APO Asian Productivity Organization

The Agriculture Program assists APO members to improve the productivity of the agriculture and rural sectors, promote environment-friendly, sustainable practices in agriculture, and enhance the competitiveness of the agribusiness and food-processing industry. To achieve this mission, the activities of the department focus on three priority areas: sustainable development in agriculture; processing and marketing of agricultural and food products; and integrated community development (ICD).

Sustainable Development in Agriculture

Most APO members are seriously concerned about achieving national food security and the conservation, rehabilitation, and appropriate utilization of resources to ensure sustainable development in agriculture. The Agriculture Department promotes the fundamental principles of sustainable agriculture to enhance the capacity of farmers and rural communities through projects on environment-friendly farming systems, good agricultural practices (GAP), resource conservation technologies, greening food supply chains, agricultural adaptations to climate change, modern standards and certification systems such as GLOBALGAP and organic standards and certification systems, cutting-edge technologies for enhancing agricultural productivity, and agricultural productivity measurement and analysis.

Processing and Marketing of Agricultural and Food Products

Observing tea processing in Indonesia

The goal of the department in this area is to broaden access to new knowledge and value-adding technologies in the agribusiness and food industry. It also aims to build the capacity of appropriate bodies and institutions in developing a strong regulatory infrastructure, national standards, and certification systems. Training courses on food safety and quality auditing are organized to expand the pool of certified auditors in member countries. Project topics under this thrust area include modern food safety management systems, value addition to agricultural products, innovative branding, packaging and labeling skills and techniques, advanced agribusiness management, supply chain and value chain management in agribusiness and the food industry, improving managerial and entrepreneurial skills of entrepreneurs and managers in agribusiness, and marketing and exporting of agrifood products including logistics management.

Integrated Community Development

Visiting a One Tambon, One Product Village in Thailand

The ICD Program promotes the balanced economic development of rural areas in APO members by spreading the productivity movement to the grassroots level. The ICD Program also encourages productivity stakeholders in the field to use participatory and community-based initiatives in managing communal resources, share the benefits of development, and strengthen self-reliance. This entails social infrastructure building, development of entrepreneurship, and enhancing access to credit and financial services. Some pertinent subject areas are the One Village, One Product movement, community-based rural tourism including agrotourism and ecotourism, microcredit and innovative financial services for farmers and rural entrepreneurs, community capacity building for green rural development, and creation of employment in rural areas.

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