[Topics] Signing Ceremony of Agreement on Academic Cooperation with CIFOR-ICRAF

The Signing Ceremony of Agreement on Academic Cooperation between the Faculty of Agriculture, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, School of Agriculture, and Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kyushu University and Center for the International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) was held on Tuesday, 26 November 2024.

CIFOR and ICRAF are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). CIFOR has been conducting research to help inform policies and practices that affect forests in developing countries; the headquarters of CIFOR is located in Bogor, Indonesia. ICRAF, also known as "World Agroforestry," has been working with rural farmers throughout the global south to develop innovative agroforestry-based practices as well as generate science-based knowledge about the diverse role of trees in agricultural landscapes to advance policies and practices that benefit the rural farmers and the environment; the headquarters of ICRAF is located in Nairobi, Kenya. CIFOR and ICRAF merged and became CIFOR-ICRAF in December 2021. While maintaining separate legal entities, CIFOR-ICRAF now operates under a common board of trustees and unified systems with five joint research themes (i.e., biodiversity, climate, food, value chain, and equity) so as to leverage their combined expertise as centers of scientific and development excellence focused on developing evidence-based solutions to the most pressing challenges facing the world's landscapes.

On the agreement signing, Prof. NAKAO Miki (Dean of Faculty of Agriculture) and Prof. HYAKUMURA Kimihiko (Director of Institute of Tropical Agriculture) represented Kyushu University, while Dr. Robert Nasi was CIFOR-ICRAF's representative. Some faculty members and administrative staff also attended the event: Prof. KUME Atsushi (Faculty of Agriculture), Prof. SATO Noriko (Faculty of Agriculture), Prof. NAKAMURA Mako (Center for Promotion of International Education and Research, Faculty of Agriculture), Prof. HIROMASA Yasuaki (Data and Resource Coordination Division, International Education Navigation Center), Assoc. Prof. OZAKI Akinori (Vice-Director of Institute of Tropical Agriculture), Assoc. Prof. KITA Hiroko (Faculty of Agriculture), Assoc. Prof. FUJIWARA Takahiro (Faculty of Agriculture), and Ms. MIYAZAKI Kaori (Center for Promotion of International Education and Research, Faculty of Agriculture).

In addition, some students, who visited CIFOR as part of a short-term program for sending overseas students (summer course) of the Global Gateway Office, School of Agriculture, attended the event. Ms. SHIMIZU Machika (3rd-year undergraduate student) officiated, and Ms. IWANO Junna (2nd-year master's student), Ms. KATAHIRA Honoka & Ms. Mariana Vergil Salgado (1st-year master's student) witnessed the ceremony.

Following the ceremony, Dr. Robert Nasi gave a lecture at the 11th Forest Science Webinar. He delivered the lecture on the overview of CIFOR-ICRAF and the five main research themes (biodiversity, climate, food, value chain, and equity) titled "CIFOR-ICRAF Trees, Forests and Landscapes for People and the Planet".

In addition to cooperation in the academic field, such as joint research and symposia, this agreement includes collaboration in the educational field, such as the exchange of students and innovative curriculum design. This agreement is expected to promote international research and educational activities, which will generate research achievements and foster highly skilled human resources that contribute to solving global environmental issues.

Reference

• CIFOR-ICRAF
• Institute of Tropical Agriculture
• Article Published on the Faculty of Agriculture Website: [Topics] Short-term program for overseas students "International Agricultural Science Program 2024: Summer Course on Tropical Forest and Climate Change @ Indonesia