The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of the Government of Japan had chosen ICA to implement an umbrella project on “Capacity Building in Agricultural Sector in Asia and Africa (CB Project)” for three years starting from 2017. Under this project, the 3rd Training Course on “Empowering Women in Business and Management of Agricultural Cooperatives” was held in Thailand and Japan from July 14 to August 10, 2019. Six women participants from five countries, namely, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand attended the training course.
The objective of the training course was to assist capacity building of rural women leaders for promoting their participation in organizational management and organized business activities.
Visit to the Cooperative Promotion Department in Thailand.
The first part of the program included field study visits with a focus on observation of the activities of cooperatives/women’s groups and social institutions. It was held in Thailand from July 14 to 21 in collaboration with the Cooperative League of Thailand, a member of ICA. The second part of the program was held at the Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA) from July 22 to August 10 and included extensive classroom work and study visits to agricultural cooperatives in Fukushima Prefecture of Japan. Lecture-cum-practical field study visits were combined to impart necessary knowledge to the participants on the working of women’s associations and the general activities of agricultural cooperatives in Japan. Some of the key subjects covered at IDACA were: (a) Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Japan; (b) Women’s Associations of Japanese Agricultural Cooperatives; (c) Rural Women’s Entrepreneurship (marketing and local agro-processing); (d) Women’s Participation in Rural Development; (e) Finalization and Presentation of Action Plans; and (f) Reporting and Evaluation.
Based on the experiences gained during the training, the participants were able to prepare their Action Plans which they would be recommending to their respective organizations for implementation. A course evaluation was conducted at the end of the Training on August 9. The participants felt that the training course was quite relevant for women leaders of agricultural cooperatives in Asia and it should be continued. Mr. Kyohei Sugaya, Officer in-charge of ICA-Japan Project, MAFF; Mr. Masahiro Konno, Executive Director of IDACA; Mr. K. Sethu Madhavan, Advisor-Planning & Membership, ICA-AP; and Ms. Anindita Guha Chakraborty, Deputy Manager/Branch Manager of NAFED at Kolkata, India (on behalf of participants) addressed the closing session.
Participants at the concluding session held at IDACA on August 9.
Image credit: Kalpana Shrestha
