ESCAP-CSAM’s Regional Pilot Project on Mechanization Solutions for Integrated Management of Straw Residue in Asia and the Pacific has been cited as one of 80 good practices in a newly released publication titled “Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation in LDCs: From the Istanbul Programme of Action to Achieving Sustainable and Resilient Development”. 

The publication has been jointly developed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Office of the High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS (UN-OHRLLS), in partnership with the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) to response to the call in the Buenos Aires outcome document of the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation for the United Nations Development System to share good practices and experiences from the South, especially with Least Developed Countries (LDCs). 

Initially launched in 2018 in China and Vietnam, the Regional Pilot Project seeks to identify, test and promote an integrated model to utilize straw as fertilizer, fodder, base material (e.g. for mushroom growing) and clean energy production in a circular manner while customizing the model for specific local conditions. The pilot in China is being implemented in Laixi in the Shandong Province in collaboration with China Agricultural University, local government agencies and a local farmers cooperative, while in Viet Nam the pilot has been implemented in Can Tho City in collaboration with the Sub-Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Post-Harvest Technology and local farmers. The main activities - including field experiments involving agricultural machinery, data collection and analysis, optimization of the machinery and technical patterns, and training for local farmers - have contributed to improving current practices and have provided an alternative to straw residue burning, thus supporting climate-smart agriculture. 

Building upon its success and positive results in China and Vietnam, and leveraging the South-South and Triangular Cooperation modality, the Regional Pilot Project is now being expanded to two LDCs (Cambodia and Nepal) as well as Indonesia in 2021 and 2022 with funding support from China. The initiative will sustain its outcomes by mainstreaming the integrated model of straw management via engaging pilot country partners and decision-makers, as well as testing and replicating the model in varied contexts and sub-regions. 

The publication is available at https://www.southsouth-galaxy.org/publications/good-practices-in-south-south-triangular-cooperation-in-least-developed-countries-from-the-istanbul-programme-of-action-to-achieving-sustainable-and-resilient-development/ (please refer to item “Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization for Integrated and Climate-Smart Straw Residue Management” on p. 46-47).

This is the third ESCAP-CSAM initiative to be selected as a good practice in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development by UNOSSC, following inclusion of the Centre’s “Asian and Pacific Network for Testing of Agricultural Machinery (ANTAM)” and “Regional Council of Agricultural Machinery Associations in Asia and the Pacific (ReCAMA)” in earlier editions of the publication in 2018 and 2020 respectively.