Jakarta, 30-31 May 2023: Recognizing the importance of ensuring a more sustainable and resilient food production system, the 44th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) adopted ‘The ASEAN Regional Guidelines for Sustainable Agriculture in ASEAN’ (hereinafter ‘The ASEAN Guidelines on Sustainable Agriculture’) on 25 October 2022. The 44th AMAF also agreed to develop an Action Plan for the Implementation of the ASEAN Guidelines on Sustainable Agriculture.  In response, ERIA is supporting ASEAN in developing the Action Plan through formulating a consultant team, providing technical inputs, and organizing workshops.

The ASEAN Secretariat and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) jointly organised the Workshop on the Development of Action Plan for the Implementation of the ASEAN Guidelines on Sustainable Agriculture on 30–31 May. The aim was to discuss and collect inputs to the action plan from ASEAN Member States (AMSs) and share the result of ERIA’s scoping study for building and enhancing sustainable agriculture and food systems in ASEAN countries. The hybrid workshop had more than 60 participants, including the Focal Points of the ASEAN Technical Working Group on Agricultural Research and Development (ATWGARD) from all AMSs, government officials, experts and researchers from international organisations and research institutes, including the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), and others. The ERIA study team, consisting of representatives from universities in AMSs, also attended.

Co-chairing the workshop, Dr Pham Quang Minh, Head of Food, Agriculture and Forestry Division, ASEAN Secretariat, emphasised several issues and challenges of sustainable agriculture and acknowledged the strong commitment towards the collective goals of all AMSs to ensure the implementation of Sustainable Agriculture. Also, he expressed his gratitude to ERIA for the continuous support of initiatives in the food and agriculture sector including the development of this Action Plan.

Mr Masanori Kozono, ERIA’s Policy Fellow and Co-chair of the workshop, stressed the urgent need to accelerate the transformation of agriculture and food systems towards more sustainable and resilient to address multiple challenges in the agriculture sector by combining effective policies and innovative technologies. He reported ERIA’s recent study identifying the priority technical and policy areas for building and enhancing sustainable agriculture in each ASEAN country that supports the guidelines’ implementation.

The ERIA team explained among 28 Key Strategies outlined in the ASEAN Guidelines on Sustainable Agriculture, ‘soil health’ and ‘connecting smallholders to market’ that are directly related to the profitability of stakeholders through an increase in productivities are prioritized for short-term strategy while key strategies selected for long-term included ‘GHGs reduction’ and ‘smart and precise agriculture’ that could reduce the environmental load.   Also discussed were the gaps between Cambodia–Laos–Myanmar–Viet Nam (CLMV) and non-CLMV countries for already applied sustainable initiatives are confirmed in terms of the use of digital agriculture and the application of Biological Control Agents (BCA). The team pointed out that finance, education, and market access have emerged as the major challenges for ASEAN countries in implementing the guidelines. To end up ERIA presentation, Mr Kozono recommended including financing mechanisms in the action plan to bolster sustainable actions in agri-food systems and capacity building for stakeholders should be considered. Moreover, feasible targets, key performance indicators, and timelines of the actions should be set for monitoring and evaluation.

International organisations, including IFPRI, JIRCAS, and the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, presented their own activities and expressed their support to ASEAN in realising sustainable agriculture. Representatives from AMSs shared their national initiatives and proposed activities on sustainable agriculture.

The second day of the workshop focused on discussions amongst ATWGARD Focal Points to enrich the development of the draft action plan. They shared comments, suggestions, and inputs. At the end of the workshop, the participants agreed that further collective efforts are required to improve the action plan for endorsement and adoption by the Senior Officials Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF) and AMAF.

In his closing remarks, Mr Kozono committed ERIA’s continuous support in developing the Action Plan until its adoption by AMAF.