The ICA-Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Government of Japan training course on Strengthening of Marketing through Improvement of Quality of Farm Produce and Expansion of Marketing Channels was held from 23 November to 17 December 2021. The course was facilitated by the Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA), Japan.
The training course is designed to contribute to the development of agricultural cooperatives and the improvement in the life of the members by involving them in the food value chain. This will be achieved by strengthening businesses from an industry point of view in Southeast Asian and South Asian economies. 14 participants from 10 different countries – India, Nepal, Philippines, Malaysia, and Mongolia in Asia and Eswatini, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda, and Uganda in Africa participated in the training. It covered interesting topics and case studies including dairy farming, fruit farming, marketing and distribution of agricultural produce, food value chains, halal food industry, etc.
Before joining the course online, the participants were given home country assignments (HCAs) and were asked to produce draft action plans in consultation with their respective CEOs and organizations and a job report. The participants have proposed diverse action plans focusing on agriculture production, sales & marketing of agri products, formation of women farmers groups, increasing women income, the inclusion of youth in agriculture and such themes. These are areas of utmost importance and provide for a great scope of work.
The participants have improvised and finalized their action plans based on the experience and the knowledge gained during the training course and will soon start implementing these plans. IDACA is committed to monitoring the implementation of the action plans and requested the participants to engage with their colleagues, members, stakeholders and local and national governments to ensure steady implementation of their plans.
The closing ceremony of the training was attended by Mr. Miyazako Masahiro, Director and Senior Negotiator, Bilateral Affairs Division, MAFF, Govt. of Japan; Mr. Baba Toshihiko, Senior Executive Director, Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (JA Zenchu); Mr. Kobayashi Hirofumi, Executive Director, IDACA; Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP; resource persons from IDACA and ICA-AP, and the participants.
Two representatives from the participants shared their experiences and thanked the organisers for the smooth conduct of the training. All participants were presented with e-certificates for successful completion of the training course.
