CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The local government of Kauswagan in Lanao del Norte is all set for the upcoming "Organic Asia Congress (OAC) 2023," this year’s biggest organic agriculture event in the world, the local chief executive confirmed in a media forum here on Tuesday, May 30.
THE Kauswagan International Organic Convention Center in Barangay Tacub, Kauswagan town, Lanao del Norte where hundreds of guests, experts, researchers, and the likes will gather for the Organic Asia Congress 2023 set June 5-10. (Photo courtesy of Mayor Rommel Arnado Facebook account) Municipal Mayor Rommel Arnado said the completion of the Kauswagan International Organic Convention Center in Barangay Tacub, Kauswagan town, that will serve as the event's venue is “99 percent done.” "It’s just a matter of simulation now,” said Arnado, referring to the venue. “Of course, in terms of electricity, the simulation for the guests who are coming, the security planning, and things like that, it’s all simulation. Everything is already in place, and we are ready," stressed Arnado, who is also the national president of the League of Organic Agriculture Municipalities, Cities, and Provinces of the Philippines. It can be recalled that Arnado said in an interview on Feb. 4 this year that their biggest challenge was the completion of the convention center. The OAC brings forth the local governments and the organic sector together in different countries in Asia to discuss the major trends in organic agriculture and to discuss ways to move the sector forward, according to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Organics Asia. It is one of the biggest organic events in the world, with hundreds of foreign experts, researchers, scientists, stakeholders, and like-minded organizations gathering in a week-long event starting on June 5. Feng Li, secretary general of the Asia Organic Forum and the director of the China country office of IFOAM Organics Asia, said in the same media forum that Kauswagan town is an important place for the Asia organic movement, saying that he was surprised that organic agriculture can be so high in the "From Arms to Farms" program. "This is a very miracle to us, and I think it’s very something new, very new. The organic community, even we have to learn," Li said. To ensure peace and order, as well as the protection of the guests, the security plan has been first addressed by the local government in coordination with the Police Regional Office-10 and the Philippine Army 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion. Kauswagan town has been directly chosen to host the event as the country’s leading organic municipality. Among the events that will be featured are the 6th Organic Asia Congress, the Organic Youth Forum, the 9th Asian Local Government for Organic Agriculture Summit, the 4th Global Alliance of Organic Districts, and Women in Organic Agriculture in Asia. According to IFOAM Organics Asia’s official website, the municipality of Kauswagan is the second LGU in the Philippines to host the Organic Asia Congress. The first LGU to host was Bislig City, Surigao del Sur, in 2018.