- The document summarizes an IFAD-Laos Project Retreat/Workshop held in December 2015 to review the Sustainable Natural Resource Management and Productivity Enhancement Project.
- The project aimed to improve capacity for land use planning, support producer groups, develop policies, and fund 71 subprojects across 9 sectors including livestock, agriculture, and natural resource management.
- Key challenges included staff turnover, decentralization issues, UXO presence limiting land expansion, and policy barriers around taxes and private sector involvement. Solutions focused on more incentives, training, capacity building, UXO clearance, and policy reforms.