Vientianne Times-APR 11
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will continue to work with the government and partners through the provision of finance for innovative, adapted approaches and technologies relating to climate-smart agriculture.
This was the message at an annual country portfolio review meeting of IFAD-funded programmes in Laos which took place recently in Vangvieng district, Vientiane province.
As a yearly held platform for IFAD-funded projects, the meeting was designed to review the status of and to share experiences and good practices of programme implementation and management during 2017.
Its desired outcomes are to identify major issues at policy and operational levels that impede performance and to work together towards adequate and effective solutions and IFAD’s partnership with Laos supporting national and regional goals.
The meeting was a good opportunity to promote closer interaction among ongoing projects in Laos.
Achievements were noted while issues and challenges being faced and ways to take advantage of strengths and overcome weaknesses in the coming years were clarified.
IFAD highlighted all the hard work, great support and close collaboration with partners at all levels in supporting program performance, resulting in a number of achievements on the ground with tangible results benefiting the rural poor.
Social and economic infrastructure, namely rural access roads and bridges, water supply schemes, irrigation systems and community meeting halls were constructed and renovated.
Importantly, about 86,000 rural poor in project target areas had access to constructed and renovated social and economic infrastructure and public services.
Smallholder farmers had access to inputs, rural finance, technical support, new technologies and innovated farming practices.
The projects created a number of job opportunities for both male and female rural youth with increased incomes.
During the meeting, IFAD Sub-regional Coordinator for Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, and Country Director for Laos, Dr Thomas Rath, said IFAD was ready to stay focussed to support the programmes to achieve stated goals and objectives with more community investment for better results in 2018.
Deputy Director General of the Planning and Finance Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Savanh Hanephome, said he believed that fruitful discussions were vital to enable IFAD and Laos to gain a deeper understanding of how they can work together to face the challenges that lie ahead, taking into account all past achievements and lessons learnt.
They would work together to ensure that collaborative projects are implemented with increased tangible results in line with the government’s decentralization policy, he added.
