A poverty reduction programme for farmers was discussed at a meeting in Hanoi on October 20.
Atthe meeting, 50 participants from 15 countries discussed plans forimplementing the second phase of the Medium Term Cooperation Programmefor Asia and the Pacific.
The programme, initiated by the UnitedNation's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in2006, recognises the key role of farmers in producing food for theworld's population.
This was the first regional steeringcommittee meeting of the programme's phase 2, hosted by the VietnamFarmer Union, which is also in charge of implementing the programmenationally.
Lai Xuan Mon, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam FarmerUnion, said at the meeting that the programme's phase 2 aimed to reducepoverty and eliminate hunger in Asia and the Pacific.
Vietnamwas actively taking actions to implement the programme to help localfarmers, he said. However, he added that challenges also lay ahead, asVietnam was still an agricultural country where farmers were 70 percentof the population and agricultural production had yet to yield theexpected benefits for them.
Farmer organisations faced a majorchallenge in their struggle for food sovereignty and family-basedagro-ecology that was both health- and environment-friendly, said ZainalFuat, the programme's phase 2 co-ordinator for farmer organisation LaVia Campesina.
The programme's phase 2 involves 895 farmer organisations in 15 countries with an estimated membership of 15 million farmers.-VNA
Atthe meeting, 50 participants from 15 countries discussed plans forimplementing the second phase of the Medium Term Cooperation Programmefor Asia and the Pacific.
The programme, initiated by the UnitedNation's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in2006, recognises the key role of farmers in producing food for theworld's population.
This was the first regional steeringcommittee meeting of the programme's phase 2, hosted by the VietnamFarmer Union, which is also in charge of implementing the programmenationally.
Lai Xuan Mon, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam FarmerUnion, said at the meeting that the programme's phase 2 aimed to reducepoverty and eliminate hunger in Asia and the Pacific.
Vietnamwas actively taking actions to implement the programme to help localfarmers, he said. However, he added that challenges also lay ahead, asVietnam was still an agricultural country where farmers were 70 percentof the population and agricultural production had yet to yield theexpected benefits for them.
Farmer organisations faced a majorchallenge in their struggle for food sovereignty and family-basedagro-ecology that was both health- and environment-friendly, said ZainalFuat, the programme's phase 2 co-ordinator for farmer organisation LaVia Campesina.
The programme's phase 2 involves 895 farmer organisations in 15 countries with an estimated membership of 15 million farmers.-VNA