to safeguard their belongings since losing them would result in difficulties.

He said DHRRA Malaysia had been assisting poor Malaysians to apply for such documents and since February last year, the organisation had helped 135 people to receive their identification documents.

“People should safeguard their personal identification documents. They must also not misuse such documents,” he said.

More updates from DHRRA  Malaysia here….

Here’s an interesting advice to world leaders from the tech titan and currently the biggest private philanthropist, Bill Gates who outlines in his 2012 Annual letter the need to invest more in agriculture “We can help poor farmers sustainably increase their productivity so they can feed themselves and their families. But that will only happen if we prioritize agricultural innovation.”

The private market does a great job of innovating in many areas, particularly for people who have money. The focus of Melinda’s and my foundation is to encourage innovation in the areas where there is less profit opportunity but where the impact for those in need is very high. That is why we have devoted almost $2 billion to helping poor farm families, most of which are led by women, boost their productivity while preserving the land for future generations. Those funds are invested in many areas of innovation, ranging from sustainable land management, to better ways to educate farmers, to connecting farmers to functioning markets.

Continue reading Bill Gates 2012 Annual Letter here…

Here’s great news straight from  José A. Osaba and our good friends at WRF. Thanks to all partners and friends and the Asiadhrra Network for actively participating in the IYFF campaign!

“We have got finally the good news that many of our organizations have been waiting for. Today, December 22nd 2011, at 4.55 pm, New York time, the UN General Assembly has declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming-IYFF. Last October, the Permanent Mission of the Philippines  to the UN, introduced to the GA Second Committee a draft resolution about the IYFF declaration, co-sponsored afterwards  by many other countries and, eventually approved by consensus of all its members. We are extremely grateful to the Permanent Mission of the Philippines for its leadership and its commitment to the IYFF declaration procedure, and to all the countries that have co-sponsored the draft Resolution or given their final approval.

Thanks to the kidness of the Spanish Permanent Mission, I have been present during today´s GA plenary session in New York, keeping in mind with admiration during such historical moments, the more than 350 organizations from 60 countries that have been supporting the IYFF Campaign.

We have reached the main objective of our common Campaign in favour of the IYFF declaration,  started on February 2008, after the celebration of the II IFAD´s Farmers´s Forum in Rome.  For the first time in history, an International Year has been promoted by Civil Society. Many thanks to everybody!”

José A. Osaba

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  “Theory and Practice of International Development (Poverty Reduction) for Asian Countries” held in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China on November 16-25, 2011. It was participated by government representatives from 30 Asia-China Dialogue partners.

Both seminars were received support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China and the provincial government units of Hubei and Sichuan Provinces.

In both seminars, Florante “Nonoy” Villas, AsiaDHRRA’s LSFM regional program manager shared AsiaDHRRA’s experience in anchoring ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community’s participatory process in drafting the 2011-2015 Framework  Action Plan for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication and AsiaDHRRA’s strategies, models and experiences in implementing the Linking Small Farmers to Markets.

IPRCC is an international anti-poverty organization established jointly by the Chinese Government and the United Nations Development Program and other international organizations in June 2005. IPRCC has committed to make contributions to poverty reduction in the world through the promotion of policy research, experience-sharing, knowledge exchange and South-South Cooperation in the field of poverty reduction and development.

IPRCC was established by the Chinese Government to provide a platform for various professionals and development practitioners from different developing countries to share theoretic studies and policy analysis and explore effective approaches for agricultural growth and rural development. It is one of the 5 new measures to assume China’s international responsibilities announced by China’s president Hu Jintao at the High-Level Meeting on Financing for Development, on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations. On June 22, 2004, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a keynote speech titled Promote Asian Cooperation in New Century at the Third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue held in Qingdao in which he pointed out that strengthening regional cooperation is not only an important part of China’s new-era foreign policy but also the need of its own development.

Asiadhrra is set to participate in a forum on food security sponsored by FAO RAP. The Forum entitled, “Nutrition-Sensitive Food Production Systems for Sustainable Food Security” will take place on December 7-8, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand, at Conference Hall of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Asiadhrra will be joined by participants composed of Senior-level officials from Ministries of Agriculture and other related government institutions responsible for food security and nutrition; Regional economic communities; Civil society organizations and private sector representatives;  UN Agencies, donors and development partners; International and regional financial institutions and Academia and research institutions

“The main objective of the Forum is to broadly discuss issues associated with hunger and malnutrition with a particular emphasis on nutrition-sensitive agricultural development and food-based nutrition approaches, review past and ongoing interventions and policies, share experiences and lessons learned, and identify way forward to promote nutrition-sensitive agriculture for improving nutrition. The increased consultation among all actors involved in food and nutrition security will achieve greater complementary and coordination in strategic planning and action.”

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, indigenous people, women, students, urban poor, consumers, human rights activists, gather in Denpasar, Bali from 16-18 November 2011. We organize series of action to express our concerns on Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Bali.

ASEAN has become a free market, rent seeking and natural resources exploitation. The whole exploitation activities, with the interventions of the elites are now becoming official and more dangerous in global communities. With its close historical connection with the US and its allies, ASEAN is continuously used as a tool to implement the global capitalism agenda.”

Continue reading the declaration here…..

FINAL DECLARATION
Family Farming World Conference: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth
October 5-7, 2011 / Bilbao, Spain  

We, 200 women and men, leaders of national, regional and international farmers’ organizations, civil society groups and social movements, and key academic and research institutions, from four continents of the world –Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe-, as well as representatives from national governments and inter-governmental organizations, have gathered in Bilbao, Spain, for the Family Farming World Conference with the theme “Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth.”

Continue reading the IYFF declaration here….

Read more about the campaign towards an International Year of Family Farming in 2014…

“On 20th.July 2011 the RDPE National Consultation  for Viet Nam was held at the meeting room of the Center of Agricultural Extension Volunteers (CAEV), 4th.Floor, A1 Building, Phuong Mai, 102 Truong Chinh, Ha Noi which is also Executive Office of the Vietnam Partnership of Human Resource Development for Rural Areas (VietDHRRA).”

Read the details of the RDPE Consultation Meeting at the VietDHRRA website