Agriculture students get Japanese lessons on food value chains

Students at the Faculty of Agriculture, National University of Laos (NUOL), learnt about Japanese food value chains during a training course at the faculty’s Animal Hospital last week.
The Faculty of Agriculture co-organised the training from October 21-25 under the Asean-Japan Partnership programme on Food Value Chains.
The course opening ceremony was attended by the faculty’s Dean, Mr Fongsamouth Southammavong; Project Coordinator, HRD Project in Food-Related Areas, Mr Eiji Hatano; and 45 participants including students and speakers from the government and Japanese and Lao private sectors.
“The training is embedded with practical knowledge and skills for our students, and this will also lead to a strengthening of linkages along food value chains and reducing post-harvest losses as well as enhancing food security and poverty alleviation in rural areas in the Asean region,” Mr Fongsamouth said.
Organisers said the course was designed to allow students to learn about different aspects of food value chains and how Japanese systems have developed. Participants also visited the Thaxang organic vegetable group to learn about food production and organisation.
During the course, lecturers covered intellectual property policy, food manufacturing (natural and processed cheese), and sustainable rice cultivation, in-house production of rice and vegetables, linking farmers’ groups to modern markets, and activities to support the improvement of supply chains for agricultural products.  
Under the programme, four students went for training at Kasetsart University in Thailand and three NUOL faculty members attended short courses on food safety analysis in Singapore.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
(Latest Update October 29, 2019)