On 20 May, Kyoto University concluded an academic cooperation and exchange agreement with Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania. The deal is based on a proposal drafted by KyotoU's Center for African Area Studies (CAAS) in cooperation with the Graduate Schools of Agriculture, Global Environmental Studies (GSGES), and Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS).
SUA was founded in 1970 as the University of Dar es Salaam's Faculty of Agriculture, based in the city of Morogoro. It became an independent institution in 1984, and has since gone on to establish itself as the country's foremost national university in the fields of agriculture, forestry, and veterinary sciences. SUA is home to the African Center of Excellence for Innovative Rodent Pest Management and Biosensor Technology Development (ACE IRPM & BTD), supported by the World Bank under its Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence Project (ACE II). In October 2018, a SUA delegation visited KyotoU as part of a Japan tour organized by the World Bank for ACE II participants.
Prior to the agreement, KyotoU and SUA had been deepening their partnership by exchanging students, and collaborating in research and other projects run by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The majority of these efforts involved CAAS and SUA's Graduate School of Agriculture. In JICA's "Integrated Agro-ecological Research of the Miombo Woodlands in Tanzania" joint research project (FY1994–1997), and "Sokoine University of Agriculture Centre for Sustainable Rural Development in Tanzania" technical assistance project (FY1999–2004), both led by CAAS' late Professor Emeritus Makoto Kakeya, numerous KyotoU researchers worked at SUA as long- and short-term experts. Kyoto University remains active in undertaking public service projects in Tanzania, with CAAS Professor Juichi Itani leading efforts in rural development, ecological conservation, and local industry promotion. One of his ongoing research initiatives in the country concerns the development and commercialization of bamboo wine.
In the meantime, student exchange between KyotoU and SUA has thus far focused on the postgraduate level, with GSGES Dean Shinya Funakawa playing a key role. To date, two SUA students have participated in GSGES' annual spring program, a part of the international environmental studies courses that the School has been offering since 2015 under the "Japan Gateway: Kyoto University Top Global Program".
SUA is the eleventh African university to have signed a MoU with KyotoU. The agreement — made possible with support from Dr David Mhando, a CAAS graduate and associate research professor at SAU's College of Social Sciences and Humanities — is anticipated to lead to even more active academic exchange between the two universities over the coming years.
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Related link
- African universities with support from the World Bank explore collaboration with KyotoU (25 October 2018)
https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/about/events_news/office/kenkyu-suishin/ura/news/2018/181025_1.html
