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On 6 July 2021, AFSIS Secretariat and Center for Agricultural Statistics (CAS), Department of Planning and Finance (DoPF), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), Lao PDR had conducted the virtual Inception Workshop on Project for Supporting Agricultural Survey on Promoting Sustainable Agriculture (SAS-PSA) in Lao PDR.
The main purposes of this Inception Workshop are to inform the objective and the future work plan of the SAS-PSA project, discuss the on-going implementations of the SAS-PSA in Lao PDR, and to get suggestions from all the stakeholders in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Lao PDR.
The session was opened by the warm welcome speech of Ms. Vivanh Souvannamethy, Director of CAS, and followed by the notable opening remarks by Dr. Waraporn Saelee, AFSIS Manager.
During the meeting, the delegates were informed with the background of the SAS-PSA Project, along with the brief Methodogy of SDG Indicator 2.4.1. by Mr. NIIMI Tomohiro, the Japanese Expert.
Afterward, activities and work plan of the SAS-PSA Project in Lao PDR were presented by Mr. Sengphachan Khounthikoummane, National Consultant of CAS. The Meeting was informed that 1) The SAS-PSA Project in Lao PDR will be starting from 1 May 2021 to 31 March 2022 2) Household samples are 220 households from 10 districts in Khammuane province 3) The manual and questionnaires have now been updated in Lao language 4) The CAPI, the survey solution programme, will be used for interview farmers.
Lastly, Ms. Vivanh Souvannamethy, Director of CAS, DoPF, MAF of Lao PDR expressed the sincere gratitude to the AFSIS Secretariat and MAFF, Japan for the implementation of the SAS-PSA Project in Lao PDR as it is the fundamental step to improve agricultural statistics and support SDG indicator 2.4.1. in the region.
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On 23 April 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the Ad-Hoc Senior Officials Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF), held via a virtual platform, to discuss the implications of recent developments in the Middle East on regional food security and to identify coordinated measures to enhance ASEAN’s food resilience, in preparation for the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting.
The agricultural sector plays a vital role in supporting food security and livelihoods across ASEAN, where diverse production capacities shape the availability of major agricultural commodities such as rice, maize, sugarcane, soybean, and cassava. This report examines the SSR patterns across ASEAN to emphasize regional strengths, structural imbalances, and the implications for food security and agricultural policy in the region.
The self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) is a key indicator of food security. It shows how well Southeast Asian countries can meet rice demand through domestic production, with the region overall remaining increasingly self-sufficient despite ongoing challenges.
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On 19 March 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the Asia and the Pacific Food Systems Forum 2026 under the theme “Feeding the Future, Sustaining the Planet” in Manila, the Philippines, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) . The forum aimed to promote food security policies, review ADB’s related initiatives, and support long-term food systems transformation.
