On 21 December 2021, AFSIS Secretariat, together with the Center for Agricultural Statistic (CAS), Department of Planning and Finance (DOPF), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of Lao PDR had jointly conducted the Wrap-up meeting as a part of Project for Supporting Agricultural Survey on Promoting Sustainable Agriculture or the SAS-PSA project in Lao PDR. The meeting was held via an online platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
During this meeting, Ms. Vivanh Souvannamethy, the Director of CAS had delivered the open remarks, followed by the notable remarks by Mr. NIIMI Tomohiro, Japanese Expert, and the distinguished remarks by Dr. Waraporn Saelee, AFSIS Manager.
The main purpose of the meeting is for the CAS to present to the Meeting the details and summary of the SAS-PSA project that had been conducted in Lao PDR. The details of the presentation included the action plan, the sampling design, the result from the pilot survey and the analysis outcomes of SDG indicator 2.4.1 in Khammouane province.
At the end of the meeting, there was a discussion regarding the challenges, suggestions, and comments for the implementation of the SAS-PSA project in Lao PDR. The Meeting acknowledged the importance and benefits of the project as it plays the crucial parts to implement the national survey of SDG indicator 2.4.1 in Lao PDR in the future.
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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.
