Jakarta, 26 April 2016: Private sector companies share real-world examples of already implemented best practices and propose recommendations to policy makers to scale up these business solutions in the agricultural sector in ASEAN.
Member companies – Accenture, APRIL Group, Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation, Monsanto, Syngenta – reveal landscape approaches in agriculture and forestry, solutions around financing smallholders, and how seed technology and digital technology can enhance productivity.
“This paper contributes to a regional call for action for greater collaboration across industries. This is necessary to ensure long term competitiveness of ASEAN economies.” Andrew McConville, Head Corporate Affairs, Syngenta Asia Pacific.
The paper also includes perspectives from the WBCSD’s Director of Climate Smart Agriculture, Matthew Reddy and other leading NGOs such as CropLife Asia and Grow Asia. They set the scene from a global to local perspective, talk about the business case for engaging with smallholder farmers and the need for crop protection regulatory harmonisation in ASEAN.
“In order to meet the growing demand for agricultural commodities in a sustainable way, all stakeholders need to be brought together; this white paper is a great example on how this can happen.” Professor Paul Teng, Nanyang Technological University.
The paper serves as a basis for dialogue between business and governments. It provides an overview of the challenges and draws the opportunities and the avenues to build a strong and sustainable agricultural sector in ASEAN.
