United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development Fund president Gilbert Houngbo will hold talks with top officials in Laos and Cambodia next week on investments to boost nutrition and jobs and mitigate climate change's effects on rural areas, Ifad said on Thursday.
During his trip, Houngbo will meet the Laos's premier Thongloun Sisoulith, Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen and other high-ranking officials, as well as representatives of UN teams in the two countries, said the Ifad statement.
The visit will focus on the role of smallholder farmers in improving household nutrition and food security, the statement said.
The delegation will be in Laos from Monday to Thursday and in Cambodia through Saturday.
“In Laos and Cambodia, the majority of smallholder farmers practise subsistence agriculture, but they have the potential to develop their farm businesses if they have access to finance, training, technology, and commercial markets,” said Houngbo ahead of his visit.
“IFAD is an experienced development partner, working with governments to transform rural areas, reduce poverty and hunger, and increase livelihoods for rural smallholders in the region,” he added.
In Laos, some 80 percent of the population live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and natural resources for their survival. Most farmers use traditional farming methods and lack access to irrigation and good roads, according to Ifad.
Many farmers in Laos struggle to meet their households’ food requirements, making malnutrition a critical issue, with chronic malnutrition affecting 33 percent of children under five, said Ifad.
Similarly, in Cambodia, a high proportion of rural families continue to live in poverty, with two-thirds of the country's 1.6 million rural households facing seasonal food shortages, Ifad noted.
During his visit, Houngbo will meet with Laos' agriculture and forestry minister Lien Thikeo, finance minister and deputy premier Somdy Douangdy, and other development partners, Ifad said.
Houngbo will travel to Xiengkhouang Province to visit the IFAD-managed food security and nutrition project for smallholders and hear from participants how the project has helped them as well as the challenges they still face. The project helps the farmers produce crops and livestock that correspond to market demand, and aims to aid cooperation between farmers and the private sector.
In Cambodia, Houngbo will meet economy minister and deputy premier Aun Pornmoniroth and Ouk Rabun, and others senior officials. He will visit the Ifad-supported Agriculture Services Programme for Innovation, Resilience and Extension, where he will meet project participants.
Houngbo will see at first-hand the progress the project participants have made due to training, extension services and improved infrastructure (roads, irrigation, markets) in support of agricultural production, according to the statement.
Ifad has three current projects in Laos. It began operations in the country in 1978 and has implemented 15 projects, investing 156 million dollars and directly benefitting 329,775 households, the UN agency said.
Ifad began operations in Cambodia in 1996 and has implemented 9 projects, investing US$152 million and directly benefitting 1,338,500 households. It currently has three loan projects and one grant project that are ongoing.
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