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August 04, 2022

SRP National Chapters: Progress Update

Learn more about SRP National Chapters

In this article, we provide  a brief introduction to SRP National Chapters, including a progress update for each country in which a National Chapter is being established.

What is an SRP National Chapter?

SRP National Chapters are country-level coalitions established among national-level rice stakeholders, including institutions from the public and private sector, international agencies and development partners, research institutes, non‐profits and producer groups.

SRP National Chapters reflect SRP’s vision, mission and approaches and aim to drive adoption of climate-smart, sustainable rice farming practices through policy advocacy and market-led approaches.

The SRP Protocol for Establishing National Chapters v. 2.2 outlines a stepwise process for national-level stakeholders to establish SRP National Chapters.

Progress overview of SRP National Chapters

As of 31 July 2022, SRP National Chapters are being initiated in four countries, following the SRP Protocol for Establishing National Chapters: Cambodia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Thailand. Pakistan is the newest addition to the list, initiated by the Pakistan Basmati Heritage Foundation (PBHF). Find out more about key achievements and upcoming activities by each country in the table below.

In addition to the above countries, leading SRP members in other countries have expressed interest and are preparing to initiate the process according to the Protocol, including Vietnam where an early-stage informal working group has been formed, and Indonesia where preliminary discussion on preparation and establishment of the SRP National Chapter has taken place. 

Country	Progress (2021 – present)
Cambodia	Completed: MoA signing ceremony in June 2021 among General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA), Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), CIRAD, and Swisscontact to support establishment and development of SRP National Chapter in Cambodia. National Coordinator: Dr. Chou Cheythyrith, Deputy Director of General Directorate of Agriculture. Ongoing / Planned: Consultation workshop on 23rd August 2022 to discuss on the strategic roadmap of the SRP National Chapter in Cambodia, with the assistance of the consultants recruited by WCS.
Nigeria	Completed: Request to lead establishment of SRP National Chapter in Nigeria submitted by Market-oriented Value Chains for Jobs and Growth in the ECOWAS Region / Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) in Nigeria on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and endorsed by SRP Secretariat in July 2021 Ongoing / Planned: Collaboration between MOVE / CARI and Mainstreaming Sustainable Rice through SRP Project on capacity building activities to support the development of an SRP National Chapter in Nigeria and promote awareness about sustainable rice in other prospective countries in West Africa (i.e., Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire)
Pakistan	Completed: – Request to lead establishment of SRP National Chapter in Pakistan submitted by Pakistan Basmati Heritage Foundation (PBHF) and endorsed by SRP Secretariat in June 2022; – First consultation workshop among potential stakeholders identified by stakeholder mapping exercise to announce the approval and engage their support in the establishment of SRP National Chapter in Pakistan Ongoing / Planned: – National and regional stakeholder engagement; – Consultations to develop a roadmap for the first-year activities; – A local training course on SRP to enhance capacity of NWG members and interested stakeholders, with a gender focus; – Aggregation of recommendations on current version of SRP Standard from NWG members to support forthcoming revision of the SRP Standard
Thailand	Completed: – National Bureau for Agricultural & Food Commodity Standards (ACFS) has submitted a revised Thai Agricultural Standard for Sustainable Rice (incorporating components of the SRP Standard) for government endorsement; – Pilot training course on the SRP Standard and PIs in Thai language organized in November 2021, with NWG members as target attendees and resulting in the first group of Thai female farmers recognized as SRP Authorized Trainers; – Leaflet on SRP National Chapter in Thailand (both in English and Thai) made available in March 2022; – Recommendations on current version of SRP Standard collated from NWG members to support forthcoming revision of the SRP Standard Ongoing / Planned: – Final proofreading of the official EN-TH translation of SRP Standard (endorsed by the SRP Technical Committee in November 2021) prior to the formal publication on the SRP website; – Conduct a mapping of stakeholders for strategic expansion of NWG members; – Benchmarking of the new Thai Agricultural Standard for Sustainable Rice against the SRP Standard

Stay tuned & reach out

The SRP Secretariat is working on a new webpage dedicated to the activities of our SRP National Chapters. Relevant information will be made available and regularly updated. The new website will be officially launched later in 2022.

SRP Secretariat is always open to discussion and questions! Should you be interested in learning more or have any inquiries about the SRP National Chapters.