Page 131 - 2018 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

Annual Report 2018 Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan labor. Therefore, the COA organized the 6th National Agriculture Congress (NAC), centered on the theme of “Creating a New Agriculture for All.” The COA invited agricultural experts as well as the general public to participate in discussions and work together to lay out a blueprint for agricultural policies, so that these policies can meet the expectations of the public. Unlike previous NACs, to put into effect the initiative of public involvement in government policy-making for this event, the COA launched a series of activities beginning in April of 2018, including accepting online proposals from the public; 18 local assembly conferences held around Taiwan; five focus discussion meetings on the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock and poultry industries and rural communities; and 12 issue-integrating meetings and preparatory meetings to identify the key issues for discussion at the NAC. There was an enthusiastic public response, with more than 10,000 participants. We also set up an official website which offered all the information about the Congress and live video feeds; the website has been browsed more than 500,000 man-times. In sum, we broadly gathered opinions through various channels from all sectors of society to be the basis for discussions at the NAC. The NAC itself was held on September 7 and 8 of 2018, with more than 300 representatives of industry, government, and academia in attendance. Through a process of sub-group meetings and general discussion, participants engaged in in-depth scrutiny of the challenges and development opportunities facing Taiwan’s agricultural sector at the present moment. There was brainstorming and consideration of four major topics: (i) “Sustainability—Preserving agricultural resources and the natural environment, and ensuring sustainable agricultural development,” (ii) “Safety— Enhancing the agriproduct safety system, and promoting production and consumption of premium agriproducts,” (iii) “Prospect— Employing smart technology to adjust the industrial structure, and comprehensively elevating the competitiveness of the agricultural sector,” and (iv) “Happiness— Completing economic protections for farmers, and creating new rural communities suitable for living and working.” Consensus was reached on numerous issues and the NAC produced 73 conclusions. In the future these conclusions will be transformed into concrete and feasible policies, to comprehensively accelerate the transformation and upgrading of “agriculture for all” that offers circular sustainability, safety and peace of mind, smart agriculture with potential for the future, and happiness for all. 129