Asia

With the aim of alleviating poverty, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) identified a need among governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donor organizations for insurance and risk management facilities to be made available to developing aquaculture in Asia. In response to this need, a Regional Workshop on the Promotion of Aquaculture Insurance in Asia was held in Bali, Indonesia, from 30 April to 2 May 2007.

This document provides guidance to assist developing countries in improving national emergency preparedness in order to maximize the efficiency of response to serious outbreaks of aquatic animal diseases. It is a product of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)/Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA)/WorldFish Center (WFC) Regional Workshop on Preparedness and Response to Aquatic Animal Health Emergencies, held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 21–23 September 2004.

This document is the Technical Proceedings of the Asia Regional Scoping Workshop on "Primary Aquatic Animal Health Care in Rural, Small-scale, Aquaculture Development," held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 27 - 30 September 1999. The workshop was organised by the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), and hosted by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB).

The present paper summarizes the findings of a research study that sought to fill the knowledge gap regarding the effects of drought in subhumid rice-producing areas. In addition to estimating the economic costs of drought in major rice-producing countries of Asia, it documented farmers’ risk-coping mechanisms. Farmers in these countries use a variety of coping strategies to deal with the consequences of drought, including careful choice of cropping patterns, rice varieties, planting methods and crop management practices.

The Africa–Asia Drought Risk Management Peer Assistance Project seeks to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and technical cooperation among drought-prone countries in Africa and Asia and thus to promote best practices in drought risk management (DRM) for development in the two regions. In order to establish a baseline to guide this activity, the United Nations Development Programme Drylands Development Centre (UNDP DDC) undertook a stocktaking exercise between March and June 2011 on drought impacts, causes, trends and solutions in Africa and Asia.

Major changes have been occurring almost unnoticed in staple value chains in Asia. The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains documents and explains the transformation of value chains moving rice and potatoes between the farm gate and the consumer in Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of China, and India. The changes noted are the rapid rise of supermarkets, modern cold storage facilities, large rice mills, and commercialized small farmers using input-intensive, mechanized technologies.

Humanity has made enormous progress in the past 50 years toward eliminating hunger and malnutrition. Some five billion people--more than 80 percent of the world's population--have enough food to live healthy, productive lives. Agricultural development has contributed significantly to these gains, while also fostering economic growth and poverty reduction in some of the world's poorest countries.