Overview
This project aimed to support a consultation and scoping phase of the ASEAN - CGIAR Integrated Regional Program and to support endorsement of the ASEAN - CGIAR Integrated Regional Program.
Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 requires ASEAN Member States (AMS) to work collaboratively to address a complex web of interrelated challenges such as climate change, urbanization, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, poverty, food safety and nutrition, and social inequality.
The ASEAN region is very dynamic and diverse. It hosts rich but also vulnerable land- and waterscapes important for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services that are intertwined with agri-food and fish systems. The CGIAR has been engaged in delivering critical science and innovations to support food and nutrition security and inclusive rural economies around the developing world for more than 50 years.
Given that the project is an initial scoping phase, activities focused on outlining the potential impact of the ASEAN - CGIAR Innovate for Food regional program. Guided by the ASEAN Vision and Strategic Plan for Cooperation in Food, Agriculture and Forestry 2016–2025, the ASEAN Regional Guidelines for Sustainable Agriculture 2022, as well as the ASEAN Guidelines on Promoting Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry, (ASEAN RAI), the program aims to deliver the following impacts across agri-food systems with its partners in the ASEAN region:
- Improved environmental sustainability through reduced harmful agrochemical use; reduced greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint; and enhanced use of biodiversity of plant, animal, and aquatic species
- Improved agri-food trade and value chains
- Improved access to capital through better facilitation of private sector investments and other financing schemes
- Better prevention, control, and management of plant and animal pests and diseases and Improved food safety
- Increased productivity and production through better and more affordable access to water resources
- Better nutrition through greater availability of more nutritious, safe, and healthy diets
- Improved institutional coordination of policies, programs, and projects in the agriculture, food, and forestry sector in the region
- Better access by women, youth, and marginalised groups to resources in the agri-food value chain.
