On the 21^st of June 2022, the Asia-Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services Network (APIRAS) and the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) in partnership with the Research and Extension Unit of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations held a webinar on “Strengthening capacities of agricultural research and extension organizations to support agriculture innovation in Asia-Pacific.” With over 300 registered participants and over 100 live participants, the webinar generated a high level of interest among regional stakeholders demonstrating their commitment to supporting agricultural innovation in the Asia-Pacific region.

The organization of the webinar was led by Dr. Rasheed Sulaiman and Nimisha Mittal of APIRAS, who opened the event and began by presenting the results of the online survey on the challenges in the research-extension interface within the agricultural innovation system (AIS) in the region. The survey results highlighted the need for formal mechanisms to facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration in the region to bring AIS actors together to formulate new policies, action plans and share knowledge.

A joint call made by APIRAS and APAARI for good practices for strengthening the AIS in the Asia-Pacific identified multiple success stories which showcase how multi-stakeholder collaboration can work in addressing major issues faced in the region. Four of these good practices were presented in the webinar and have been published online in a series of Good Practice Notes (see links below).

Four panelists, who presented their good practices from across the region including experiences from India, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and Papua New Guinea, also discussed some key questions related to the online survey results and the good practices. The result of this discussion was a rich picture of not only the myriad challenges faced by the Asia-Pacific region, but also examples of innovative approaches to address these challenges and promote a sustainable agri-food systems transformation in the region.

The full recording of this webinar is available on TAP YouTube Channel.

Good Practice Notes from the Asia-Pacific region 

Good Practice Note 1: Promoting Sustainable Agriculture through Green Extension in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Good Practice Note 2: Strengthening Capacities to Innovate through North-South Collaborative Research in Papua New Guinea

Good Practice Note 3: Multi-stakeholder Approaches for Enhancing Command Area Water Productivity in India

Good Practice Note 4: Enhancing Organizational and Functional Capacities of Producer Organizations in India through Strategic Collaboration