2nd International Conference on Agricultural and Rural Development in Southeast Asia: Conference Summary Report

The conference focused on the theme Strengthening Resilience, Equity, and Integration in ASEAN Food and Agriculture Systems. The two-day meeting included plenary presentations, parallel sessions, and a partners' forum including renowned speakers and experts in the agriculture sector and representatives from the different ASEAN countries. Each discussion comprehensively elaborated the three main themes of the conference, namely, resilience, equity, and integration. Discussions throughout the conference associated resilience with the concept of sustainability, particularly the resilience of food and agricultural systems, which currently bear the brunt of rapid urbanization and social transformation, resource and environmental degradation, and heightened competition with regional and global integration of markets. On the second theme, participants linked equity closely with "inclusive growth" or "inclusive development" that provides for extensive and equal access to opportunities to all stakeholders, particularly the marginalized, in agricultural and rural development. On the other hand, integration widens the perspective of agricultural development by calling for private companies, governments, and other countries in the ASEAN region to support and participate toward stronger regional political and economic coordination and cooperation.