The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the agricultural sector hard, particularly production and supply chains spanning smallholder farms to agriculture processing to exporters. Many countries have also imposed food export restrictions to protect domestic interests, leading to greater global food insecurity.

Pandemic agri-food chain disruptions are compounded by climate change-driven extreme weather and soil degradation, which is increasing pressure on crop and livestock production. Moreover, agriculture directly accounts for around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, prompting policy makers to seek multifaceted solutions for enhancing sustainability within the sector.

This ADBI-Asian Development Bank-Vietnam National University of Agriculture virtual workshop explored ways to strengthen the adaptive capacity of food and agriculture in Asia and the Pacific amid challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change. It consisted of three sessions covering: (i) Agriculture and food global value chain recovery; (ii) Climate change and agriculture; and (iii) Digitalization of the agriculture sector.

See more about this ADBI event.