The 36^th World Food Day (WFD) will be celebrated this year in Lao PDR in Xayabury Province.

The main events will take place on the 15^th October including an official ceremony and a seminar on the theme for this year: “Climate is changing. Agriculture must too”. An Exhibition will also be organized from the 14^th to the 17^th October in Xayaburi. More information on the WFD 2016 is available on the following link: http://www.fao.org/world-food-day/2016/home/en/.

This year the WFD will be organized jointly with UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty usually celebrated on the 17^th October (www.overcomingpoverty.org). Some lectures will be organized in Lao PDR from the 17^th to 24^th October on this occasion and topic.

The Department of Planning and Cooperation of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Soum Son Seun Jai (SSSJ) Programme is jointly funded by IFAD, the Luxembourg Government and WFP and aims at contributing to the reduction of extreme poverty and hunger in two provinces in Laos targeting 17,000 poor rural households living in 225 target villages.
The programme has developed and recently launched an innovative video series linking agriculture and nutrition through a multi-sectoral approach. Working multi-sectoral towards improving nutrition is on the top agenda of the Government and development partners alike. Malnutrition rates are particularly high in remote rural areas and in ethnic communities. Currently, every second child in rural areas is stunted. The series allows the programme to scale up the support to its nutrition sensitive interventions by reaching out to a larger number of poor households in a consistent and efficient manner using broadcasting technology.

Lao version:

Hmong version:

Khmu version:

Here are the links to 3 videos that were presented at the workshop on “reducing risk of farmer’s indebtedness” organized by the Sub Sector Working Group on Farmers and Agribusiness (SSWG-FAB)

1/ Farmer Indebtedness 1: Sugarcane in Sayburi district, Savannakhet province:/

2/ Farmer Indebtedness 2: A case of cassava in Sepon:

3/Farmer Indebtedness 3: A case of pig production in Vientiane capital:

These videos are also available at the Lao Farmer’s Network Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Lao-Farmer-Network-344672219042330/?fref=ts

Sector Working Group on Agriculture and Rural Development
Joint statement delivered by:
His Excellency Dr. Phouang Parisack Pravongviengkham
Vice Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
———-
High Level Round Table Meeting,
Vientiane Friday 27th November, 2015

Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Sector Working Group on Agriculture and Rural Development (SWG-ARD) co-chaired by the Ambassador of France and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), it is an honor and great pleasure to have the opportunity to deliver this joint statement here at the Round Table Meeting today. We would first of all, like to take this opportunity to thank all members of our SWG for their tireless efforts, which have made 2015 such a successful year in terms of policy dialogue and aid coordination achievements.

About World Food Day
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
World Food Day 2015
This year, World Food Day will draw global attention to the role of social protection in eradicating hunger and poverty.