Category: Asia

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Asia Food and agriculture

Agri-Food MSMEs & Global Sustainable Development

Photos by Nathaniel Candelaria and Gisèle Yasmeen

Micro, small and medium enterprises, or MSMEs, are backbones of the economy in both wealthy and low and middle income countries (LMICs). The agri-food sector in particular is of fundamental importance in terms of livelihoods, food-security and meeting growing domestic and international demand for food, including value-added comestibles. If one includes informal enterprises and activities, the size and importance of the agri-food MSME sector takes on even more importance in both North and South.

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at attending a workshop organized by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APFC) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ho Chi Minh City organized on the eve of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting taking place there. In case you missed it, the event was live streamed and recorded on the APFC’s Facebook page, and the session I participated in on September 11th is available here. Vilupti Christina Lok Barrineau, newly minted Vice-President of Operations of APFC, and I also published an op-ed in the Hill Times the next day on the role of agri-food MSMEs available here. The op-ed was also picked up in Vietnam and translated into Vietnamese.

My thanks to Vilupti and the team at APFC for this opportunity. Over the past few years, it has been a privilege to reconnect with the Foundation, with which I was very involved in the 1990s as their first intern in 1995/96 and subsequently as a consultant producing educational materials on the Asia Pacific as well as having the honour of being involved in the exciting Asia Connects Youth Conference that was part of Canada’s Year of Asia Pacific in 1997. Our research report on agri-food MSMEs in the Philippines, Vietnam and Peru is being produced in collaboration with Dr. Roslyn Kunin and Vietnam Silicon Valley, with the assistance of Nathaniel Candelaria and Deyvi Danny Machacuay Saez and will be available this fall.

Categories
Asia Food and agriculture

Interview on Bangkok street food – Quartz magazine

It was a pleasure being approached by design writer Anne Quito in April to provide media commentary on the ostensible banning of street food in Bangkok because of my work in this area over the years. As a result, the following article was published by Quartz on April 24th 2017 and can be viewed here. While the situation facing street vendors in Bangkok remains a bit uncertain, it was refreshing to see the global outpouring of support, particularly for the city’s lively street food sector, which provides important livelihood opportunities as well as delicious, affordable food for both locals and tourists alike.

Categories
Asia Food and agriculture

La vente dans l’espace public : le cas de Bangkok

English follows…

Ma nouvelle publication avec Narumol Nirathron – “La vente dans l’espace public : le cas de Bangkok” publication In F. Zogning et. al. (eds) L’économie informelle, l’entrepreneuriat et l’emploi – Publié par JFD Éditions à Montréal en avril 2017 suite au Colloque sur l’économie informelle à l’ACFAS en mai 2016. Ce texte est une traduction raccourci et légèrement mis-à-jour d’une publication qui a paru en anglais en mai 2014. Malheureusement, la situation à Bangkok a détérioré depuis quelques années, mettant les vendeurs et vendeuses de la rue en péril. Voici le lien pour plus d’informations: http://www.editionsjfd.com/fr/products/view/l-economie-informelle-l-entrepreneuriat-et-l-emploi/

My new publication with Narumol Nirathron – “La vente dans l’espace public : le cas de Bangkok” publication In F. Zogning et. al. (eds) \L’économie informelle, l’entrepreneuriat et l’emploi – Published by JFD editions in Montréal in april 2017 following the Colloque sur l’économie formula at ACFAS in May 2016. This text is an abbreviated translation with minor updates of a policy brief published in May 2014. Unfortunately, the situation in Bangkok has deteriorated in the last few years, putting many street vendors in peril. Here is the link for more information: http://www.editionsjfd.com/fr/products/view/l-economie-informelle-l-entrepreneuriat-et-l-emploi/ 

Categories
Asia

New book chapter on women’s livelihoods in South and Southeast Asia

I’m pleased to announce that my chapter comparing women’s access to public space for their livelihoods in Thailand, the Philippines and India in a collection entitled Women, Law and Culture: Conformity, Contradiction and Conflict is available for ordering in advance of the March 2017 publication date by Palgrave-MacMillan. Thanks to our editor, the amazing The Honourable Dr Jocelynne A. Scutt, for inviting me to contribute! The book can be ordered by going to this link: https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319449371

Categories
Asia Social Protection

Challenges and opportunities for social protection of informal workers

Photo courtesy of Marlese von Broembsen

This invited blog entry was posted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday, August 22nd as a result of my  participation as a WIEGO resource person for Asia-Pacific Social Protection Week earlier the same month. The full text is available here. Salamat Po for the warm welcome back to Manila after many years away! (Photo above of beedie rolling courtesy of Marlese von Broembsen)

Categories
Asia Social Protection

Informal Women Workers Globally: Breaking Through the ‘Concrete Canopy’

Photo by Marlese von Broembsen

Thanks to Professor Malinda Smith of the University of Alberta for inviting me to contribute to the AlbertaPoliBlog. I’m happy the entry came out last week inspired by my recent trip to India for WIEGO. And thanks to the Honourable Jocelynne Annette Scutt for her “concrete canopy” metaphor, which I have referenced. The full text is available here. Photo courtesy of Marlese von Broembsen.

Categories
Asia Higher education and research

Report from The Netherlands and Belgium

I’m delighted to have been invited to speak at the European Institute of Asian Studies in Brussels on Wednesday, January 27th. The topic of my presentation was “Women’s Access to Public Space in Asia: India, Thailand and the Philippines in Comparative Perspective” based on a recent draft book chapter based on many years of past work. Merci pour cette belle opportunité!

On Thursday, January 28th, I had the pleasure of participating in and speaking at the final event for the NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) funded CATCH Program (Continuous Access to Cultural Heritage). CATCH is an interdisciplinary research program involving computer science, humanities scholars and cultural institutions. It has been a privilege to serve on the International Scientific Advisory Board for this program over the past four years. We also took the opportunity to celebrate the career contributions of Professor Jaap van den Herik, a pioneer in computer science and digital humanities. Hartelijk bedankt!

Categories
Asia Higher education and research Knowledge mobilization

LINGUA FRANCA?: FRANCOPHONE SCHOLARSHIP ON THE ASIA-PACIFIC

This post is inspired by my participation in the 2015 Congrès Asie-Pacifique, held in Paris this past September. Here is an excerpt with the full text available here:

While English is often thought of as the international academic lingua franca, there is significant scholarship on Asia in other languages, including French. French-language scholarship on the Asia-Pacific should be valued, particularly in Canada – a bilingual country home to a number of French-speaking Asianists who publish important works in their mother-tongue. Read more…

Categories
Asia Food and agriculture Knowledge mobilization

Commonwealth People’s Forum, Nov 23-26, 2015

I’m delighted to have been invited to speak at the Commonwealth People’s Forum in Malta taking place from November 23-26. This civil society gathering – organized by the Commonwealth Foundation – is a precursor to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) taking place from November 27-29th. I will be chairing an exciting panel on food challenges as well as speaking at a plenary session on the theme of: Equity and Resilience: Access to critical resources and services for all. I look forward to meeting and interacting with approximately 300 delegates from across the Commonwealth’s 53 member states.

As I was invited to contribute a blog entry in advance of the forum, here is the link below to my remarks:

http://cpf.commonwealthfoundation.com/societal-resilience-food-security-and-social-protection/

I welcome your comments!

Categories
Asia Futures / Foresight Uncategorized

Vancouver: A laboratory for the future?

Photo courtesy of Vancouver Courier

On June 16th, 2015, I published an opinion piece in the Vancouver Courier entitled Asian heritage vital to Vancouver’s past and future, which argues that our links to the Asia-Pacific are far from new and go well beyond how we normally think about our connections with one another in the lower mainland and the lands across the Pacific. I provide examples of intermarriage between west coast First Nations and Chinese immigrants, such as Musqueam Elder Larry Grant, the legacy of the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei and descendants of Canadian George Leslie and Taiwanese Minnie Mackay – an early “mixed race” union. I also touch on work recently presented in Vancouver by Frances Wood on the exchange of ideas between East and West along the Silk Road, which challenge the idea that our thought traditions are completely separate. The article concludes by suggesting that, while the trades of goods and services with the Asia-Pacific is essential for our long-term economic well-being, we should also pay attention the exchange of people and ideas. Je tiens à remercier ma chère amie, Claudia Dubuis, d’avoir proposée l’idée que la région métropolitaine de Vancouver est un “laboratoire du futur”. Bonne lecture!