The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) invited experts from member countries of the African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) to visit Taiwan from October 27 to November 2 to better understand Taiwan’s promotion of sustainable agriculture and food security-related policies and programs. A total of ten agricultural officials and scholars from the AARDO Secretariat and member countries participated in this study visit. Besides learning about Taiwan’s agricultural policies and successful programs promoting sustainable development, they also made on-site visits to eco-friendly organic farms, an aquaculture research organization, and an agribusiness selling aquatic products. Meanwhile, they also visited rural communities in order to better understand the promotion of policies and programs related to sustainable development of these communities in Taiwan.

The MOA relates that Taiwan joined AARDO in 1968, and has continually worked with AARDO over the years to jointly promote programs in education & training, technical exchanges, and agricultural cooperation between member countries. Through AARDO, Taiwan has created opportunities for ministers and high-level officials from member countries to visit Taiwan for interactions, has continually arranged for agricultural experts to come to Taiwan for study visits, and has encouraged all member countries to learn about Taiwan’s achievements in the promotion of agricultural policies. This recent visit provided an important opportunity to display Taiwan’s accomplishments in sustainable development of agriculture and rural communities and deepen bilateral agricultural cooperation between Taiwan and AARDO member countries. It also demonstrated Taiwan’s commitment to promoting international technical exchanges and cooperation.

The MOA states that Taiwan’s agriculture is facing challenges from the internal and external environments. Under the four main strategic pillars of “smart,” “resilient,” “sustainable,” and “secure” agriculture, Taiwan is linking up technologies including smart production and digital services to comprehensively upgrade the resilience of agriculture, lower the risk of agricultural operations, ensure orderly production and marketing (supply and demand balance) and upgrade agricultural competitiveness. The recent visit by guests from AARDO member countries deepened Taiwan’s collaborative interactions with that organization. At the same time, it provided an opportunity for these guests to witness the vitality and potential of agriculture in Taiwan, and enhanced Taiwan’s international visibility.

The opening ceremony for the recent study visit to Taiwan by experts from member countries of the African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO).

Experts from AARDO member countries visited an organic farm during their study visit in Taiwan.

Experts from AARDO member countries visited an organic produce packaging plant.