SEARCA presents CC-related work in partners’ dialogue during AFCC meet

11 July 2014

The members of the AFCC Steering Committee and dialogue partners watch and listen to SEARCA’s presentation on climate change adaptation and mitigation (CCAM) in agriculture and natural resource management.

JAKARTA, Indonesia – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) presented its accomplishments and outputs in research and development, technical assistance, capacity building, and knowledge management from 2006 to 2014 in a meeting of the Steering Committee of the ASEAN Multisectoral Framework on Climate Change (AFCC): Focus on Agriculture and Forestry for Food Security on 2 July 2014 at the headquarters of the ASEAN Secretariat.

Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz and Dr. Bessie M. Burgos, who respectively lead SEARCA’s programs on Knowledge Management and on Research and Development, made the presentation along with other international organizations and ASEAN missions at a partners’ dialogue within the AFCC Steering Committee Meeting at the invitation of the Agriculture, Industry and Natural Resources Division, ASEAN Economic Community Department (AINRD-AECD) of the ASEAN Secretariat.

Chair of the AFCC Steering Committee, notes SEARCA’s wealth of knowledge resources on CCAM in agriculture and forestry. The AFCC Steering Committee Chair noted and the body concurred on SEARCA’s wealth of knowledge resources on climate change adaptation and mitigation (CCAM) in agriculture and natural resource management (NRM). On SEARCA’s part, Dr. Cadiz affirmed SEARCA’s interest to support and strengthen ties with the AFCC aligned with its thrusts and needs in the light of the ASEAN Economic Community 2015 initiatives. SEARCA’s presentation introduced SEARCA as the first SEAMEO center established in 1966, the emphases of its 10^th five-year plan (2014-2019), and a 32-page list of its projects, activities, and knowledge resources on CCAM in agriculture and NRM in Southeast Asia since 2006.

The other organizations present during the partners’ dialogue included the EU and Japan missions to ASEAN; USAID Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC) Program; Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UN-FAO/RAP); GIZ/ASEAN-German Program on Response to Climate Change (GAP-CC); and ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC). (Maria Celeste H. Cadiz)