From Monday, October 7, 2024 to Friday, February 7, 2025, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a training course entitled “Establishment of Food Value Chain for Regional Agribusiness Promotion” at the Institute for International Relations, Ehime University. This training program was an issue-specific training for industry, government, and academia from Latin American countries who are engaged in food value chain* related work.
This year, 12 trainees from 9 Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America participated in the program. The program consists of online pre-training and post-training, as well as face-to-face training in Japan. In response to requests from trainees of the previous year, the duration of this year’s training in Japan was extended from two weeks to three weeks. In addition to attending classroom lectures at Ehime University, the participants visited Matsuyama City’s shopping district and tourist attractions, Uwajima City, Seiyo City, Yawatahama City, and Kouiijima Island to learn about successful examples of food value chain development in Ehime through on-site experience and regional exploration. As in the previous year, these visits were supported by government agencies, companies, organizations, and individual business owners involved in the agriculture, livestock, and fishery industries in Ehime Prefecture.
The training in Japan was extremely meaningful thanks to the online pre-training program, the increase in the number of field trip sites, and the enhanced time for reflection after the visits. The program also provided participants with opportunities to experience Japanese culture and traditions. Based on the experiences and knowledge gained from the training in Japan, the trainees created an activity plan that could be implemented in their home countries. After that, two online post-training sessions were held two months and two and a half months after their return to Japan, where they exchanged opinions with Ehime University faculty members to confirm the progress of their activities and plans for the future. This year’s post-training sessions were longer and more frequent than last year’s, so that the participants’ activity plans became more concrete and clear.
It is expected that the trainees will continue to use the knowledge and experience they gained in this training course on food value chains to solve issues in their respective home countries.
The Institute for International Relations will continue to strengthen its ties with JICA and other international organizations to promote international cooperation and contributions.
※Food value chain: The linkage of added value generated in the distribution process from production to consumption related to agricultural, forestry, fisheries, and fishery products and foods.
＜nternational Relations Office＞