Regional Workshop: New Approaches for Data Collection on National Agricultural Research Systems (Bangkok, Thailand)

Bangkok (Thailand), 15/01/2025 - 17/01/2025

The ASTI Regional Workshop in the Asia-Pacific, held from January 15–17, 2025, in Bangkok, Thailand, concluded successfully, setting the stage for transformative progress in agricultural research data collection across the region. 

As the agency responsible for the Agricultural Sciences and Technology Indicators (ASTI), a global leading program in compiling and analyzing agricultural research data, FAO is conducting a series of workshops in selected countries where FAO and ASTI partners will start the ASTI implementation phase. The outcomes of the pilot will serve as a critical input to designing the ASTI survey for the global roll out in 2025.

Co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), the workshop attended by 35 participants brought together key stakeholders to initiate discussions on the regional implementation and preparation for the upcoming ASTI pilots in Asia and the Pacific.

Objectives:

The specific objectives of the workshop were to:

  • Introduce the ASTI program and its new operational mechanisms
  • Discuss strategies to enhance the institutionalization of ASTI and to maximize policy uptake of ASTI outputs at the national level.
  • Present and discuss the ASTI country pilots reports, including the key findings and lessons from the pilots, as well as recommendations for the global rollout.
  • Initiate and promote dialogue among country and regional stakeholders with a view to building a common understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the new approaches and in the global rollout.
  • Train participants on the ASTI methodology, ASTI operational mechanisms, including data collection, processing, analysis, visualization and publication at country and regional level.
  • Discuss and agree on the work plan for implementing the ASTI data collection and institutionalization in each country, including a series of activities to be carried out.