The concept of environmental problems expanded in terms of space and time, having started from public nuisance at the local level, been expanded to the global level because of the mass consumption of energy and natural resources, and included an issue to ensure equal opportunities of the future generations. In parallel, major agenda around sustainable development evolved from achieving balance between the environment and the economy, to realizing green economy in which environment protection is recognized as a driving force of economic development, and to realizing a fair society where the wealth from the economic development be distributed in a fair and equitable manner. SDGs have those values: 1) as they were adopted at UN through a democratic process, each national government developed its national implementation plan; 2) they fit quite well to the real situation of the world that is composed of countries of various levels of development; 3) understanding of mutual relations among 17 targets are promoted; 4) they are localized at a community level; and 5) they demonstrate that pursuing environmental conservation directly contributes to realize sustainable economy and society.

More than 1,200 Alumni have joined Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) from Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI). Many agricultural specialists who experienced JOCV are working in international agricultural development sector such as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The active personnel development targeted for overseas has its roots in Tokyo NODAI’s history of the establishment of Department of International Agricultural Development and “graduate emigration program”, as well as its involvement in the establishment of JOCV. The agricultural training at field is highly appreciated in the education curriculums and it is educational ideal and principal in Tokyo NODAI. From the experience of Tokyo NODAI history, we try to enhance education programs and develop higher human resources in agriculture cooperative sector. Tokyo NODAI has started a new collaboration with JOCV and continue to dispatch graduate school students.

We examined the medical records of 6 veterinary hospitals managed by the local government in Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh, in order to search the number of calf births and deaths from January 2013 to December 2015. In all investigated places approximately 10% of calves died at 6 months. Infectious diseases, i.e. foot and mouth diseases, pneumonia, etc., were the most common causes of death. Death by malnutrition also occurred in all investigated places throughout the year.

The adoption rate of new rice varieties in the coastal region of Kenya has been negligible, possibly because the farmers’ special preferences are not taken into account during the breeding process. To bridge the gap between breeders and farmers, and to ensure the faster release and widespread adoption of new varieties, participatory research was undertaken in two major rain-fed rice-producing counties (Kwale and Kilifi) in coastal region of Kenya. The objectives were to determine what rice varieties were grown by the farmers and what their trait preferences were. Results showed that, over 90% of farmers grew landraces with preference differing between counties. The landrace Sigaye was preferred in Kilifi county while Kitumbo, Madevu and supa dominated in Kwale county. Preferred traits of new rice varieties were high-yield, short-duration, drought-tolerance, medium height, with white, long, bold grains of good baking quality. The good baking quality trait was found to be a unique requirement in the region, because rice is rarely bred for its baking properties especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, the role of farmers’ trait preferences were revealed in the adoption decisions when considering a new rice variety for the coastal region of Kenya. Future breeding programmes are encouraged to utilize farmer preferred landraces in their breeding programmes and incorporate farmer desired traits into new rice varieties for the region.

In 2015, Kagoshima University and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had the agreement that volunteer enterprise opportunities were undertaken in the Republic of Colombia. This report summarizes research on aquaculture technological development and improvement conducted at the Magdalena University, North Colombia. Since March 2016, three dispatch projects have been completed. Technical development training included the establishment of foundational larval rearing and brood stock management of marine species. For this, rotifers were collected from the brackish lake Ciénaga Grande. This formed an indispensable component of the research on initiating larval rearing of marine species. The collected rotifers were successfully cultured. For blood stock, the blue crab Callinectes sapidus was the species to choose. Berried female blue crabs were caught in from Ciénaga Grande and held until hatching. This paper reports the progress of the volunteer enterprise, as well as recommends points for further improvement and future steps.

Quantitative surveys are necessary to understand the actual conditions of fishing households and fishing villages when formulating policy for small-scale fisheries. However, many national and/or local governments in the world face problems such as a limited number of government administrators and researchers, and budget constraints. Besides, although there are a few manuals for implementing social surveys in agricultural and/or fishing villages, almost all manuals focus on methods for conducting qualitative surveys. Therefore, this paper addresses the gap by providing methods for conducting quantitative surveys, as well as ways to reduce the number of data samples. This paper includes a practical methodology: data extraction theory, methods for conducting the principal survey and random sampling methods for (fishing) village-level surveys, ideas on how to create questionnaires and how to conduct actual surveys, and ways to conduct a follow-up survey meeting to report results. In addition, a questionnaire used in a survey of fishing households in Thailand is attached.

BRIDGE is a circle for global-minded students which is recognized officially by the Faculty of Agriculture Niigata University. Working for the globalization of students it has been active since 2011 and has conducted international exchange and overseas inspection tours in agricultural regions. In 2017, we held the Asia Pacific Directors Meeting (APDM). The content of APDM consisted of workshops and visits to facilities related to sustainable agriculture. We invited 8 participants from Indonesia and Nepal, and promoted interactions with domestic students interested in agricultural fields outside of Niigata University by using social media. In the workshop on cooperation with private enterprises, we sensed the potential for regional revitalization.In order to acquire funds, we examined whether APDM conformed to the purpose of subsidy for each granting foundation, by focusing on role sharing and information exchange. In addition, based on what we achieved at the workshop during this meeting, we proposed three principles for Muslim students who live in Niigata to allow them to live more comfortably, and won the first prize at “The 1st Niigata Internationalization Design Competition “. BRIDGE has played an important role as a place where international experiences and perspectives can be shared. That’s why BRIDGE has continued to be active since establishment. Through international and local activities conducted by BRIDGE, we will continue to develop the local community by fostering global human resources.

This article introduces definition of “development”, missions of development consultants, necessary education as a consultant, matters to be studied during school days, based on the author’s carrier, targeting the students who are interested in international works in developing countries.

Since human beings started cultivation of land some 11,000 years ago, agriculture has been feeding the increasing population. However, 815 million people still remain food-insecure and 155 million children are chronically malnourished. Food security does not just mean that there is sufficient food but sufficient ‘nutritious’ food accessible. In addition, ‘utilization’ of food is emphasized for food security, which calls for a multi-sectoral approach. Having said that, historically, development cooperation in the agriculture sector focused on mostly food production and household income rather than food intake, and the multi-sectoral approach has not been taken adequately. Today, food security and nutrition has become one of the most important development issues and the Sustainable Development Goal 2 is about it. The Japan International Cooperation Agency and the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency jointly launched the “Initiative for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa” in 2016 that coordinates different sectors for better nutrition in Africa. It has been 11,000 years since we started agriculture and it is only 12 years towards the SDGs target year when we finally have to achieve food security and nutrition improvement. For that, a view on the whole food systems and the multi-sectoral approach are indispensable in the agricultural development.