The Secretary general of APRACA attended the first National level dissemination workshop related to the IFAD regional grant project ‘RuFBeP’ was held in Manila on 14 June 2018 which was hosted by Agricultural Credit Promotion Council (ACPC) in collaboration with IFAD Philippines Office. The workshop was organized primarily to discuss the final results of piloting of identified good practices in the Philippines, its impact, challenges for scaling up and policy implications on adaptation. The workshop also discussed the possible collaborative efforts of RuFBeP piloting with other IFAD Investment projects in Philippines. The workshop was attended by 55 high level delegations from the ministries of agriculture and finance, Central Bank (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), IFAD Philippines, APRACA member institutions, regional farmers’ organizations (Asian Farmer’s Association) and civil society.

The Secretary General of APRACA was invited by the organizers of the Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID 2018) as a specialist panelist during the Plenary Session 3 of the programme which was held in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia during 7-10 May 2018. Broadly, the GFRID 2018 Asia-Pacific provides opportunities to: (a) share good practices to leverage remittances for development in the Asia-Pacific marketplace, including through public-private partnerships; (b) identify measures to reduce cost of remittances through market competition, innovative business models and use of modern technologies; (c) explore innovative financing solutions to unlock migrant investments; (d) promote national evelopment strategies that allow for scaling up successful business models and strategies involving migrant and diaspora contributions and (d) provide concrete, actionable recommendations to leverage potential of diaspora investment and migrant remittances. 

In response of the request received from the Department of Livestock Services, Government of Nepal, APRACA organized to conduct a learning and exposure visit for their senior officials to Thailand. There were 15 officials from the department visited three provinces of Thailand which included the process of agriculture, livestock and milk value chains. The team visited the poultry farms and Fisheries projects under the private sector initiatives which show cases the complete value chain of this two commodities. The team also visited ‘Talad Thai’ the largest Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives (AMCs) for the farmers in Thailand to understand the Agricultural marketing system and the pricing of the agricultural commodities in the country During their last leg of visit, APRACA organized a visit to one Milk producers’ Cooperative in Thailand to get the glimpses of the cooperative movement in the country.

APRACA received a request received from the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives, Government of Nepal to organize a learning and exposure visit for their senior officials to Thailand. The overarching objectives of the visit were to provide practical knowledge about the agricultural markets, veterinary services and participation in animal fairs. The team from the ministry was consists of 12 officials who visited four provinces of Thailand to understand the value chains of agriculture with special reference to agricultural commodity marketing, institutions and process of providing the veterinary services at the village level. The team was also privileged to participate in the animal fair and understood the factors of determining the quality and pricing of animals. The team also visited one unique poultry farm which is operating under controlled climate show casing the importance of hygiene in maintaining the quality of livestock products. While visiting ‘Talad Thai’ the largest agricultural produce market yard in Thailand, the delegates received a detailed presentation from the market committee regarding the process of agricultural marketing and the system of commodity pricing.