About

Vision

Southeast Asia's leader in the science and practice of agriculture and rural development.

Mission

We are committed to strengthening institutional capacity in agricultural and rural development through graduate education, research, training, and knowledge exchange.

Objectives

We are committed to strengthening institutional capacity in agricultural and rural development through graduate education, research, training, and knowledge exchange.

To promote, undertake, and coordinate research programs related to the needs and problems of the region.

To disseminate the findings of agricultural research and experimentation.

Current Priority Themes

Agricultural competitiveness and natural resource management toward food security and poverty reduction.

History

From time immemorial, agriculture has been placed in the centerpiece of national development programs of developing countries in Southeast Asia. What with its vast and richly endowed agricultural land, the region could easily be the food granary capital of the world.

But this is not so. Rapid population growth, food insecurity, and widespread poverty are just some of the compelling issues that continue to hound the region and significantly impede efforts to trudge the path towards genuine development.

Set against this grim backdrop, the region needs to take urgent and concerted effort in wrestling with these issues. One realization became evident. The region is in dire need to produce highly trained agricultural manpower to provide leadership in national agricultural development programs and to generate a reservoir of new knowledge and technologies derived from research.

And so it came to pass that SEARCA, as a concept, was not hard to accept and to pursue. It was just like a seed waiting to be sown and nurtured on the fertile grounds of the Southeast Asian region.