The Agrobiodiversity Initiative (TABI) is a new programme being developed over the past two years by SDC in the Lao PDR. It will directly address the escalating destruction of biodiversity resources which represent the foundation and safety net for the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of rural upland farmers in Laos. The design of the TABI is guided by basic principles drawn from outcomes of regional and global meetings on the implementation of Multilateral Environment Agreements, particularly the International Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and their practical application to farm level issues. The Initiative has five major components supporting 1) the implementation and reporting of the Lao PDR’s commitments to the CBD; 2) piloting and promoting community-level activities to enhance and conserve biodiversity resources in farming and adjacent landscapes; 3) improving access to and quality of NTFP markets; 4) local access and control over land and natural resources; and 5) the development of a knowledge, information and policy dialog system.

The project in brief

Directorate/federal office responsible	SDC
Credit area	Development cooperation
Project partners	Contract partner Private sector Foreign private sector North
Budget	Current phase Swiss budget CHF    4’950’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    5’055’747
Project phases	Phase 4 01.04.2017 - 30.09.2020   (Completed) Phase 3 01.07.2012 - 31.03.2017   (Completed) Phase 2 01.01.2009 - 30.06.2012   (Completed)

Further technical details

• Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	GENERAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION OTHER MULTISECTOR
  Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	Bio-diversity Rural development
  Cross-cutting topics	The project promotes biodiversity as a priority. The project promotes biodiversity. The project takes account of gender equality as a cross-cutting theme.
  Type of support	Official development assistance (ODA)
  Type of collaboration	Bilateral cooperation
  Finance type	Aid grant
  Aid Type	Project and programme contribution
  Tied/untied aid	Untied aid
  Project number	7F05450