Regional training on Appropriate Scale Mechanization for Conservation Agriculture at Bos Khnor Research Station (Cambodia)

For several decades, ASEAN countries have been following different paths of agricultural intensification due to the rising demands for agricultural products. This demand has increased pressure to simplify crop production and agricultural landscapes. This agricultural intensification increases the vulnerability of the farming system to climate change. Such vulnerabilities are exacerbated in some agroecological zones where most agriculture is rain-fed, and climate change has a potentially large influence on productivity and profitability. With a fast-growing population, increased pressure on its natural resources and climate change impacts, South-East Asia is at a crossroads regarding its agricultural development, calling for an important agroecological transition.

To meet future food needs, it is imperative to transform agriculture to deliver food security and safety, restore ecosystem services, sustain economic growth and provide larger opportunities for small-scale farmers and youth to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Achieving these goals will require designing and promoting innovative cropping and farming systems, exploration new methods of intervention as well as effective institutional and financial mechanisms. There is a need to invest in education and training programs and to develop a capacity-building strategy to empower smallholder farmers, local service providers, scientists, agronomists, and development operators. A diversity of approaches and educational materials need to be developed to create opportunities to learn in a variety of ways.

Publiée : 28/05/2019