Conceptualizing Halal Industry and One Health (H2O) Ecosystem as an Emerging Innovation for Growth and Development: Establishment of the Halal Science and Technology (S&T) Knowledge Center for Southeast Asia in the Philippines (Phase 1)

This project aims to establish the Halal Science and Technology (S&T) Knowledge Center in UPLB that is openly accessible and useful toward a common end. The Center intends to become a virtual one-stop hub of relevant knowledge and timely information resources about the emerging and growing Halal global ecosystems and innovations in the Philippines and in the Southeast Asia region, respectively. The Center plans to develop, generate, organize, consolidate, promote, and publicize Halal S&T in support to Halal awareness/advocacy, database, services, products, innovations, industries, research, training, trade, marketing, programs, policies, and partnerships. The Center aspires to provide and feature knowledge resources, information sources and initiatives that can assist and be reliably shared to and purposively utilized by various users including academics, researchers, businesses, industries, investors, policymakers, the media, the civil society, and local communities among others. All these diverse but collective efforts are in support to and in line with SEARCA’s strategic roadmap of ‘Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural INnovation’ or ‘ATTAIN’ that underpins emerging innovation for growth towards agricultural innovative, adaptive, resilient, and sustainable solutions for development at the local, national, regional and global scales. This project seeks to consistently and strongly employ a collaborative, consultative and participative approach with or between SEARCA, the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Board, and the Philippine Halal Certification and Accreditation Bodies even beyond the initial 1.5 years of establishing the UPLB Halal S&T Knowledge Center. A project levelling-off and baseline study will be conducted to take into account the end-users’ and the partners’ expectations and agreements. In addition, a post-project evaluation and project monitoring plan will be developed to determine and assess the key stage-to-stage project implementation progress, and to evaluate the acceptance and satisfaction of the project’s target beneficiaries and collaborators/cooperators. Finally, an overall, end-to-end integrated project management, communication and contingency plan will also be developed to primarily identify, consider, forecast, analyze, and address (by reducing, limiting or minimizing) the potential risks, glitches, conditions, constraints, and roadblocks that may impact, cause delays and failures, and hamper project completion within the project frame, timeline, budget, and resource requirements.