“Both BRIA and IRRI intend to jointly support the ASEAN endeavours for sustainable rice systems and the outreach initiative in improving the regional rice value chain.”
On 2 August, 2016, BRIA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on “Joint Cooperation in Outreach Initiatives to Contribute towards Improving the Rice Sector in the Southeast Asian Region”. The signing was held at the IRRI headquarters in Laguna Province, the Philippines.
Dr. Andreas Kalk, Resident Director of GIZ Regional Office for the Philippines and the Pacific, and Dr. Matthias Bickel, BRIA Focal Person, represented the BRIA project while Dr. Matthew Morell, Director General of IRRI inked the MoU on behalf of IRRI. The purpose of this MoU is to provide a framework of cooperation and understanding and to facilitate collaboration between the two parties to foster the scaling-up of rice sector technologies in various outreach initiatives in Southeast Asia. This is intended to support R&D and the outreach initiative in improving the rice value chain in the ASEAN countries, especially where BRIA is actively involved, and to support the strategy of the BRIA project expansion.
Furthermore, both IRRI and BRIA intend to jointly support the ASEAN endeavours for sustainable and climate-smart rice systems, also making reference to the “ASEAN Regional Guidelines for Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Practices” by building on and expanding current BRIA and IRRI outreach activities. IRRI has now become a member of the BRIA Steering Committee.
IRRI and BRIA recognise specific areas of cooperation derived from synergies in their respective mandates. The areas of cooperation may include the following:
- ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
ICT tools to support farmers in improving their agricultural practices and to assist farmers in accessing more qualitative information on rice cultivation and the rice value chain.
- Farm Mechanization
Farm mechanization is needed to improve the net profitability of rice farming and secure food security. In order to mitigate labour shortages, mechanization should be promoted where appropriate.
- Climate-Smart Agriculture
Rice farming is highly exposed to climate change as it is directly dependent on climatic conditions. Recognising the importance of adopting climate-smart practices, policy frameworks and access to finance in the region, climate-smart agriculture should be jointly promoted.
- Joint Proposal Development
The parties intend to jointly develop project proposals in order to foster the outreach of technologies in the rice sector in Southeast Asia with funding from third parties.
- Public-Private Partnerships
The parties intend to more closely cooperate on fostering public-private partnerships in the ASEAN region, e.g. under the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) and exploring possibilities of collaboration with the World Economic Forum / GrowAsia and its partner initiatives in the rice sector as well as to regularly exchange information on relevant PPP initiatives and best practices.
In addition, IRRI and BRIA will also explore other avenues of collaboration on a case-by-case basis.
Last but not least, BRIA also seeks to strengthen its cooperation with the “Remote Sensing-based Information and Insurance for Crops in Emerging Economies” (RIICE) project that deals with risk management and crop insurance and is implemented by IRRI and GIZ.
This, with support from IRRI and RIICE, BRIA intends to jointly support various outreach initiatives aimed at contributing to the improvement of the rice value chain in the region, especially in the areas where IRRI and GIZ outreach activities are already being conducted.