Vol.

１２０NEWS
2023.4≪Greetings from the President≫
First of all, let me express my deepest sympathies to thepeople who suffered severe damages throughout thecountries by disasters and do hope for earliest recoveryand reconstruction.
IDACA was established with the initiative of JA Zenchu in
1963 as an organization for development of agricultural
cooperatives in the countries in Asia and other regions,which lead to improvement of income and development ofregional farming communities.

President of IDACA
Toru NAKAYA(President of JA ZENCHU)

Since its establishment, devoting ourselves in fostering
human resource committing to the cooperative movementin the world, we have received more than 6,500 people
from 130 countries for various training courses.

Through the activities we have learned that the countries in Asia, Africa, South America, etc.
have shown strong interests and wishes in studying Japanese models for development of their
farmers’ organizations. IDACA, as a bridge between those countries and Japan, have introduced
Japanese cases of organizational management, business activities and services of agricultural
cooperatives in Japan, JA.
Implementing the training courses, we have taken up field study as very important element indesigning the programs. However, the programs with field study have not been realized in the
midst of COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022, two years in a low. The situation have given us
the opportunities of conducting on-line programs utilizing pre-recorded video materials to introduce
the outline of organization and business activities of JA.
Since 2021, IDACA has been strengthening its ties with the international community throughcollaboration with the World Farmers Organization (WFO) for those farmers organizations in theworld and International Grains Council (IGC), intergovernmental organizations. Thereby we,
recognizing the roles as JA group member organization, will further develop and promote ouractivities to contribute to the international community.
Last but not least we, officials and staff, kindly request for your understanding and cooperationon our activities.

NEWS≪Messages from the Advisors≫
Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director of International
Cooperative Alliance- Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP)
On behalf of the International Cooperative Alliance andInternational Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific, I would liketo wish you all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!
It has been a privilege for us to be associated with IDACA overthe past few decades in the training of agriculture cooperatives
and farmers organizations from across Africa and Asia and thePacific. The participants of the training program have benefitedimmensely from the knowledge received, the first-hand visits toJapanese cooperatives, and from the follow-up support for
their projects.
The trainings are solid reflection of Principle 5 – education, training and information, and Principle
6 - cooperation among cooperatives! I would like to thank IDACA and JA-Zenchu for convincing
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Government of Japan of the benefits of thetraining and securing their continued financial support!
We look forward to our continued association in the service of agriculture cooperatives andfarmers organizations!
Ms. Arianna Giuliodori, Secretary General ofWorld Farmers’ Organisation (WFO)
On behalf of the World Farmers' Organisation, I wish you alla peaceful, healthy, and prosperous 2023.
Let me express my deep and humble gratitude to IDACA
working with JA Zenchu for the opportunity to bring thevoice of the farmers of the world. It is an honour tocontribute to your relentless effort in building the capacity offarmers' organisations and agricultural cooperatives andsupporting the development of organised agriculture, thus
fostering farmers' economic, social and political inclusion.
Today more than ever, organised agriculture plays a crucialrole in helping farmers address the global challenges theymust face. From climate change to food security, from restoring and enhancing biodiversity to thethreats of having access to inputs and technology, farmers are a key part of the solution, and theirorganisations are meant to catalyse their potential and unlock a sustainable future that leaves noone behind.
I look forward to continuing and strengthening our collaboration in the future, leveraging themomentum and enabling ambitious actions for all farmers of the world and their cooperatives.

-IDACA NEWS-THE CLIMAKERS ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGIONDIGITAL WORKSHOP on Sep. 20 and 29, 2022
On September 20 and 29, 2022,“The Climakers Asia and thePacific Region Digital Workshop”
which was held by agriculturalorganizations in the Asia-Pacificregion to share examples ofclimate change initiatives andexchange information.
To identify and share examplesof activities by agriculturalorganizations around the world
in order to network their efforts toaddress climate change, thisworkshop has been held under
the leadership of the World
Farmers Organization (WFO) as
the Climakers Project, withfunding from the Norwegian
government and other sources.
Continuing from last year, IDACA was entrusted with the task of collecting
examples of climate change initiatives and organizing the workshops.
The workshop consisted of two sessions with nearly 200 participants from 48
countries. The presenters and the participants exchanged opinions while
introducing case studies of agriculture and agricultural cooperative organizations
from 11 countries in Asia and the Pacific, including Eastern Europe, that are
making various efforts to address climate change.
This year, simultaneous Japanese-English interpreters (on September 29 only)
were used to facilitate the participation of Japanese agriculture and foodprofessionals in the workshop.

Reports on Training Courses
The ICA Training Course on "Empowerment of Rural Women forImprovement of their Leadership and Business Management" FY2022
Commissioned by the International Cooperative Alliance – Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP), the 3rd
ICA Women's Training Course for female leaders was held from August 22 to September 15, 2022,
in an online training format.
Thirteen female leaders from
Asia and Africa participated, andenjoyed not only online lectures,question-and-answer sessions,and group discussions, but also
informationexchanges
andcultural exchanges in variousfields.
One of the important purposesof this training is to create anaction plan and implement it intheir own countries. This time as well, Ms. Horaguchi, President of National Council of JA
Women's Associations, participated in the event and introduced the efforts and activity examplesof the JA Women's Association. In addition, during the discussion session with President
Horaguchi, many participants commented that it was a very useful time for them, as she gavethem very helpful advice for creating action plans based on her own experience. In addition,
continuing from last year, online lectures by overseas lecturers such as a university professor who
was introduced by the Co-operative Institute of Malaysia (CIM), and the secretary general of theWorld Farmer's Organization (WFO) provided an opportunity to learn about the issues common toall countries, such as gender issues and the impact of climate change on agriculture.
In addition, the participants received a lot of information, including examples of entrepreneurial
activities and agricultural processing by rural women in Nagano Prefecture, and SDGs initiatives
by Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union (JCCU). All participants completed their action plansby the end of the training, and pledged to implement them in their home countries amidst bothanxiety and anticipation.

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What is the action plan for ICA training?
All participants are required to create a "job report" regarding their organization andtheir work prior to participating in the training. In this process, the participants identify
issues and problems of their organization and analyze the current situation.
Based on the various information and knowledge obtained during the training period,
the participants create draft action plans to improve their problems and other issues.
These plans are to be revised and added more information and ideas as many times asnecessary during the training period to complete it.
The completed draft action plans are to be further revised after consultation withresource persons of IDACA for the training course.
At the end of the training, the completed draft action plans are presented to all theparticipants, resource persons of IDACA, and ICA-AP, and further revisions may bemade upon the comments and advice provided.
After completing the training (or after returning home country), the participants
implement their action plans with the consent of their organization’s supervisor andcooperative members.

Reports on Training Courses
2022 JICA Training Course on"Establishment and Development of Farmers' Organizations"This training program was commissioned by JICA (Tsukuba Center). After three years ofimplementation until last year, the program was reviewed, and due to strong demand for training, a new
three-year schedule was decided to begin this year. The objective of the program is “To contribute to
the promotion of the establishment of agricultural cooperatives and the strengthening of theirorganizational capacity by organizing farmers at the farmer community level in rural villages andagricultural estates, targeting countries in the early stages of establishing agricultural cooperatives”.
Five participants from Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, including government
officials in charge of farmers' organizations and cooperative promotion organizations, participated in theonline learning program under the COVID-19 pandemic. Akita Prefectural Union of AgriculturalCooperatives and JA Akita-Shirakami in Akita Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefectural Union of AgriculturalCooperatives (including the Education Center) and JA Hyuga in Miyazaki Prefecture provided support
for making video materials introducing local case studies and for the Q&A session after all participants
had viewed the video materials.
All the lectures were conducted on live, in cooperation with JA Group organizations such as JA
Hadano, JA Kanagawa Seisho, Nagano Agricultural Cooperative Institute for Research andDevelopment, JA Tourism & Communication Associations, Norinchukin Research Institute Co., ltd, JA
Zenchu, and Nokyo Ryutsu Kenkyujo (Nokyo Research Institute of Agricultural Products Distribution) as
well as from Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. In addition, we invited an advisoryboard member of IDACA, Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director of International Cooperative
Alliance- Asia and Pacific as a lecturer, he introduced the role and activities of cooperatives from an
Asian and global perspective.
In making the action plans, participants (two from Asia and Africa) who attended in the 2019 training
program participated and had the opportunity to present implementation status of the action plans as aresult of the training, and how they are using what they learned in the training. In preparing the actionplans, we asked a development consultant to conduct the PCM method-based lectures and exercises
aimed at analyzing the current situation and finding the directions of response to challenges.
The participants commented such as, “I would like to visit
officials of JAs which have conducted good management
for many years. I would like to know how responsible
leadership of cooperatives has been handed down over theyears. I would like to observe rural tourism, wedding sites,and processing businesses such as jams and beverages
conducted by JA women‘s associations, and to share myknow-how with women in my country.” “I would like to havea direct dialogue with JA staff and visit farms.”
Although the training could not be conducted in Japandue to COVID-19, the participants showed a keen interestin not only the traditional training in Japan but also had theonline lecture beforehand and then had training in Japan.
It provided a good opportunity to review how the training
should be conducted in the future. The participants havestarted working on their action plans after the training andwill submit their progress reports in February.

Participants from Africa

Reports on Training Courses
2022 JICA Country-wise Training Course for Ethiopia"Value Chain Development in Agricultural Processing Complex Area”

JA Kanazawa Sweet Potato
Harvest Experience

JA Kanazawa Agricultural Machinery
CenterThe training course was commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Hokuriku Center for the participants from Ethiopia who came to Japan. In the first week, theypresented inception reports and attended lectures on value chains at JICA Tokyo.
After that, the participants moved to Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture to have lectures onproduction area development, branding, and sales strategies at the administrative agencies
based there. They visited Ishikawa Agricultural Center, JA Kanazawa City, Hakui City, Hakui
Machizukuri Corporation (on case studies of 6th industrialization), Tedorikawa-shichika Water
Supply Land Improvement District, Nagano Karasawa Agricultural Machinery ServiceCorporation, Al Plaza Kanazawa (supermarket), Ishikawa Central Fruit and Vegetable
Corporation, and Kanazawa Daichi Corporation (on the subjects of organic produce export and6th industrialization).

Visit to a small hydroelectric power plant of Tedorikawa-shichika
Water Supply Land Improvement DistrictReport on Overseas Activity
FY2022 Dispatch of Experts
Establishment of Business Oriented Agricultural Cooperative Models(Development of Agricultural Cooperative System) in Georgia

Blueberry orchard, a candidate ofa model agricultural cooperative

Honey factory for a candidate ofa model agricultural cooperative

Commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mr.
Terunuma, staff of IDACA was dispatched to Georgia twice, in March and May,
2022. In the first dispatch, selection criteria were set in advance to identify fivecandidates for model agricultural cooperatives and five semi-model agricultural
cooperatives from approximately 1,000 agricultural cooperatives withcounterpart organizations. Seminars on Japanese agricultural cooperatives
were held for the 10 selected agricultural cooperatives.
In the second dispatch, interviews and detailed surveys were conducted at five
selected model agricultural cooperatives. The detailed survey examined thefamily structure of the members, their membership status in agriculturalcooperatives, their income from farming and dual employment, and the actual
conditions of ownership of agricultural machinery, automobiles, and motorcycles.
The survey also introduced the efforts of agricultural cooperatives andproducers in Japan according to the crops handled by each cooperative (wine,cheese, honey, blueberries, and apples).
Exports of blueberries, honey and wine produced by candidates for model
agricultural cooperatives have already started.

Cheese Processing Plant and for the members
for a model agricultural cooperative

Meeting with the candidate and winery
officers for a model agricultural cooperative● Editing and Publishing: Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia
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