On Tuesday July 26th, room 203, Vachiranusorn Building, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, at 9.00 a.m., Dr. Chongrak WACHRINRAT, Acting President of Kasetsart University along with the administrators and the faculty members, presided over the opening and welcoming Ms. Maria Cristeta N. Cuaresma, Program Head of Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in the Republic of the Philippines and the 27 participants students and faculty from the European, Latin America, Africa and Asia; participated in the Summer School FSC-UC under the topic of “Climate Change: Impacts on Food Security”, which was scheduled from July 25-August 11, 2016 of 3-week duration.

        This course was organized jointly by multiple agencies efforts and cooperation particularly the Food Security Center (FSC) of the University of Hohenheim, Germany and Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC).

    The goal of the FSC is to build partnerships with educational institutions and related organizations in the various regions, to support education, research and scientific innovations to reduce hunger and achieving food security of all mankind. FSC in cooperation with educational institutions and related organizations in the world regions, such as the University of Costa Rica in the Latin American region; the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in Republic of the Philippines; and Kasetsart University Thailand in the Asia-Pacific region, and etc.

       Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources or UC is a network of top agricultural universities in Southeast Asia including of Universiti Putra Malaysia, the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Universitas Gadjah Mada and Bogor Agricultural University of the Republic of Indonesia and Kasetsart University Thailand; along with the contribution from members outside the region.

      The summer school consisted of 3 one-week modules including lectures and discussions, field excursions and laboratory procedures. For example: a field study of fish farming in Ratchaburi Province, a field study of Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand and SIAM KUBOTA Corporation Co., Ltd. Thailand.

Module 1 (July 25-29, 2016) Climate change and fisheries/aquaculture by Dr. Sukhit Nimitkul, Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University Thailand

Module 2 (August 1-5, 2016) Climate change and livestock production by Dr. Jean Rust Döhne Agricultural Development Institute, South Africa

Module 3 (August 8-11, 2016) Climate smart agriculture by Dr. David Reiser University of Hohenheim, Germany

      On 11th August 2016, at Vachiranusorn Building, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Assistant Professor Dr. Buncha Chinnasri, Acting Assistant to the President presided over the closing and handed out the certificates to all participants who have completed the Summer School project as well as taking memorable group pictures before leaving Thailand.