Lao_Climate Friendly Agribusiness Value Chains

The Climate-Friendly Agribusiness Value Chains Project is aimed at enhancing competitiveness of rice value chains in Khammouane, Saravan and Savannakhet provinces,  and vegetable value chains in Vientiane Capital, Champasak and Sekong provinces. The project will improve climate resilience of agricultural infrastructure, and enhance crop productivity, diversification and commercialization. The project will help improve storage, processing, quality and safety testing capacity, and promote the use of biofertilizers and organic farming. It will strengthen technical and institutional capacity for climate smart agriculture (CSA) and create an enabling environment for climate-friendly agribusinesses to promote environmental sustainability and enhance profitability for farmers and agribusinesses.

The international SSS will prepare reports on subproject poverty and social assessments, stakeholder communication strategy, and consultation and participation plans for local community engagement to ensure beneficiaries leverage full impact of the project’s activities. High priority value chain subprojects will be identified based on established criteria (e.g., contribution to food security, energy security, water security, environmental sustainability, positive social impacts). Identification of subprojects will be accomplished through organizing stakeholder consultations with the aim of setting the longer-term vision and objectives of the value chain, identifying constraints and opportunities that are holding back growth and  competitiveness, and jointly agreeing on commercially viable solutions that can address these constraints.