Page 39 - 80 YEARS OF VOLUNTEER IMPACT WITH FAO

Agriculture Climate resilience Food security Forestry Emergency Education Animal farming and livestock

Yuno Ito

SUPPORTING CLIMATE-RESILIENT

AGRICULTURE IN LAO PDR

From the end of 2022, Yuno Ito spent two years as
a UN Volunteer with the FAO office in Lao People's
Democratic Republic (PDR), stepping into unfamiliar
territory as a Nutrition and Food Systems Officer. Her
work centered on the Climate REAL project, an effort
to build climate-resilient and eco-friendly agriculture
systems in Attapeu Province.
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In a region where most farmers are smallholders
facing poor soils, erratic weather and limited
resources, the project offered tools for resilience: rice
and vegetable seeds, native chickens, small-scale
solar-powered irrigation and hands-on training in
sustainable practices.

Yuno supported communications, reporting, and
helped organize the project’s final workshop. Without
prior experience in UN settings or administration,
Yuno Ito (far right) during the final workshop of Climate REAL Project.
[FAO/Vilaylack Khounvisith, 2022] the learning curve was steep. But through steady
collaboration with local colleagues, she found her
rhythm and purpose. The experience, she said, helped
her understand what it takes to run a complex project
and how real change is built, not in isolation, but
through trust, partnership and shared effort.