Linking Farmers to Market: Some Success Stories from Asia-Pacific Region Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand Linking Farmers to Market: Some Success Stories from Asia-Pacific Region Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand ii Linking Farmers to Market: Some Success Stories from Asia-Pacific Region For copies & further information, please write to: The Executive Secretary Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) FAO Regional Office for Asia & the Pacific (FAO RAP) Maliwan Mansion, 39 Phra Atit Road Bangkok 10200, THAILAND Tel : (+66 2) 697 4371 – 3 Fax : (+66 2) 697 4408 E-Mail :
[email protected] Printed in May 2008 Linking Farmers to Market: Some Success Stories from Asia-Pacific Region iii Foreword The Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), as one of its ongoing activity, highlights some highly successful ARD initiatives undertaken by the National Agricultural Research Systems, particularly the APAARI member countries. These case studies cover different topics of emerging concerns and interest at the national, regional and global level. So far, over 30 such success stories have been published and widely disseminated by APAARI to its stakeholders. Over the past few years, much concern is being expressed on ‘Linking Farmers to Market’ – especially the LFM initiatives undertaken by NARS. Such studies have been promoted by FAO and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). APAARI, realizing the importance of LFM issues, organized an expert consultation in November 2006 at New Delhi, India, wherein need was expressed to identify some successful cases and publish them for wider use of NARS partners.