The 6th Asian Organic Congress successfully took place in Kauswagan, Philippines 4-10 June 2023 which organized by Municipality of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, Philippines, IFOAM-Organics Asia, League of Organic Agriculture, Municipalities, Cities and Provinces of the Philippines (LOAMCP-Ph). Also, 9th ALGOA (Asian Local Governments for Organic Agriculture) & 4th GAOD (Global Alliance of Organic Districts) Summits, have been held on 5-6 June. Participants from 31 countries attended the “6th Asian Organic Congress” that came to an end on 9 June 2023. At the same time, around 1200 local visitors took the opportunity to involved in the Asian organic communities within an interesting exhibition of local products.
The four-day conference addressed the themes:
- Climate change
- Innovations in organic agriculture
- Sustainable fisheries and organic aquaculture
- Organic rice production and innovations
- Social inclusiveness
- Rural revitalization
In the opening ceremony the participants received the remarks of IFOAM President (Mrs. Karen Mapusua), IFOAM-Asia President (Mr. Mathew John) and the recent ALGOA President (Mr. Meyer Rommel Arnado) as well as other local authorities. In addition to the conference itself, participants could take advantage of visiting the area under organically management systems of Kauswagan and experienced the sense of agroforestry landscape of mixing vegetables, rice, coconuts, pineapple with combined with Tilapia fish pounds as well as an excursion to a dynamic agriculture farm. For many people attending the conference, mostly from other countries, the host country provided an ideal opportunity to catch up on the latest information and discussions in the organic sectors and the organic concepts brought the sense of the peace to the area with program called “From Arms to Farms”.
Photo: Organic Site Visits
Four ISOFAR board members included Dr. Mahesh Chander (India), Prof. Khaled Sassi (Tunisia), Prof. Reza Ardakani (Iran) and Prof. Wahyudi David (Indonesia) actively contributed in different sessions as invited speakers or session moderators. Dr. Chander presented an oral talk on “Policies and initiatives for integrating livestock in organic farming systems and the effects in our climate”, Prof. Sassi talked on “Composting of organic waste: A Sustainable alternative to face climate change”; Prof. Ardakani moderated the session of climate change as the scientific part of the congress, and Prof. David had a key note speech on “Organic Agriculture and Climate Change”.
Photo: Left to right: Dr. Mahesh, Prof. Sassi, Prof. David and Prof. Ardakani (ISOFAR Board Members)
As a side event of the congress, the academicians participants, took the opportunity to gather in a scientific meeting which organized by Mr.Vic Anthony Joseph Fabre Tagupa and Dr. Shaikh Tanveer Hosain and discussed for launching a new scientific platform in Asia with the title “ Education and Research for Organic Agriculture Development- EROAD” which supported by ALGOA President.
Photo: The meeting of academic representative from Asian countries for launching Education and Research for Organic Agriculture Development- EROAD platform
The participants had a great acknowledgement to the host especially to Meyer Rommel Arnado, Jennifer Chang, IFOAM Asia team and local partners for all of their efforts to organize such a great and well-organized events.
Report prepared by: Prof. Reza Ardakani