We are pleased to present this guidebook, an output of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)–funded project Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the ASEAN Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns (ATMI-ASEAN). It was jointly implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
This publication represents the culmination of the six-year implementation (2016–22) of the ATMI-ASEAN project, which had the ultimate goal of strengthening the institutional capacity of the ASEAN member states (AMS) to develop and implement policies and subregional programs to support the integration of smallholders in subregional agricultural and food markets.
To continuously provide technical assistance to policy- and decisionmakers beyond its life cycle, the ATMI-ASEAN project created this guidebook as a detailed reference in crafting national strategies for the development and increased competitiveness of agrifood value
chains. It documents the complex and participatory process that the ATMI-ASEAN target countries underwent to successfully develop national-level roadmaps for their selected priority agricultural commodities.
This guidebook also showcases how the ATMI-ASEAN project has successfully strengthened the capacities of AMS it supported—Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Philippines—in policy and program development. The replicability of the process aims to encourage other policymakers to apply the same evidence-based participatory approach in developing national roadmaps and strategies for other agricultural commodities in their respective countries.
Through this publication, IFPRI and SEARCA desire to continuously contribute to rural and agricultural development by empowering both policymakers and smallholders in the ASEAN region and beyond.