New Japan Forum to Strengthen Japan-CGIAR Links

In a major development, a new "Japan Forum on International Agricultural Research for Sustainable Development (J-FARD)" was launched in July 2004.

Mr. Hisao Azuma, President of J-FARD addressed the more than 110 participants at the launch ceremony.

Designed to boost the Japan-CGIAR partnership, the Forum will serve as a common platform for coordinating and fostering new partnerships among scientific organizations, promote the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and improve domestic and international information exchange.

Mr. Kazuo Kodama, Deputy Director General, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke about the long-standing ties between Japan and the CGIAR, and the importance Japan assigns to agricultural research as a way of achieving sustainable agriculture and rural development. Mr. Koichi Nishikawa, Director General, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council Secretariat; Mr. Shinichi Kawarada of the Ministry of Education; Mr. Tomoki Takamura of Japanese Tropical Agriculture Academic Society, and Mr. Kenzo Hemmi, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo, addressed the gathering.

The Forum brings together more than 20 leading Japanese universities and centers of scientific excellence (Universities of Kochi, Kyushu, Nagoya, Tokyo, Tottori, Tsukuba and others); the private sector and multilateral institutions such as FAO, World Bank, and civil society organizations (e.g. Sasakawa Africa Association). Mr. Hisao Azuma is President of J-FARD.

"We see an urgent need to mobilize resources and recognize that these can be scientific, technical, intellectual property, and financial," said Francisco Reifschneider, CGIAR Director. "The CGIAR family of scientists is committed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and the Forum represents an important, collective step forward in that direction."

For more information (in Japanese and English abstracts) on the Forum, click here or here.

In a related event, Francisco Reifschneider, CGIAR Director presented a scroll to Dr. Mutsuo Iwamoto, President, JIRCAS, acknowledging JIRCAS's long-standing support to international agricultural research and the CGIAR system, and identifying JIRCAS as a "'key partner of the CGIAR and the a CGIAR focal point institution in Japan"