KC3 News

Mr. Batin is the President of the SEARCA Scholars Association for the Academic Year 2018-2019. He was also a SEARCAscholar when he pursued his MS Forestry degree at UPLB; the paper he presented in the 2018 ACCMESis part of the results of his MS thesis. His study shows that the correlation between fruit colors, germination, and growth performance of Jatropha curcas was significant. The study…

Dr. Maria Cristeta N. Cuaresma, SEARCA Program Head for Graduate Education and Institutional Development, welcomed the participants and resource persons of the Summer School and the ToT. She said that the Summer School has been a regular activity of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) since 2015, with the UC members hosting the Summer School on rotation…

SEARCA, represented by Ms. Nancy M. Landicho, OIC and Program Specialist of the Project Development and Technical Services (PDTS), Ms. Bernice Anne C. Darvin, Project Associate of the Research and Development Department (RDD), and Ms. Monalinda B. Cadiz, Program Specialist of the Knowledge Resources Unit (KRU), set up one of the 10 knowledge and learning booths (KLBs) at the event, showcasing the Center's strategic thrust…

The event is organized by the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST) headed by Dr. Mina Gabor together with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT). It is also supported by the Tourism Promotions Board, Provincial Government of Cavite, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Agriculture (DA), and Trade and Industry (DTI)…

The ASRF PMO with representatives from Hap Dong Commune and staff of Forest Protection Department in Hoa Binh Province. Mr. Dinh Van Tuyen, AWG-SF National Focal Point for Vietnam, presented the project accomplishments. As of June 2018, the project team has reviewed the status of forest allocation implementation and other relevant policies. It conducted two surveys to investigate the constraints of current forest allocation policies…

The conference aimed to promote agroforestry development for food security and climate change mitigation and resilience in Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Member States (AMS), international organizations, donors, and other stakeholders were expected to propose priority actions toward the adoption of the Agroforestry Guidelines and elicit concerted actions among these stakeholders to promote agroforestry in the region. SEARCA, as the implementing partner of the AWG-SF Strategic…

Ms. Femy Pinto, Executive Director of NTFP-EP Asia, in the opening session, gave a brief overview of the forum and its overall objective, which is to discuss, distill, consolidate, and elevate messages and learnings of CSOs, indigenous people's organizations (IPOs), and people's organizations (POs), and smallholders on social forestry and climate change.\ The Deputy Director of the Village Forestry and NTFP Management Division, Department of…

Click to download ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) flyer SEARCA awarded ASRF travel grants to Dr. Ei Ei Swe Hlaing of Myanmar and Mr. Ricky Alisky Martin of Malaysia for their participation in the CSO Forum and Agroforestry Conference on 25 June 2018 and 26 June 2018, respectively. Dr. Ei Ei will present two papers, namely, "Experience of National Multi-stakeholder Social Forestry Working…

The meetings were held at the Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), and Thai Nguyen University for Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF). Participants from FSC-supported events organized by SEARCA, as well as SEARCA representatives, were interviewed by Dr. Bert Jan Buiskool and Dr. Michael Krawinkel of Ockham IPS, a research and consulting organization based in…

The signing of the MOU was held at the AgropolisFondationheadquarters on 28 May 2018. In attendance were the heads of major French national research and education organizations in support of the joint scholarship program that SEARCA signed with AgropolisFondation. "The French national agencies saw the scholarship program as a vehicle to foster exchanges between French and Southeast Asian researchers, scientists, and students whose academic and…

The ASRF under the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC) is designed to provide ASEAN Member States (AMS) Leaders and Focal Points on Social Forestry with seed fund to respond to immediate needs or catalyze strategic action to address emerging issues, opportunities, or other situations that may not have been anticipated, but to which the AMS and AWG-SF's response is critical. This…

SEARCA Director Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. said SEARCA is conceptualizing a project that will help Boracay farmers and indigenous people make the best use of the land they will receive from the government. He said the idea is to help farmers in three ways: teach farmers best agricultural practices, involve them in the value chain, and teach them agri-tourism. "With the world watching the rehabilitation…

Serving as a platform for exchanging knowledge, experiences, and success stories that shall strengthen the implementation of School-plus-home Garden Projects (S+HGP) in SEAMEO member-states, the four-day training gathered 26 school heads, principals, and teachers; representatives from provincial or district education ministries; participants from IIRR; and SEAMEO center representatives who also served as resource persons. They shall be the primary driving force in replicating viable school…

With the theme "Leveraging the Multi-functionality of School Gardens", the international conference was organized by SEARCA in partnership with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), the Department of Education (DepEd)-Division of Laguna, Philippines, and the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). It aimed to serve as a venue for sharing the different models and approaches of school gardens within and outside the Southeast…

The international conference has the theme "Leveraging the Multi-functionality of School Gardens." It aims to provide a venue for sharing the different models of school gardens within and outside the Southeast Asian (SEA) region, with emphasis on lessons, impacts, commonalities, strengths, diversity in methodologies, and issues and challenges. It seeks to foster a better understanding of how school gardens in different settings can help improve…

The first of its partnerships in this endeavor is with Cavite State University (CvSU), a national leader on coffee research and development for almost 15 years and with which SEARCA is set to renew formal ties. While all four coffee varieties—Arabica, Excelsa, Liberica, and Robusta—are grown in the country, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) says in its policy brief that the country's dismal…

These efforts are still part of the Enterprise Development Component of the PCC-funded project titled Building Capacity and Strengthening Partnership for Carabao Development Program (CDP). The component provides relevant interventions identified in the recommendations of the Value Chain Analysis Study conducted by SEARCA for PCC covering carabao-based enterprises across the country. The interventions range from knowledge sharing to provision of support services and resources to…

Thirty-four participants from overseas partner institutions joined 19 local participants in two back-to-back events hosted by SEARCA and the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) for the Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC) project on 19 – 24 March 2018.  The MS FSCC is a project initiated by the SEARCA-established Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources…

ASRF under the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC) aims to enable the AMS Leaders and Focal Points to quickly respond to emerging issues and challenges and articulate policy recommendations and directions on social forestry as it relates to climate change, food security, and poverty alleviation. It is designed to provide AMS Leaders and Focal Points seed fund to respond to immediate…

In his Welcome Remarks, Dr. Ngo Bunthan, Rector of RUA, thankedSEARCAfor its "significant contribution in capacitatingRUA staff through the granting of scholarships and conduct of trainings and short courses." Prof. Fumio Isoda, Director of NU Asian Satellite Campuses Institute (ASCI), also acknowledged the support of SEARCA to its students under the satellite campus in Cambodia and the Philippines. In response, Dr. Cuaresma reiterated that"SEARCA's mandate…