Sharing Knowledge at the MELA Regional Exchange Workshop
About MELA
Established in 2015, the Mekong Extension Learning Alliance (MELA) addresses the need for improved advisory support for small-scale farmers in the Mekong basin of Southeast Asia. As agriculture rapidly evolves—driven by large-scale corporations, technological advancements, and climate impacts—MELA fosters international collaboration. Governments, academics, civil society organizations, private-sector actors, and youth organizations converge under its umbrella, aligning with the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS).
MELA held its annual regional exchange workshop on 24–26 July 2024 in Hạ Long City, Vietnam. Co-hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this gathering brought together governmental representatives, civil society members, academics, and youth participants from Cambodia, China’s Yunnan province, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their mission: to share and explore innovative advisory services in the region.
The Workshop
The 3-day workshop included presentations from various government and private-sector organizations covering the topics of agri-extension, climate resilience, digital services, social change, and more. MELA participants also visited Green Farm Cooperative, which grows vegetables through hydroponics and provides fresh, chemical-free vegetables within and outside Quảng Ninh province.
In addition to the presentations, the exchange workshop scheduled focused sessions on digital extension services and how they can benefit smallholder farmers.
Girlie Frando, Farmer Extension Manager at East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation (EWS-KT), presented to the MELA group about the digital extension services EWS-KT offers and how smallholder vegetable farmers benefit from them. VeggieTap, a free android application for learning vegetable production, and the digital extension materials on EWS-KT’s GrowHow website gained the attention of MELA attendees.
Swaroop Nanu, Media and Communications Manager for Farmer Extension at EWS-KT, participated in a panel discussion focused on digital extension services. The panel discussed the digital tools and services available to farmers and how farmers choose the services by evaluating the cost and benefits. The panel also discussed the sustainability of digital services amid the continuous rapid growth in the digital space.
Convenings like the MELA exchange workshop provide an excellent opportunity for EWS-KT to share its experience and expertise more broadly and to learn from others working in the small-scale agriculture sphere.
