CAPSA is a regional institution under the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). CAPSA’s goal to reduce poverty and enhance food security through sustainable agriculture is perfectly aligned with SEARCA’s goal of promoting food security and poverty alleviation through inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development (ISARD).
While the current members of CAPSA’s Governing Council are Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, SEARCA has been consistently invited to the council’s annual meeting.
Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., SEARCA Director, attended this year’s meeting, which reviewed CAPSA’s accomplishments in the past year and plans for 2016. The meeting also discussed efforts to revitalize CAPSA in view of the reduced financial contributions of UNESCAP.
The strategy, Dr. Saguiguit pointed out, may be similar to what is being employed in the case of the Association of Asian Agricultural Colleges and Universities (AAACU), for which SEARCA serves as fund manager. The strategy includes updating current membership fees and defining a viable program agenda on contemporary development issues that will attract and benefit all members. The current Council Chair, Agriculture Minister Inia Seruiratu of Fiji, whom the SEARCA Director previously met while on official mission, was most receptive of the Director's views.