An element of the CDAIS approach is building bridges between people. Connecting smallholders with government services means CDAIS projects will continue long after the funding ends. Based on the group’s plan, CDAIS facilitated a training-and-study tour to NAFRI’s pig research centre in Vientiane in November 2017. The group members then decided they wanted to visit a commercial operation in Thailand from where they have been buying piglets for some time, but it was difficult for them to make arrangements on their own. The District Agriculture and Forestry Office (DAFO) offered support and CDAIS helped contact Thai farms, with one producer accepting an invitation to a consultation meeting in July 2017 leading to a signed collaboration agreement between the Dong Kha pig group and Yong Yut Farm in Thailand. “Arranging the consultation meeting was an important breakthrough,” said Patrick D’Aquino, CDAIS Focal Person for Laos. “As an external agency we have a certain amount of ‘convening power’ that allows us to create space for and facilitate dialogue. Once we get different stakeholders talking they usually find a way to meet everyone’s needs.”

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Source: https://cdais.net