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On May 15, 2024, IDACA training coordinator Mr. Toru Nakashima gave a lecture on “Agricultural Cooperatives and Rice Production and Supply in Japan” to five government officers from Senegal at the JICA Tokyo Center in response to a JICA training request from Nippon Koei Co., Ltd.

The lecture focused on the development of Japanese agriculture and the characteristics of agricultural cooperatives.

The participants commented that "the Japanese agricultural cooperative system is an excellent model that they would like to refer to in their own country”. The training program is organized from May 14 to 25, and the participants will visit Niigata Prefecture for on-site training to inspect rice production sites in Japan.

The 2023 ICA/IDACA Follow-up Guidance and Survey was held in Kenya, on the African continent, for the first time since the establishment of IDACA, from April 8 to April 12, 2024. With the cooperation of the ICA Africa Regional Office in Kenya, we used a hybrid style combining in-person and online sessions, where trainees from Africa who have participated in ICA training courses over the past three years were asked to report on the progress of the action plans, they had developed.

Ms. Naomi Wanjiku Ngobe of the Kenya Cooperative Coffee Exporters (KCCE), whose Action Plan has been selected as a Best Practice, came to the ICA Africa office to present the progress of her Action Plan, which is now in its final stages. In addition, the following day, the ICA/IDACA team had the opportunity to visit her cooperative in person and observe its activities.

On Tuesday 19 December, the International Grains Council (IGC) and the Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA), with support from the Government of Japan, held a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand to discuss the results of a survey that collected grains market information from actors throughout the rice supply chain.

As the G7 Presidency this year, the Government of Japan has prioritised food security as an issue of concerns. The Government of Japan is supporting the IGC in strengthening its efforts to collect and analyse access to the market information through the supply chain in remote areas. This study on food security’s bottlenecks in Asia and other regions is part of Japan's contribution to the project to improve food security

Amid efforts to boost the resilience of global food markets to shocks, and in order to improve understanding of access to market information for stakeholders throughout the rice supply-chain in Asia, Africa and Oceania, including producers, cooperatives, traders, processors and consumers, the IGC and IDACA conducted a survey of market participants, from organisations active in the rice supply chain. Moreover, the survey attempted to gauge different participants’ reactions to the market changes and to understand the main opportunities and challenges faced. The results were discussed with respondents at the workshop in Bangkok, hosted by the Kasetsart University, with further work to follow, including on other grains such as maize and wheat.

Against the backdrop of high levels of volatility in grains and oilseeds over recent seasons, global rice markets have also seen elevated levels of instability, with international prices surging to a 15-year high in the wake of India’s export ban on non-basmati white rice. Such price movements, and associated market uncertainty, can cause challenges throughout the supply chain, particularly to market participants who may not have adequate access to market information, such as those in rural areas.

For further information please contact:

Hirofumi Kobayashi, Executive Director, IDACA: exd19-idaca@j.email.ne.jp

Peter Clubb, Market Analyst, IGC:  pclubb@igc.int