The Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) supported the participation of three delegates to the Training Workshop on Sustainability Assessment in Agricultural Production and Food Processing from 15-25 May 2022, at Krabi, Thailand.
The training workshop, organized by Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand and L’ Institut Agro of France, is designed to equip the participants with the capacity for sustainability assessment and to build their skills in data collection, survey, observation, investigation, and interview. The participants are placed in a position to actively assess sustainability in agricultural production. The training workshop is also a part of KU’s ARE-TALENT program which aims at providing students and professionals with the capacity of understanding the concept of sustainable agricultural production and food processing. Twenty-two (22) participants are currently attending the training from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and France. They are guided by three faculty members from KU and two from L’ Institut Agro of France.
Universitas Brawijaya (UB) sent Mr. Danniary Ismail Faronny who is currently taking his Master’s Program in Environmental Development. UB is also set to host the upcoming UC Summer School for 2022. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) sent Ms. Nur Syamimi Binti Yaakub and Ms. Nur Amelia Syakira Binti Abdul Aziz, who are both taking Master of Science in Agribusiness. The UC delegates received a UC Student Travel Grant which enables graduate students from any UC member institution to attend trainings, workshops, short courses, conferences, or research exchanges organized by another UC member.
The training workshop is also an offshoot of the ERASMUS+ CBHE funded project on Joint Master's Degree in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC). It was designed by the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Faculty of Economics of KU based on the original MS FSCC compulsory course with the same title and is commonly referred to as the Summer School. L’ Institut Agro of France, co-organizer of KU, has been a project partner of the UC for the said MS FSCC project.
Besides the UC student travel grantees, the training workshop was also attended by LevelUPHEI AFAR grantees: Reymond Denver Q. Buenaseda from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Ms. Crislin B. Cruz from Visayas State University, and Ms. Ella Joy A. Ponce from Central Luzon State University with funding from the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) through SEARCA. All three LevelUPHEI AFAR grantees also come from UC member universities. DAAD-SEARCA scholars Arjay A. Gerance and M Royan are also in attendance during the training workshop. They are currently taking their MS in Applied Economics for Agriculture and Environment at KU.
