The Australian Center for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) has embarked on a Food Security Research Program with a three-part strategy towards ‘safeguarding food security in the rice-based farming systems of South and South-East Asia.’ The third of these strategies is to pursue policy research relevant to production and trade, within which five broad areas have been identified. They are: agricultural industry and trade policy; policies for land and water resource management; policies for making agricultural extension systems more effective; research into marketing approaches for products from rice-based farming systems; and building capacity in policy research.
This project will progress the policy research strategy through a review of key national government policies and programs affecting the development of rice-based farming systems in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Laos. The reviewers determined current and likely future impacts of these policies and programs, identified any implications for the delivery of other projects in the Food Security Research Program, and developed a proposal for a more detailed comparative policy research project for the region.