Abbreviation | SEARCA |
---|---|
Formation | 27 November 1966 |
Type | Non-profit inter-government treaty organization |
Purpose | Education and Collective Learning Research and Thought Leadership Emerging Innovation for Growth |
Headquarters | Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines |
Region served | Southeast Asia |
Affiliations | Southeast Asian Minister of Education Organization (SEAMEO) |
Website | www |
SEARCA or the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture is one of the oldest among 26 specialist institutions of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). [1] Founded on 27 November 1966, SEARCA is mandated to strengthen institutional capacities in agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia.
For its 11th Five-Year Plan (FY 2020/2021- FY 2024/2025), SEARCA commits to accelerate transformation that elevates the quality of life of agricultural families through sustainable livelihoods and access to modern networks and innovative markets. Transformation efforts will focus on policy, institutional, social and technological innovations. Specifically, the Center’s priority areas will be: (1) Agri-Business Models for Increased Productivity and Income; (2) Sustainable Farming Systems and Natural Resource Management; (3) Food and Nutrition Security; (4) Transformational Leadership for ARD; (5) Gender and Youth Engagement in ARD; (6) Enhanced ARD towards Climate Resilience; and (7) EcoHealh/One Health Applications to ARD.
SEARCA serves the 11 SEAMEO member countries, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste. The Center is hosted by the Government of the Philippines on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Laguna, Philippines.
Timeline | Milestone |
---|---|
November 1965 | A historic meeting of education ministers of Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam, and United States government representative paved the way for an interim Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat (SEAMES) to be formed to draw up priority projects for the region, including instituting a center for graduate study and research in agriculture. |
July 1966 | At the SEAMES Technical Workshop held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Philippine delegation submitted the position paper that a task force evaluated and for which it recommend a framework for operation. |
November 1966 | The Second Conference of SEAMES held in Manila, Philippines witnessed how the Philippine delegation led by Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali, Dr. Gil F. Saguiguit, and Mr. Onofre D. Corpuz crafted a proposal for grafting the proposed institute to then University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA) where it will be hosted. The proposal was approved and the institute was officially named the "Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)." |
1 July 1967-June 1969 | SEARCA operated on an interim status during which guidelines for its establishment were firmed up. Dr. Umali served as Director and Dr. Saguiguit as Assistant Director. |
July 1969 | SEARCA's permanent existence began, made possible by the Letter of Agreement regarding its establishment, operations and funding for a five-year period signed by the SEARCA Director, SEAMES Acting Director, the Philippine Education Secretary representing the host government, and a representative of the United States government, which was the principal donor of funds during the interim period and the first five years of SEARCA's permanent existence. |
1969-1979 | Since 1969, SEARCA has evolved and operated under the guidance of Five-Year Plans (FYPs), each embodying an overall strategic theme that SEARCA operationalized through its core programs. During the First and Second FYPs (1969-1974 and 1974-1979), SEARCA's priority thrust was the generation and transfer of productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies, reflecting the Center's desire to take advantage of the newly developed high-yielding varieties at that time (called “Green Revolution”). |
1979-1984 | In its Third FYP, SEARCA shifted its strategic thrust to the management of the sub-systems that constitute the agricultural system, including the Development and Management of Irrigation Systems, Research Systems, Extension Systems, Post-Production Systems, and Farming Systems. |
1984-1989 | Agricultural and Rural Development was the overall theme of the Fourth FYP, principally through technology generation, verification, packaging, dissemination, and utilization. |
1989-1994 | SEARCA's Fifth FYP focused on the theme of Evaluation and Testing of Agricultural Development Technologies and Models, with the goal of customizing them to the needs and conditions of the SEAMEO member countries. |
1994-1999 | In the Sixth FYP, SEARCA intensified its thrust in Developing and Testing Methodologies and Approaches to the broad and complex area of Agricultural Development. Its major R & D projects included the Development of Upland Communities, Agro-industrialization, Gender and Development, Management of Agricultural Information, Coastal Area Agriculture, and Bio-fertilizer Research. |
1999-2004 | In cadence with the changing conditions of the Southeast Asian region, the strategic theme of SEARCA's Seventh FYP shifted to Natural Resource Management (NRM) and Agro-Industrial Development. The sub-themes of the Seventh FYP included Food Security, Biotechnology, Water Resource Management, Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change, and Environmental Risk Management. |
2004-2014 | The Eight and Ninth FYPs (2004/2009 and 2009/2014) of the Center adopted basically similar strategic themes: Natural Resource Management (NRM) and Agricultural Competitiveness. NRM projects implemented were in the areas of Sustainable Land Use and Water Management, Climate Change and Risk Management, and Biodiversity Conservation, while Agricultural Competitiveness projects covered Trade and Investment, Technology Management, Governance, Institutional Reforms, and Policy Studies. |
2014-2020 | SEARCA's 10th FYP had the overarching theme of Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (ISARD). Its core programs on Graduate Education and Institutional Development, Research and Development, and Knowledge Management were anchored on strategic thrusts that promoted Social Inclusion, Environmental Sustainability, and Cross-cutting Concerns. |
In July 2020, SEARCA launched its 11th Five-Year Plan focused on Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation (ATTAIN).
For more than 50 years, SEARCA has carried out its mandate to strengthen capacities of institutions working toward agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia. To articulate its 11th FYP, SEARCA has repositioned its products and services based on the needs of its stakeholder groups in support of their efforts to create more impact at the ground level.
STAKEHOLDERS | SEARCA SERVICES | LEAD DEPARTMENTS | RESOURCE UNITS |
---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture graduate scholarships and institutional development | Education and Collective Learning | Applied Knowledge Resources Budget, Accounting, Treasury Management Information Systems Human Resources Facilities Management General Services Partnerships (Donor and Key Resource Partners) Risk Management and Quality Assurance Other Emerging Resources |
Training for Development | |||
Conferences, roundtable discussions, fora, and events | |||
Research for Development | Research and Thought Leadership | ||
Policy and program advisory | |||
Knowledge platforms | |||
Innovation, technology transfer, and incubation platforms | Emerging Innovation for Growth |
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in economic and industrial development. It is headquartered at the UN Office in Vienna, Austria, with a permanent presence in over 60 countries. As of April 2019, UNIDO comprises 170 member states, which together set the organization's policies, programs, and principles through the biannual General Conference.
Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organization claims to have assisted more than 220 million people survive humanitarian conflicts, seek improvements in livelihoods, and deliver durable development to their communities.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and EU member states. Since 2000 CTA has operated within the framework of the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement with a mission to “strengthen policy and institutional capacity development and information and communication management capacities of ACP agricultural and rural development organisations. It assists such organisations in formulating and implementing policies and programmes to reduce poverty, promote sustainable food security, preserve the natural resource base and thus contribute to building self-reliance in ACP rural and agricultural development.”. The centre is closed in 2020, after the end of the Cotonou Agreement and the subsequent end of its financing.
Nicanor Jesús "Nick/Nicky" Pineda Perlas III is a Filipino activist and awardee of the Right Livelihood Award in 2003, which is often referred as an alternative Nobel Prize.
Aklan State University, ), also referred to by its acronym ASU, is a provincial state university in Aklan province, Philippines. Its seat of governance is in ASU - Banga, with four other campuses across the province. ASU focuses on agriculture, fishery, arts and sciences, engineering and technology, and education.
The Philippines' Agricultural Training Institute, is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Agriculture responsible for training agricultural extension workers and their clientele; conducting multi-level training programs to promote and accelerate rural development; and ensuring that research results are communicated to the farmers through appropriate training and extension activities.
The Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR) is an inclusive global forum, enabling all those concerned with the future of agriculture and its role in development around the world, to address key global needs. GFAR provides an open forum for stakeholders across the agricultural spectrum—ranging from researchers, organizations, and farmers—to participate in collaborative discussion and action around the current and future state of agriculture.
The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program is funded by the US Agency for International Development through the US Farm Bill to assist developing countries, middle-income countries, and emerging markets around the world to increase farm production and incomes. It promotes sustainable economic growth, food security and agricultural development worldwide. Volunteer technical assistance from US farmers, agribusinesses, cooperatives, and universities helps developing countries improve productivity, access new markets, build local capacity, combat climate change and conserve environmental and natural resources. Farmer-to-Farmer also aims to increase the American public's understanding of international development issues and programs and international understanding of the U.S. and U.S. development programs.
The Tarlac Agricultural University (TAU), formerly the Tarlac College of Agriculture, is a public university in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. It is mandated to provide professional, technical and instruction for special purposes and to promote research extension services and progressive leadership in agriculture, agricultural education, home technology and other related fields. Its main campus is located in Malacampa, Camiling, Tarlac.
The College of Public Affairs and Development (CPAf) is one of the colleges in University of the Philippines Los Baños. It offers graduate instruction, research and extension programs that center on the study of communities in transition and their institution such as resource access, governance, policy and education, inter alia, and the intrinsic interplay among the institutions. It can be found at the forestry area or the upper campus of the university. That is approximately a hundred meters from the entrance to the UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources.
The Central Philippine University Library is the library system of the Central Philippine University in Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1910, it is one of the largest academic and research libraries in the Philippines at present with more than 250,000 volumes or holdings it has, including special collections categorized into sections which include the 40,000+ United Nations Documents, American Studies Resource Center, Meyer-Asian Collection, Food and Agriculture Organization and Elizabeth Knox Sacred Music Collection. Rare collections of Second World War documents and Asian archaeological artifacts are also found in the collection of the main library.
The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg), previously known as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), is an international, nonprofit institute for vegetable research and development. It was founded in 1971 in Shanhua, southern Taiwan, by the Asian Development Bank, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United States and South Vietnam.
Arsenio Molina Balisacan is a Filipino economist and academician currently serving as the Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). Balisacan first served as the NEDA Secretary from May 2012 to January 2016 under the Benigno Aquino III administration. He then served under the Duterte administration as the Chairperson of the Philippine Competition Commission from February 1, 2016 to June 30, 2022. He was again appointed as NEDA Secretary under the Bongbong Marcos administration. During his first term in 2012, he concurrently served as NEDA Secretary and as Chairman of the Boards of the Philippine Statistics Authority, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Philippine Center for Economic Development, and Public-Private Partnership Center.
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, also known as IIRR is a non-profit organization that helps empower rural communities by making them self-sufficient. By offering programs across health, education, environment, and livelihood, its goal is to have rural communities take charge of their own success. The organization has delivered programs to more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and directly impacted the lives of over 19 million people as of 2019.
The Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) was a national five-year plan created by the Ethiopian government to improve the country's economy by achieving a projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 11-15% per year from 2010 to 2015. The plan included details of the cost and specific targets the government expects to hit by pursuing the following objectives.
The Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) is an intergovernmental organization of the eleven Southeast Asian countries, which was formed on 30 November 1965 by the Kingdom of Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the then Republic of Vietnam. SEAMEO aims to promote regional cooperation in the fields of education, science and culture. The current SEAMEO Director is Dr. Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela of the Philippines.
The Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) is a network of organizations committed to the sustainable development of the Greater Mekong Region. Launched in 2005, SUMERNET supports policy-relevant research and outreach activities to inform and engage policy-makers, planners and stakeholders. Within this context, it pursues an evolving agenda in response to questions and policy issues that arise in the region. Current research themes are climate-compatible development, regional economic integration, and ecosystem services and local development. The network works on a range of issues including natural ecosystems governance, floods and natural disasters, climate change and adaptation, and transboundary resource flows.
The SEAMEO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts or SPAFA is a Southeast Asian inter-governmental collaboration centre on cultural heritage research and conservation, part of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). The centre was established in 1985. It is hosted by the Government of Thailand. The main objective of the Centre is to promote professional competence, awareness, and preservation of cultural heritage in the fields of archaeology and fine arts in Southeast Asia.
This article summarizes the development of science and technology in Cambodia from a policy perspective.