This reports on the institutional journal "International Agriculture and Forestry Cooperation" Vol.47 No.2 published by the Japan Association for International Collaboration of Agriculture and Forestry (JAICAF).
This issue centers on agricultural cooperation and rural development in Asia, with detailed reports on cooperation cases in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Pacific island nations including agricultural technical cooperation, rural infrastructure development, and agricultural product distribution system improvement. Particularly, cooperation activities utilizing Japan's technology and experience are introduced in fields such as rice production technology improvement, horticultural crop quality improvement, and aquaculture technology dissemination.
From sustainable agricultural development perspectives, initiatives in environmentally considerate agriculture are addressed including organic agriculture promotion, biodiversity conservation, and soil conservation technology dissemination. Additionally, support activities toward agricultural rural economy diversification are reported including agricultural cooperative organization strengthening, agricultural product processing technology improvement, and rural tourism development.
In human resource development fields, initiatives are introduced including agricultural technician training, extension worker capacity strengthening, and farmer organization leader development, with cooperation developed toward constructing local human resource development systems and improving self-reliant development capabilities.
The article shows that Japan's agriculture and forestry cooperation in Asia makes sustainable contributions to agricultural development and rural revitalization in each country through comprehensive approaches including not only technology transfer but also human resource development, organizational strengthening, and policy support.