CAPSA has a rich history and the prospects for an even more rewarding future for our organization are great.

During ESCAP's Sixty-fifth Session held in Bangkok 23 -29 April 2009, agreement was reach for sweeping changes that will guide CAPSA going forward including taking the right steps for the organization to become a regional centre of excellence, not only in terms of advancing ways of dealing with secondary crops, but with a broadened mandate to include today's topical issues of climate change, global warming, environmental degradation and their impact on food security, sustainable agriculture and poverty alleviation.

As was expressed in the theme of the recent Expert Group Meeting held in Bogor on 5-6 August, it is critical we in the region strengthen our efforts at sharing best practices and lessons learned, of making knowledge of our collective experiences available to a broad audience of stakeholders.

I am committed to networking and co-operating more fully with our key research partners, our friends and colleagues at the relevant ministries and departments throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and to ensure the outcomes of our collective endeavours can be successfully translated to the millions of small farmers struggling with the realities of the triple threat crisis affecting the entire region. And I hope to be able to initiate collaboration with the private sector and utilize the power of public-private partnerships to address food insecurity and unsustainable agriculture.

Let's focus on promoting co-ordinated research, highlighting and disseminating research findings and converting research results, not only into relevant policy options, but also into practical applications readily adoptable by farmers in need of assistance.

The road ahead is fraught with challenges but successfully facing these challenges and finding common through regional solutions will make CAPSA a stronger institution.

Working together we can achieve, as expressed in the words of UNESCAP's Executive Secretary, "..the revitalization of the Centre, including turning it into a member-driven regional centre of excellence that focuses on poverty alleviation through secondary crops.

Your constructive suggestions and comments are most welcomed, which will enable us to collectively achieve our new mandate.

I look forward to serving as CAPSA's Director.

LeRoy Hollenbeck