Dr. Daniel Gustafson, Deputy Director-General of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) gave a talk at Fuchu Auditorium of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
February 19, 2020
On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, TUAT co-organized the above public event with FAO Liaison Office in Japan. More than 200 people of various nationalities attended from the civil society, academia, industry and government agencies.
In the opening remarks, TUAT President Dr. Hiroyuki Ohno representing FAO’s first university partner in Japan acknowledged the special opportunity, and referred to fruitful on-going collaborations between them. Mr. Hiroki Takabayashi of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Tatsuya Go of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries encouraged the young audience to become eligible future leaders of the global society.
In a talk titled “Ending hunger: Achieving food security, improved nutrition and sustainable agriculture in the world", Dr. Daniel Gustafson, Deputy Director-General of FAO mentioned the accomplishment of FAO in 75 years since its foundation, discussed urgent challenges on food and agriculture of the world today, and affirmed FAO would pursue sustainability of the global food systems comprehensively. He also stressed Japan's experience and human resources could make further contributions in resolving those complex issues.
Professor Dr. Masaaki Yamada of the University talked about a joint project with FAO aiming at adapting small-scale family cocoa farms in coastal West Africa to climate change in order to eradicate hunger in the region. He referred to the empirical studies based on demonstration farms planted in Ghana, with focus on the successional agroforestry system developed by the Japanese immigrants in Brazilian Amazon, for the goal of locally adapting and disseminating the production system as an effective measure against climate warming.
In the following talks, Dr. Charles Boliko, Director of FAO Liaison Office in Japan, explained the conditions for job and internship applications to FAO. Two doctoral students of TUAT who had participated in the internship programs, Ms. Ayako Miyazaki and Mr. Mohammad Mardanikorani, shared their experience that led to reconfirmation of their aptitude and ability, and publicaiton of academic papers. Mr. Hiroko Inaoka of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talked about recruitment from international organizations, the required human resources and how to gather information, and encouraged young students to challenge their career goals.
Finally, Dr. Kazuhiro Chiba, Dean of the Institute of Agriculture, gave a closing remark saying that the University will strengthen cooperation with FAO and continue to take on challenges of solving global issues.
