SEARCA News

A hand-over ceremony to award two new Joint UPM-SEARCA Scholarship Grants was administered by Prof. Datin Paduka Dr. Aini Ideris, UPM Vice Chancellor, and Dr. Maria Cristeta Cuaresma, Program Head for Graduate Education and Institutional Development of SEARCA, on 27 October 2017 in Selangor, Malaysia. The new UPM-SEARCA scholarship recipients are Ms. Arissara Supawong of Thailand and Ms. Nuraizat Abidin of Brunei Darussalam… Read more

SEARCA awarded a travel grant to Clarissa Ruzol, Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance (DSFFG), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) to present her paper titled "Patterns leading to sustainability: the evolution of social networks in successful community-based forest management in the Philippines." This paper was one of the outputs of the project funded by SEARCA and the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) implemented by the UPLB School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM) in 2016. In behalf of the paper’s main author Dr. Rico Ancog of UPLB SESAM, co-authors Ayesha Sarapuddin… Read more

MUÑOZ, PHILIPPINES – Senator Cynthia A. Villar pushed for more training of smallholder farmers in agribusiness and entrepreneurship in her keynote speech at an international conference on carabao-based enterprise development here. Represented by her Chief-of-Staff Atty. Rheagee Tamaña, Sen. Villar, who chairs the Senate Committees on Agriculture and Food, Agrarian Reform, Environment and Natural Resources, also stressed the need to remove barriers to their success through financial literacy and mechanization drive, among others. Legislative reforms pursued by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food under her leadership include RA 10848 or the Act Extending the Period of Implementation of the… Read more

SEARCA, represented by Dr. Maria Cristeta N. Cuaresma, Program Head for Graduate Education and Institutional Development (GEID), and Dr. Maria Monina Cecilia Villena, Special Projects Coordinator of the Biotechnology Information Center (BIC), joined the 2017 World Food Day Colloquium and FSC Planning Workshop on 19-20 October 2017 in Stuttgart, Germany… Read more

BANGKOK, Thailand – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) convened its 65th Governing Board Meeting (GBM), which was hosted by the Government of Thailand through the Ministry of Education (MOE) on 19–20 October 2017 at the Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok. … Read more

UPPSALA, Sweden. Le Ngoc Hiep (M.Sc.), a lecturer and researcher from Department of Food Technology of An Giang University (AGU), Vietnam was awarded with a travel grant by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) to present his paper at the International Conference on Rural Transformation and Urbanization - Agriculture for Development (Agri4D) held at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), UPPSALA, Sweden on 20-21 September 2017… Read more

MAKATI, Philippines - A forum jointly organized by the Philippines and France highlighted several factors that affect the integration of smallholder farmers, such as markets, standards, organization, policies, and investments. Recognizing the crucial role of smallholder farmers in sustainable food production to achieve food security and nutrition, the Department of Agriculture, together with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD) and the University of the Philippines… Read more

Bangkok, Thailand - Three administrative staff from SEARCA were welcomed by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization's Secretariat (SEAMEO Secretariat) at its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand on 20-21 September 2017 as part of the SEAMEO Staff Exchange Program. The program aims to enhance cooperation and partnership between and among SEAMEO Centers and the SEAMEO Secretariat, as well as strengthen capacities of its staff along their respective areas of interest and expertise. … Read more

SEMARANG, Indonesia. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) participated in and supported the 2nd International Symposium on Food and Agrobiodiversity (ISFA). With the theme "Developing Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production," the symposium was held on 26-27 September 2017 and was organized by the Diponegoro University and the Indonesian Food Technologists (IFT). … Read more

VIENTIANE, LAO PDR. The Department of Forestry (DoF) of Lao PDR developed a proposal to improve the guidelines on and harmonize approaches to village forest (VF) and non-timber forest product (NTFP) management during the pilot testing of the Project Development Toolkit from 26 to 28 September 2017. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)-ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) Strategic Response Fund [ASRF] program management unit developed the toolkit to assist ASEAN Member States (AMS) in developing strategic proposals that respond to emerging issues on food insecurity, poverty, and climate change. … Read more