With rapid urbanization changing demographics at an unprecedented pace, there is a potential risk of a decline in agriculture and the farming-driven economy. With a large portion of the younger labor force migrating to urban areas to seek better job opportunities, most rural areas are populated mainly by the elderly who are engaged in less productive, traditional farm and nonfarm jobs.

In an effort to correct this trend through appropriate interventions and reduce disparities between urban and rural areas, the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) along with the NPO of Indonesia is conducting a workshop on Revitalization of Rural Communities through Productivity Improvement Initiatives in Jakarta, 21–25 August 2017. The workshop is organized in collaboration with Indonesia’s Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Region, and Transmigration and the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific.

The five-day workshop will review different approaches to and models of rural community revitalization and their applicability to participating organizations and countries. It will also cover advanced technical and digitized support as efficient delivery modes for more productive community development initiatives. Twenty-two participants from 12 APO member countries are attending the workshop to assess emerging methods for enhancing the sustainable productivity of farm and nonfarm sectors of the rural economy.

The APO workshop will also enable participants to share successful models of revitalizing rural communities to promote inclusive growth for sustainable development, and they are expected to draft  revitalization plans applicable to their rural sectors. Innovative productivity improvement policies and initiatives will be examined through a series of site visits, participation in the Village Development Forum, and lectures by international APO experts. The workshop is being conducted by Korea Institute for Rural Development President Dr. Jung KiWhan; International Food Policy Economist and Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Dr. Shoichi Ito; and Faculty of Law Professor, Bond University, Australia, Dr. William Van Caenegem.