Reports

Fifteen participants from eight African countries—including project managers for the SHEP approach and government officials responsible for agricultural extension and guidance—took part in this training course. The program aims to deepen their understanding of the "SHEP approach" through lectures and field visits to learn about Japan's extension/agricultural guidance system and market distribution system with the goal of implementing it in their own countries.

The Follow-up Seminar Scheme is an annual program organized and funded by PREX.
This year, PREX held the PREX Global Network Follow-up Seminar for former participants from Central Asian countries.
The seminar featured a lecture by Professor Belov on the current Japanese economy, along with a presentation on PREX’s recent activities.
Despite the limited time, the seminar provided valuable insights and served as a meaningful opportunity for participants and PREX staff to reconnect.

This marks the first time PREX has been commissioned to conduct the winter training program for the Graduate School of Economics at Ritsumeikan University.
While we have previously conducted training programs in other seasons and for other graduate schools, this year we held a winter program that included an overnight stay. The main theme was “Regional Economic Development.”

This training program attracts international students from a wide range of academic disciplines and professional backgrounds. Given the students’ strong interest in environmental policy and waste management, we have organized a program centered on the theme of “Waste Management and Environmental Issues,” and this marks the third time the program has been held. Because these are administrative challenges that are both familiar and pressing for the participants, we consistently observe a high level of enthusiasm for learning each year.

This training program marks its sixth year. For the past few years, we have combined this program with two other training sessions held at different times of the year for long-term international students at Ritsumeikan University, organizing them as a single series.

Ten officials from central government agencies, local governments, and chambers of commerce involved in SME promotion from nine African countries participated in this training program.
During the program, participants visited government support agencies and businesses that had utilized such support. They attended lectures on SME support initiatives and their characteristics from the perspectives of both the “providers” and the “recipients” of support, followed by Q&A sessions and discussions.
Through this multifaceted learning experience, the participants gained deeper insights, which were subsequently reflected in their action plans.

The highlight of this "Ayabe Field Study Tour, Ritsumeikan University Graduate School of International Relations "was to visit to Ayabe City Hall, where international students received a lecture from the mayor on the city’s administrative initiatives and had the opportunity to exchange views directly with city hall staff about Ayabe’s municipal governance and the challenges they face as fellow public servants.
(The international students are in Japan under JICA’s “Human Resource Development Scholarship Program” and serve as public servants in their home countries.)

Following the SHEP Training (A), this session was attended by project managers and agricultural officials responsible for promoting the SHEP approach in their home countries. In addition to participants from African nations, two representatives from the Caribbean region (Barbados and Grenada)—where SHEP projects are planned for the future—also attended, further fostering mutual learning.