The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Directors has approved a technical assistance package of $4 million for food security project in eight Asian countries including Vietnam, foreign media reported. The project, Strategic Research for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security in Asia, will address water use problems, fragmented food supply chains and underinvestment in agriculture research.
ADB will work with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and beneficiaries from the project, comprising of Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in implementing the project. Lourdes Adriano, ADB Principal Agriculture Sector Specialist and Responsible Officer for the project, said this regional initiative will seek to find ways to boost food productivity, to develop more integrated supply chains and to raise awareness about agricultural research and development. The project aims to find ecologically-sound ways to increase crop yield from rice, including reducing the proportion of crops lost to pests both before and after harvesting. Farmers will be involved in bringing forward development plans, and the project will look to create partnerships for food supply chain and sustainable water use, the specialist said. The number of people suffering from chronic hunger reached a record one billion globally in 2009, with Asia accounting for approximately two-thirds of the world's hungry. (earthtimes.org Nov 18, Vietnam Plus Nov 18)
