Sustainable Agriculture and Environment Development Association

SAEDA, the Sustainable Agriculture & Environment Development Association (formerly SAF, the Sustainable Agriculture Forum) is a non-profit civil society organization founded in March 1991 in Lao PDR. SAEDA is currently obtaining official registration as a non-profit organization. SAEDA works to support vulnerable communities by promoting sustainable agriculture practices, and improving their capacity and awareness to safeguard the environment with projects focusing on three main areas of intervention: Sustainable agriculture, Chemical Pesticide Risk Reduction and Biodiversity Conservation. There is a need to support 80% of the total population in Lao PDR which relies on agriculture for income. Close to 50% suffer from chronic malnutrition and 70% reside in rural areas with poor access to training and information. Low productivity, high input, biodiversity decreasing, low nutrition and environmental degradation are all common problems due to the low knowledge and skills about possible alternatives and best-practice techniques.