SEARCA News

The declining interest of youth in agriculture and malnutrition among schoolchildren are two of the pressing challenges in agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia. Convinced that healthy children are the foundation of a healthy society, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) collaborated with the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd), the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) College, and the local government units of Laguna, Philippines… Read more

ANCOL JAKARTA BAY CITY, Indonesia – SEARCA along with the other implementing partners of the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC) Program Phase II participated in the Planning Meeting for 2016 and Initial Planning for Phase III (2017–2020) on 18–20 January 2016… Read more

Her Excellency Amanda Gorely, the newly installed Ambassador of Australia to the Philippines visited SEARCA on 21 January 2016. She was accompanied by her husband, Stuart Hodge, their daughter Freya Hodge, and Ms. Cecilia O. Honrado, Country Manager of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)… Read more

BANGKOK, Thailand – On the invitation of the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD), Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr. (second from left), Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), attended the launching ceremony of the International Double Degree Master’s Programme “InterRisk” held on 12 January 2016 at Kasetsart University (KU), Bangkok, Thailand… Read more

SEARCA has announced the winners of the 2015 photo contest with the theme From Farm to Plate: Smallholders' Participation in Inclusive Value Chains. The contest, which ran from 15 September to 30 November 2015, received more than 1400 entries submitted by 392 photographers from all 10 countries in Southeast Asia—Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. SEARCA Photo Contest 2015 awarded entries that best captured how smallholders participate in the value chains (production, aggregation, processing, and distribution) of fresh produce (crop and livestock), commodities, and handicrafts as a means of promoting agricultural and… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines – Twenty-five participants from training agencies and regional field offices (RFOs) of the Department of Agriculture took part in a five-day facilitators’ training on systematic climate change adaptation assessment last 11-15 January at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in College, Los Baños, Laguna… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), conducted a Programming Exercise at the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) National Headquarters in Nueva Ecija on 7 January 2016. This is part of the PCC-funded project titled “Building Capacity and Strengthening Partnership for Carabao Development Program.” The project, which started in July 2015, is now on its third quarter of implementation… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the International Foundation for Science (IFS) have officially launched the call for expression of interest (EOI) in the IFS-SEARCA Collaborative Research Grants in Southeast Asia on 10 January 2016. The call is open to early-career scientists from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam… Read more

A new Agriculture and Development Note on Climate Change Adaption (ADN-CCA) and two Agriculture and Development Notes (ADN) based on papers presented during its Agriculture and Development Seminar Series and the 2nd International Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in Southeast Asia held on 12-13 November 2014 are now available online and freely downloadable… Read more

VICTORIA, ORIENTAL MINDORO, Philippines – In line with the Piloting and Up-scaling Effective Models of Inclusive and Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (ISARD) Project, SEARCA conducted a training-workshop on climate change adaptation and mitigation titled, What to Expect in and How to Cope with the El Niňo Phenomenon in said municipality on 9 December 2015. The event was spearheaded by the Research and Development Department. The training workshop targeted the upland and lowland farmers of Victoria, and leaders of different farmer organizations, associations and cooperatives, who are potential beneficiaries of the Piloting project, were present… Read more