THE ROLE OF SEARCA IN EAGA’S
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Dr. Percy E. Sajise,
Director, SEARCA

Human resource development (HRD), particularly in the field of sustainable agriculture and environmental resource management, is a continuing thrust of the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). The Centre supports this HRD thrust through its graduate study, university consortium and short term training programmes.

The graduate study programme provides graduate scholarships in agriculture and related sciences to qualified nationals of SEAMEO member countries. As of 30 June 1996, SEARCA has awarded 893 graduate study grants, of which 679 are completed. The completed study programmes are composed of 292 Ph.D. and 387 MS degrees. In 1995-96, SEARCA awarded 19 graduate scholarships. At present, the Centre is supporting 114 ongoing study programmes (67 PhD, 47 MS).

It is worth noting that of the 679 scholars who have completed their study programmes, 60 percent are from the BIMP-EAGA area. That these scholars are currently occupying key positions both in the private and public agencies in their respective countries emphasizes the extent of the benefits derived from HRD investments. This likewise shows that SEARCA’s commitment to human resource development has already been deeply rooted. Now that the EAGA initiative is in place, the more the Centre foresees a vigorous commitment to HRD in the subregion.

A most recent development is the decision of the Government of Indonesia, through its Ministry of Education and Culture, for SEARCA to help the Ministry in implementing the graduate scholarship component of its Higher Education Project, which is funded by the Asian Development Bank. At present, there are 11 scholars under this agreement and all are enrolled at the University of the Philippines at Los Baņos (UPLB).

Complementing the Graduate Study Programme is the University Consortium Programme, which had 32 new participants in its various components during the year under review. The Consortium components include: student exchange (5 participants), thesis grant (4), faculty visit (15), research fellowship (2), and professorial chair lecture (6). Six of the thesis grantees completed their research during the school year 1995-96.

On the other hand, 294 people participated in 15 short-term training courses conducted by SEARCA during the year. The participants came from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam. Of the 15 courses, only five received support from the SEAMEO Special Funds. The rest were either fee-based, consultancy contracts, or supported by project funds.

A significant progress in this area was the holding of the first SEARCA training course in Brunei Darussalam on Strategies for Rural Development and the possibility of doing more in-country courses in this country.

SEARCA’s role in the BIMP-EAGA initiative, however, is not merely confined to direct HRD involvements. Taking the cue from the SEAMEO mission of promoting cooperation among member and associate member countries, the Centre provides assistance to its member countries (BIMP included) in developing expertise and excellence in the field of sustainable agriculture and environmental management through its continuing research, consultancy and development programmes.

In addition to existing researches in the aforementioned areas, two new programmes were formally started this year, namely: coastal resource management and agro-industrial development. A closer look at these programmes would highlight the fact that these are of great interest to the BIMP-EAGA initiative, considering that all four of its member countries have rich coastal resources and are currently experiencing an upsurge in agro-industrial activities as a result of recent global development.

Since SEARCA is moving towards sub-area initiative as per its Governing Board’s mandate, it shall aim to provide a more concrete framework on human resource, institutional, and research development activities that it will undertake in BIMP-EAGA to ensure greater programme effectivity and impact.

One thing is certain, that SEARCA shall continue to be the subregion’s partner in producing a highly equipped pool of experts to man its member countries’ public and private institutions involved in sustainable agriculture and environmental management through its continuing HRD and research, consultancy and development programmes.