BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:unctad.org
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:6a4cdce632e6a
DTSTART:20171214T090000Z
SEQUENCE:0
TRANSP:OPAQUE
DTEND:20171214T180000Z
LOCATION:Vientiane\, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
SUMMARY:6th Lao Organic Agriculture Forum (LOAF 6): Expanding Organic Expor
 ts Through Sustainability Standards
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Over 100 stakeholders joined in on the 6th Lao Organic Agricult
 ure Forum (LOAF 6) meeting “Expanding Organic Exports through Sustainabi
 lity Standards” at the Crown Plaza Vientiane on 14 December 2017. The mi
 nutes of LOAF 6 are available here.The meeting was jointly organized by th
 e Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and UNCTAD and brought together
  producers\, manufacturers\, traders\, exporters\, government agencies\, d
 evelopment partners to share their views and experiences on organic agricu
 lture. Organic agriculture has shown potential in Lao PDR for development\
 , but have been facing many challenges to keep up with the momentum of the
  global growth demand for organic products.The workshop introduced VSS as 
 a potential tool to expand market opportunities of Lao organic products as
  well as discussed 1) approaches cope with the high costs of organic produ
 ction and certification and 2) the future role and direction of the LOAF m
 eetings.Some of the key highlights from the discussion are as follows:Ther
 e are missing linkages and coordination among between and among key stakeh
 olders especially among producers\, government\, business\, and financial 
 institutions.There is a strong need to move towards forming an action orie
 nted association\, tentatively named as the Lao Organic Movement Associati
 on (LOMA)\, which shall be built upon the outcome of extensive multi-stake
 holder dialogue conducted within the LOAF framework.Trust across the value
  chain and especially between value chain intermediaries is an important f
 actor for organic agriculture to optimally function.The quality and safety
  standards of Lao organic products must be raised for Lao organic products
  to be accepted in regional and international markets.Government should su
 pport farmers in forms of subsidies or creating credit guarantee funds to 
 support producers. Government should also work more with financial institu
 tions to be able to offer reasonable financial instruments (such as loans 
 with low interest rates) for stakeholders in organic agriculture sector.Ma
 rket information for organic agriculture products is needed\, particularly
  on information on global market demand.There must be an organic agricultu
 re development strategy at the national level.   /system/files/official
 -document/ditc-tab-14122017-LOAF6-Minutes-Final-Draft.pdf\n\nView meeting 
 on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad.org/meeting/6th-lao-organic-agriculture-foru
 m-loaf-6-expanding-organic-exports-through-sustainability
DTSTAMP:20260707T110302Z
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