Bangkok--10 Nov--BRIA Regional Secretariat
Better Rice Initiative Asia (BRIA) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rice Department (RD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC) on “Promoting Sustainable Production of Rice and Ecosystem Resilience in Thailand – PROSPECT,” at Eastin Grand Hotel, Bangkok.
This MOU constitutes a framework of cooperation and understanding and facilitates collaboration between the two parties to implement the BRIA Thailand project.
The areas of collaboration include enhancement of rice-based farming systems and rice technologies in identified areas; documentation of best agricultural practices to accelerate transfer of crop management technologies; promotion of decision-support tools through education programs, training of trainers, and tailor-made extension materials to suit local needs; improvement of the capacity of extension workers, community rice centers and farmer leaders; promotion of linkages along the rice value chain, market transparency and market guarantee; strengthening of networks of multi-stakeholder partnership; and monitoring of collaborative training and extension activities and assessment of farmer adoption and their impact.
Mr. Chanpithya Shimphalee, Director General, signed the MoU on behalf of the Rice Department while Mr. Matthias Bickel, Project Director, inked the MoU, representing the German International Cooperation (GIZ), which has been commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to foster development partnerships with private and public sectors to support the enhancement of supply chains under the “ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Project,” as part of the German - ASEAN Programme on Climate Change (GAP-CC).
Dr. Apichart Pongsrihadulchai, in his capacity as Vice Minister of the MoAC, was the guest of honor of the event.
Mr. Chanpithya Shimphalee said the signing of the MoU is a timely response to the current challenges of poverty reduction, food security and economic development. Such an alliance will help both to better address those critical issues.
“BRIA seeks to develop the capabilities of Thai farmers and focuses on sustainable rice production, standards, business models based on market integration. Consequently, I believe the platform created, fits perfectly with our objectives,” explained Mr. Chanpithya.
Mr. Olan Pituck, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DoAE), congratulated BRIA on joining hands with the Rice Department, saying the DoAE and the RD are core MoAC agencies, which are directly responsible for agricultural development to uplift the quality of life of farmers who are the majority of Thai population.
“The goal of the partnership through this MoU is to further advance our long-standing cooperation in the agricultural sector. It is especially important for GIZ to successfully implement the BRIA project to the benefit of Thai farmers and to contribute towards their enhanced livelihoods in a sustainable way,” added Mr. Matthias Bickel.
Besides Thailand, the BRIA project, which comes under the umbrella of the German Food Partnership (GFP), is being implemented in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Its regional secretariat is located in Bangkok and led by Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, Regional Project Director.