ABOUT SAEDA

BACKGROUND

SAEDA, the Sustainable Agriculture & Environment Development Association (formerly SAF-the Sustainable Agriculture Forum) is an autonomous non partisan, non political, non profit grassroots civil society organization, founded in March 1991, and operating in Lao PDR. SAEDA was a first of its kind in Lao PDR, breaking ground & trends in development programming approaches. It began as a coalition of development partners, primarily international NGO’s working with local Lao agencies, and local Lao government development extension workers (PAFO, DAFO, LWU, LYU). As a new organization, SAEDA focused its attention on creating links and promoting information exchange, developing a national & international governmental & non-governmental partner network, with a primary focus on the ASEAN region & development context. In 1995, to help facilitate and support operations, CUSO (www.cuso.org) a Canadian INGO with a program office based in Vientiane, adopted SAEDA as an umbrella project, with SAEDA retaining full project development and management independence, but gaining access to more resources such as a permanent office space as well donor links. While SAEDA undertakes the necessary steps to become registered & recognized as a local NPA (Non Profit Association) by the Lao Government, SAEDA continues to operate independently , effectively assuming the title of non-profit civil society organization working in approved partnership with provincial & district government authorities and partners.

SO FAR—SO GOOD

By December 2007, SAEDA effectively succeeded in strengthening government development extension services & worker’s skills & capacity, while supporting and contributing to the improvement of otherwise impoverished farming community’s socio-economic living standards:

· 5,889 total trainees

· 1,481 women (average 25% of total)

· 4,851 farmers (average 82% of total)

· 1,038 extension workers including PAFO, DAFO, LYU & LWU partners (average 18% of total)

· 5 Schools benefiting over 7000 youth/ students and counting

In 2008, SAEDA, then still SAF turned over a new leaf, following an extensive organization & program review. One of the many changes implemented, included a name & logo change, to better illustrate our expanded direction & focus, marking the creation of the Sustainable Agriculture & Environment Development Association (SAEDA). SAEDA is expanding its program focus, working on reinforcing established partnerships while developing new ones, and implementing an updated program strategy to improve its relevance and effectiveness in order to better meet the needs of its target groups & areas, as well adapt to the ever changing development sector trends and policies in Lao PDR.

HERE AND NOW

Today, SAEDA works to support vulnerable communities by introducing & promoting sustainable agriculture practices, and improving their capacity & awareness to safeguard the environment & natural resources. SAEDA achieves this with activities & projects focusing on three main areas of intervention:

. Sustainable agriculture techniques & tools

. Chemical impact research & advocacy

. Biodiversity conservation & study

SAEDA also promotes the socio-economic development of impoverished communities throughout Lao PDR, with a special focus on women, youth & ethnic groups. SAEDA organizes specialized vocational & income generating training services, in addition to facilitating fair market development initiatives including village based farmer groups & district level farmer associations. SAEDA employs gender inclusive community participatory approaches at all levels of project planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluation & follow up. In addition to community based involvement & partnership, SAEDA involves & trains local SAEDA trained expert farmers, & government development partner extension workers including volunteers & employees from PAFO (Provincial Agriculture & Forestry Office), DAFO (District Agriculture & Forestry Office), LYU (Lao Youth Union) & LWU (Lao Women’s Union) to ensure short & long term project sustainability. SAEDA cooperates with multiple like minded partner organizations in the project target area to maximize it’s impact & overall effectiveness.

To view SAEDA organization policies & procedures please click here

To view the SAEDA Board of Directors Job Description, please click here

To view our logo & description, please click here

For more information about our services, please click here

For more information about our programs, please visit our program page

To view our target areas, please click here

For a full list of our partner organizations please click here

For a full list of our donors, please visit our support page

SAEDA HUMAN RESOURCES

· Ms. Agnieszka Kroskowska

· SAEDA Advisor

· Institutional Governance & Organization Management

· Program Development

· Media production/ Public relations: publicity & promotion

Contact:

u2cancauseneffect@hotmail.com

+ (856 (0)20) 750-6910

SAEDA is also supported by & collaborates with:

· 3 member Board of Directors

· 3 member Advisory Committee

· An assembly of development member Partner Organizations at the National & Regional Level

· Government partners & extension workers

· SAEDA Trained Expert Farmers

· Specialized Resource Trainers

· Project Staff

· Volunteers

· No.291 Unit 15, Ban Saphangmor

· Xaisettha District, Vientiane Capital

· PO.Box 4881

· Vientiane, Lao PDR

· + (856 (0) 21) 264-290 Office/ Fax

· Office hours: 8:00am-4pm Monday to Friday

· Please be advised that we are out of the office quite often attending meetings or in the field implementing projects, as such we encourage you to contact us before coming to visit

To contact us:

saedalao@gmail.com

SAEDA

Sustainable Agriculture & Environment Development Association

To visit and find us:

Click here for a printable version

SAEDA IS ALWAYS LOOKING TO EXPAND OUR POOL OF VOLUNTEERS AND/OR POTENTIAL OFFICE OR FIELD PROJECT STAFF. TO SEE IF WE HAVE VACANCIES WHICH MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW, PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND/OR TO APPLY.