Overall Objective
Enhance food security, nutrition, and sustainable economic growth in Lao PDR by strengthening climate-resilient and inclusive agrifood systems, improving access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, and promoting value addition within agricultural value chains.
Specific Objective
Improve access to finance for agrifood MSMEs in Lao PDR, enhance productivity and value addition through value chain development and business capacity building, promote climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable practices, strengthen food safety systems and nutrition outcomes, build public sector capacity to manage agrifood interventions in line with international standards, and ensure full compliance with ADB requirements including safeguards and reporting.
Key Activities
- Project management & institutional support – Manage PMU/PCUs (budgets, procurement, planning) and provide quality assurance and technical guidance.
- Climate-resilient infrastructure & advisory – Deliver small-scale civil works (irrigation, rural roads) plus advisory on climate-smart agriculture, nutrition, gender, and environmental safeguards.
- Digital M&E & training – Set up a digital monitoring system and provide hands-on training to government staff.
- Food safety lab accreditation – Modernize labs to ISO 17025 standards for key value chains (bamboo, cassava, coffee, durian, tea) and develop PPP models.
Expected Results
- Improved access to finance – Increased credit availability through participating financial institutions, higher loan uptake by MSMEs and smallholder farmers, and better financial inclusion including for women-led enterprises.
- Enhanced value chains & climate-smart agriculture – Higher productivity and commercialization of priority crops (coffee, cassava, bamboo, tea, durian), improved market linkages, and adoption of climate-resilient practices.
- Climate-resilient infrastructure & food safety – Completed irrigation systems and rural roads across 12 districts in 6 provinces, plus ISO 17025 lab accreditation and upgraded food testing systems for international compliance.
- Cross-cutting results – Strengthened institutional capacity of MOIC, BOL, and provincial units; improved M&E systems; compliance with safeguards; gender equality; and climate resilience integrated across all components.
Our Role
The ISC team will act as an enabler and quality assurer. We will help agencies make informed decisions, solve problems that slow down progress, and build good practices that last long after the project ends.
