Opportunities and Challenges of Organic Production
and Marketing in South Asia, 10-11 August 2008,
Kathmandu, Nepal
Organic agriculture is one
of the key sectors to achieve sustainable development
in most of the Asian countries. Organic agriculture,
through sustainable management of ecosystem and
environment, contributes to achieving food-sovereignty,
good nutrition, animal welfare and social justice.
Being an important and multi-beneficial approach
towards reducing adverse effects of chemical agriculture
in the environment and human health, organic agriculture
has attracted scientists, development workers,
producers and consumers for a shift from the chemical
agriculture.
Despite growing demands for
organic products both in national and international
markets, promotion of organic agriculture faces
numerous challenges due to lack of awareness and
organic-product marketing mechanism and inadequate
technical services, availability of quality inputs
and policy support. Therefore, a need for developing
strategies to improve organic agriculture and
products marketing in line with enhancing local
income and thereby fostering sustainable livelihoods
is strongly felt.
In this connection, Ministry
of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) and Nepal
Permaculture Group (NPG) are jointly organising
a Regional Workshop on ‘‘Opportunities
and Challenges of Organic Production and Marketing
in South Asia’’ in Kathmandu, Nepal
from 10-11 August 2008 to share the information
and experiences related to the various aspects
of organic production and marketing systems by
bringing farmers, traders, processors, development
workers, scientists, academicians and policy personnel
together in a forum.
The overall objective of the
workshop is to provide a regional forum to discuss
on the opportunities and challenges of organic
agriculture promotion and related policy initiatives.
- To share on the knowledge
and experiences in different aspects of organic
agriculture in South Asia;
- To identify relevant issues
and concerns of organic agriculture promotion
including indigenous knowledge, skills and practices;
- To identify policy interventions,
strategies, good practices and research and
development areas for organic agriculture promotion
in South Asia;
- To generate recommendations
as a guide to future policies and actions on
the production, processing and marketing of
organic agricultural products;
- Production and Marketing
- Standardization and Certification
- Social Inclusion and Benefit
Sharing: Fair Trade, Social Inclusion, Food
Security
- Environment & Climate
Change
It is expected that the papers
presented in above themes will cover the major
aspects like Status, Problems, Opportunities,
Challenges, Ways Forward etc. The authors could
also include suggestions and recommendations regarding
Policy Initiatives, Technology Generation and
Dissemination, Coordination and Networking etc.
- Producers, Processors, Consumers
and Promoters
- Researchers, Academicians
and Students
- Inspectors, Certifiers and
Traders
- Policy makers, Analysts
and Planners
- Government, International
agencies, and NGO representatives
The workshop will be jointly
organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
(MoAC) and Nepal Permaculture Group (NPG) with
financial support from EED Germany.
Interested authors are invited
to submit abstract of papers in any of the above
mentioned themes. Priority will be given to the
papers and posters based on action research on
organic agriculture jointly carried out by community
members (practitioners) and researchers. The abstract,
not exceeding 300 words and including such details
as the author's full name(s) and contact/e-mail
addresses, should precisely describe the methods,
major findings and conclusions. It must be available
to the organizer at npg@earthcare.wlink.com.np
by 25th June, 2008.
NPG will provide lunch, tea
and snacks during the period of the workshop.
Submission of abstracts:
June 25, 2008
Notification of acceptance: July 05, 2008
Submission of full paper or poster: July 15,
2008
Paper or poster /Presentations: August 10-11,
2008
One day tour to permaculture/organic
farm sites and some historic places in Kathmandu
valley will be organized for key speakers and
outside the country participants.
For other details:
Write to Mr. Umesh Lama (the workshop coordinator)
at
npg@earthcare.wlink.com.np
Note:
Venue: Himalayan Hotel
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