The Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (AsiaDHRRA) participated in the Public Food Procurement Forum with the theme “Farmers and Government Partnership for Sustainable Food System and Healthy Diet.” The gathering was organized by The Philippine Family Farmers’ Agriculture Fishery Forestry Cooperatives Federation (AgriCOOPh) and held at Cebu City, Philippines, on 23-25 November 2022.

The three-day forum gathered various stakeholders exploring multiple benefits of public cooperative food procurement to smallholder farmers and engendering participation of agricultural cooperatives and their partners.  The event covered eight sessions encompassing global to local perspectives focusing on the demand and supply side of public procurement and sharing best practices among stakeholders in the process.

Florante Villas, AsiaDHRRA’s Senior Program Manager, participated in Session 2 and presented The Philippine Perspective and Experience on the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) case study.  The initiative is to document and analyze successful in-country case studies on policies, strategies, and programs supporting family farming, a collaboration between AsiaDHRRA, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Photo Cr: AgriCOOPh