1. Outline of Rice Strategy for Asia/Pacific

2. Purpose Provide evidence-based guidelines to help member nations: 1.Develop/adjust their rice sector strategies in the context of broader trends and national priorities. 2.Select among key options while giving full considerations to the implied trade-offs.

3. Vision Food secure and better-nourished households in the Asia/Pacific region with reduced poverty contributed by increasing rice productivity and stabilized market supply while reducing the environmental footprint.

4. Vision Food secure and better-nourished households in the Asia/Pacific region with reduced poverty and improved environmental outcomes contributed by improvements in rice strategies and policies.

5. Strategic Objectives 1.Increase productivity and nutrient content of rice adequately to meet the rising global demand through sustainable intensification of rice production systems. 2.Reduce environmental footprint of rice production and enhance the ecosystems functions of rice landscapes including the protection/promotion of rice heritage and culture. 3.Improve mitigation/adaptation of rice farming to climate change and augment farmers’ capacity to manage risk.

6. Strategic Objectives 4.Reduce post harvest losses, enhance value addition and market supply logistics through improvements in post-harvest value chains. 5.Improve the efficiency and reliability of domestic and international rice markets for stabilizing rice prices and supply, and promote regional collaboration. 6.Enhance the capacity of small holders and women farmers, especially in lagging regions, to adapt to long-term changes in demography, farm size and labour supply.

7. Instruments Improved field-level technologies (varieties, management practices) Improved practices and institutional arrangements at the landscape/ecosystems/community levels for organizing agricultural production. Improved policies Increased capacity of member nations to effectively design/implement programs

8. Trade-offs: some examples Irrigated vs rainfed Small vs large farms Labor-intensive vs mechanized system Hybrid vs inbred Small vs large scale milling/drying …