19/11/2025: The 2nd Supervision Mission for the Building Resilient Commercial Smallholder Agriculture (BRECSA) Project was carried out from 4–19 November 2025 to assess implementation progress, field-level outcomes, and key actions needed to fast-track delivery. The joint mission, comprising representatives from IFAD and WFP and facilitated by the Project Management Unit (PMU), held a stakeholder consultation meeting on 5 November in Punakha with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and relevant agencies.

The mission commended the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock for their strong commitment and noted encouraging progress in operationalizing the PMU and rolling out initial field activities. Early gains include investments in climate-resilient production, market infrastructure, and value chain development. Collaboration with technical partners such as WFP and ongoing work on the Agriculture Resilience Plan (ARP) 2.0 were also acknowledged. Despite progress, the mission stressed the need to accelerate implementation to overcome initial start-up delays. Key areas requiring urgent attention include procurement and fund-flow procedures, inter-agency coordination, monitoring and data management systems, and strengthening commercialization, nutrition, and climate-resilience outcomes at the field level.

Field visits revealed strong farmer participation and promising infrastructure, including livestock hubs, market processing units, cold chain facilities, and value chain initiatives such as coffee and turmeric. However, challenges were observed: water scarcity, limited irrigation, market access and pricing issues, under-utilized facilities due to management and capacity gaps, and the need for stronger agriculture–livestock–nutrition integration. The mission also emphasized the need for more inclusive support for women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

In conclusion, the mission wrapped up its review today with a meeting chaired by the Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, attended by the Dasho Secretary and Directors from relevant technical agencies. The mission briefed on key findings and priorities for accelerating implementation, reaffirming the shared commitment to ensuring BRECSA delivers stronger, inclusive, and resilient outcomes for smallholder farmers.