Two Southeast Asian organizations have pooled their resources to address food security and alleviate poverty in rural areas in the region.

Member countries of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are now paving the ay for the implementation of what is called Integrated Regional Aquaculture Program (IRAP), the flagship aquaculture component of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Special Five-Year Program.

SEAFDEC is a treaty organization established in 1967 to promote fisheries development in Southeast Asia.  It is now composed of nine member countries - the Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malysia, indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam.

Also founded in 1967, ASEAN now has for its members all the 10 Southeast Asian countries - Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Developed and to be coordinated by the Philippine government-hosted, Tigbauan, Iloilo-based SEAFDEC, IRAP aims to promote sustainable aquaculture technologies, specifically in rural areas.

IRAF's core budget is provided by the ASEAN Foundation through SEAFDEC.

The program gives priority to two major areas to ensure sustainable development of aquaculture in Southeast Asia, namely: aquaculture for rural development and supply of good quality seeds, with Vietnam and Indonesia as lead countries, respectively.

For smooth implementation of IRAP, technical and national coordinators from each member country were named to take charge of the project's implementation and monitoring.

SEAFDEC AQD chief Dr. Rolando R. Platon serves as the project manager.  He will be assisted by the head of AQD'S technology verification and commercialization division.

Following the national coordinators' meeting in Thailand last June, a four-day seminar-workshop was conducted also in Bangkok last Sept. 17-20 to discuss the aquaculture development in the region and assess the needs of the ASEAN member countries for specific aquaculture technologies.

To promote collaboration with other regional agencies, a regional donor consultation meeting will be held this month.  The meeting will be organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO), International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM), Network for Aquaculture and Coordinating Agencies (NACA), and SEAFDEC AQD.

Collaboration with other agencies will significantly reduce the national budget requirement of IRAP, otherwise, the participating country may assume most of the cost to implement the project.