The Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), participates in the 2023 Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI) Project Planning Workshop on 11-15 September 2023 in Jeonju, South Korea.

 The Philippines, one of the 15 member countries, is represented by Julia A. Lapitan, assistant head of DA-BAR Program Monitoring, Evaluation, and Linkaging Division and AFACI national contact person.  One of the primary agenda of the workshop is the presentation of respective country reports providing avenue to share agricultural status and issues vis-à-vis recommendations, as well as plan new projects.

 Established in 2009, AFACI is an inter-governmental and multi-lateral cooperation body aimed to improve food production and promote sustainable agriculture of Asian countries through knowledge and information transfer and sharing on agricultural technology. DA-BAR serves as the national coordinating agency for AFACI-funded projects in the country, of which six--on soil atlas, vegetable breeding, stress-tolerant, high yielding rice varieties, Asian Food Composition database, and agricultural technology extension system, are ongoing.