Supporting Smallholder Farmers in Asia and Pacific-Islands Region with Agricultural Advisory Services

The goal of the project is to empower poor smallholder farmers and producer organizations in Asia-Pacific Region (APR) through access to improved, more effective, and demand-driven agricultural advisory services (AAS). The objectives are to:

1. Strengthen individual and organizational capacities of agricultural advisory services stakeholders in the target countries and at regional and sub-regional level which will directly benefit poor farmers, indigenous communities, and producer organizations.
2. Facilitate the availability and accessibility of appropriate and up-to-date knowledge and evidence on innovative advisory services from a range of sources in the APR region (through country fora and through Asia-Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services network (APIRAS)) and worldwide (through Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS)).

Key activities by component:

1. Strengthen capacities of AAS to effectively serve the accessibility needs of smallholder farmers:
   1. Identify demand-driven needs for AAS in specific countries by gender;
   2. Facilitate establishment of demand-driven country platforms, and establishment and strengthening of sub-regional networks of APIRAS;
   3. Support APIRAS strategic planning workshop to develop regional, sub-regional, and national strategies for AAS and integrate/synthesize common programs across country fora (individual, organizational, policy levels);
   4. Validate identified capacity development needs from previous studies through a capacity workshop in the region, and develop capacity plans for country platforms at all levels;
   5. Review curricula within AAS educational and training programs and improve the same through conducting capacity strengthening and networking with the Extension Education Consortium of GFRAS;
   6. Promote inter-regional, inter-sectorial, and south-south networking, capacity strengthening, and exchange; and
   7. Collaborate with others in the region undertaking similar capacity development activities.
2. Knowledge sharing of best-fit practices and evidence in AAS:
   1. Develop a database of innovative and sustainable extension approaches that work at scale as a public good;
   2. Document and share good practices in AAS provision through websites and also APIRAS Regional Forum 2017;
   3. Undertake studies and regional syntheses of AAS and conduct institutional analysis of AAS provision (public as well as private) in the region using the GFRAS "global good practices" framework; and
   4. Compile existing material/ information/publications on AAS and updates from APIRAS members and sharing through websites.
3. Evidence-based policy advocacy for AAS:
   1. Identify AAS issues in need of quick response studies; organize think tank ad hoc groups to analyze issues and give recommendations;
   2. Represent AAS in national, sub- regional, regional, and global discussions and fora on agricultural and rural development; and
   3. Influence policy by organizing policy dialogs on AAS at national and sub-regional and regional levels.

Associated Firms

• Agricultural Training Institute – Department of Agriculture (DA-ATI)
• Asia-Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services Network (APIRAS)
• Bangladesh Extension Network (BAEN)
• Agricultural Extension in South Asia (AESA)-Centre for Research on Innovation and Science Policy (CRISP)
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)
• Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services Network (PIRAS)
• Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS)