From Monday, February 23 to Monday, March 2, 2026, Professor Eizo Takashima of Ehime University’s Proteoscience Center for Advanced Studies (PROS), Associate Professor Hideyuki Kurita of Institute for International Relations, and Ms. Veronica Fernando, a lecturer at Lurio University, a doctoral student of the United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Ehime University D. student of the United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Ms. Veronica Fernando, a lecturer at the University of Lurio, visited the University of Mozambique. The visit was conducted as part of international cooperation based on a four-way agreement among Ehime University, the University of Lurio, the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Mozambique, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The exchange between Ehime University and Lúrio University began with the visit of President Guebuza in 2008. At a meeting attended by Japanese and Mozambican government officials, Ehime University presented to the President its policy of cooperation in human resource development for regional universities in Mozambique. In the same year, the president of Lulio University, a newly established regional university in northern Mozambique, visited Ehime University, and the first facility he inspected was the Proteoscience Center. Subsequently, the University of Lurio has requested the center for malaria research, and successive presidents have visited the ProteoScience Center. The current Rector Eusebio is a researcher who has been at the forefront of malaria research, and Professor Takashima’s visit was received with great enthusiasm.
Northern Mozambique, where Lurio University is located, has the most serious malaria epidemic in the country. When the Governor of Nampula Province visited Ehime University last November, a request for research cooperation was made. In response to this visit, Lurio University held a malaria research symposium inviting domestic malaria researchers, where Professor Takashima took the podium to introduce the outline of his research and to indicate the direction of possible joint research to be conducted by the two universities. In addition to researchers and students, the symposium attracted questions and comments from outside research institutions, and the lively discussions were reported in national newspapers and on television in Mozambique. In discussions with the University of Lurio, the participants confirmed the region’s location advantages in malaria research and agreed to pursue the possibility of joint research.
Lecturer Veronica conducted a clinical research workshop using the SEC (Smart Eye Camera) to prepare for a joint survey scheduled to begin in April. She also discussed the possibility of collaborating with Ehime University to build the capacity of Lurio University faculty and students regarding prevention education, including improved nutrition, and surveys to assess the health status of the community.
Ehime University, Lúrio University, and JICA have also begun discussions on cooperation in the areas of disaster prevention, rural development, and tourism. Associate Professor Kurita will share the know-how accumulated by the Institute for International Relations in training overseas leaders and promote capacity building of faculty and students at Lurio University by using distance learning materials and online discussions. In the field of disaster prevention, instead of the exchange of young researchers, which had been considered but never realized, a new cooperation based on the main campus in Nampula was requested, and it was agreed to resume discussions between Ehime University and Lúrio University faculty members involved in disaster prevention.
Mozambique is an important region for Japan, and Ehime University has long been collaborating with the country. This visit was an opportunity to further deepen that relationship. We will continue to strengthen ties between the two universities and promote collaboration in a wide range of fields, including malaria research, health using SEC, disaster prevention, rural development, and tourism.
Veronica Lecturer
＜Institute for International Relations, United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences