ASEAN Foundation teaches farmers on how to organize and obtain better markets

MANILA, July 3 (PNA) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foundation announced that it has launched the Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (AsiaDHRRA) as part of its efforts to organize small farmers in the region and facilitate their access to suitable markets.

ASEAN Foundation executive director Dr. Filemon A. Uriarte, Jr. said that AsiaDHRRA includes the three-year project called “Asian Farmers’ Exchange and Network Building and Solidarity Program.

He said the project’s aims are to share experience and insight on local productivity systems development, rural enterprise development, and farmers’ network building, establishing linkages between and among farmers’ organizations and cooperatives.

A major accomplishment of this initiative is the establishment of the Asian Farmers Association (AFA) that now represents about 10 million farmers in the ASEAN region.

Another component of the AsiaDHRRA is a two-year project called “Linking Small Farmers to the Market”.

The ASEAN Foundation executive director said that its goals are to establish an on-ground marketing link between small farmers’ group and market players and collaborate with policy makers at national and regional levels to respond to agricultural marketing issued by the small farmers.

Uriarte also added that agricultural productivity is essential to the growth of the other sectors of the economy and reduction of poverty.

He also stressed that rural poverty remains one of the important challenges to governments and the international community.