A regional capacity building workshop will be held in Asia on the topic of Strengthening the Capacity of Producers' Organizations to Respond to Modernizing Agriculture. The objective of the Workshop is to introduce producer organizations and NGOs - support service providers - to some of the changes that are occurring in modern agriculture and the concept of value chain development. The workshop will cover support to the following key topics relating to (i) producer-market linkages; (ii) post harvest management; (iii) Good Agricultural Practices (iv) cooperative and collective action (v) business services; and (vi) financial services.

The primary objective of the Workshop is to introduce producer organizations and NGOs-support service providers-to some of the changes that are occurring in modern agriculture and the concept of value chain development.

The goals of the workshop are:

1)To raise awareness for producer organizations on capacity development needs;
2)To raise awareness of the training and extension support available;
3)Create an opportunity for countries to share and exchange experiences related to post harvest management marketing and business development;
4)Identify needs, gaps and priorities and develop proposals for follow-up activities.

The workshop outcomes would be:

1)Awareness of the challenges facing producer organizations to link to modern value chains;
2)Identification of capacity building needs of producer organizations;
3)Awareness if the training resources and support available;
4)Cooperation between NGO service providers in supporting producer organizations;
5)Proposals for follow-up training/ support activities.

Representatives of national or provincial producer organizations with a commitment and interest to provide support to their members are invited for this meeting. Also, representatives of national NGOs involved in providing support to producer organizations in value chain development and resource persons from regional NGOs and individuals involved in providing training and extension support to POs in market related activities will actively participate.