The In-Country Workshop on Promoting Rice Planted Area and Production Estimation Using Space-based Technologies in Lao PDR was jointly organized by the AFSIS Secretariat, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan, and Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) under the Project for ASEAN Food Security Information System – Geospatial Informalization Support (AFSIS-GIS) and the Space Applications for Environment (SAFE) Project. The event was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR, with a hands-on training session on 9 February 2026 and a workshop on 10 February 2026.
The hands-on training was officially opened by Mr. Phonsavanh Vanmixay, Director of the Division of Agricultural and Environmental Statistics (DAES), MAE, Lao PDR. The training aimed to enhance technical capacity of DAES staff in operating the INAHOR system for rice planted area estimation. Eight staff members participated in the training.
The workshop on 10 February 2026 was opened by Dr. Boundeth Soutthavilay, Director General of the Department of Planning and Cooperation (DOPC), MAE, Lao PDR, and Dr. Sumanya Ngandee, AFSIS Manager. The program included presentations on the overview of the SAFE Project and INAHOR as well as the 2025 rainy season rice planted area estimation results in Lao PDR. The workshop brought together regional representatives from 18 provinces to discuss working methods for validating district-level rice planted area and applying the results to provincial operations.
The event was successfully completed through the strong cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Lao PDR and relevant partner organizations, contributing to the effective use of space-based technologies to strengthen agricultural statistics and food security information systems in Lao PDR
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On 23 April 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the Ad-Hoc Senior Officials Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF), held via a virtual platform, to discuss the implications of recent developments in the Middle East on regional food security and to identify coordinated measures to enhance ASEAN’s food resilience, in preparation for the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting.
The agricultural sector plays a vital role in supporting food security and livelihoods across ASEAN, where diverse production capacities shape the availability of major agricultural commodities such as rice, maize, sugarcane, soybean, and cassava. This report examines the SSR patterns across ASEAN to emphasize regional strengths, structural imbalances, and the implications for food security and agricultural policy in the region.
The self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) is a key indicator of food security. It shows how well Southeast Asian countries can meet rice demand through domestic production, with the region overall remaining increasingly self-sufficient despite ongoing challenges.
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On 19 March 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the Asia and the Pacific Food Systems Forum 2026 under the theme “Feeding the Future, Sustaining the Planet” in Manila, the Philippines, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) . The forum aimed to promote food security policies, review ADB’s related initiatives, and support long-term food systems transformation.
