The Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia (IDACA)

IDACA, which is responsible for the international cooperation activities of the JA Group, was established through the valuable efforts of Mr. Yasushi Hasumi, who served as the first president of JA-ZENCHU. IDACA was established in 1963 to serve as a gplace to foster solidarity in the international community by providing learning opportunities within the agricultural movement in Japan for leaders engaged in cooperative movements in developing countries. IDACAfs history has already exceeded half a century, and the number of participants it has received so far has exceeded 6,300 people. Among the participants of IDACA training courses, there are many people who are serving as leaders of the agricultural cooperative movement, or moreover, actively working as government officials having jurisdiction over the development of cooperatives. As such, the circle of former participants of IDACA training courses has spread to about 130 countries in the world, including Asian countries. In addition, human resources development training programs at IDACA for officials of cooperatives in the world including the Asian region have also received high praise from within and outside Japan. Under these circumstances, training of human resources responsible for promoting cooperatives in developing countries is important, and international expectations are placed on the role of IDACA that has a track record spanning more than half a century as a member of the JA Group. Moving forward, IDACA will make further efforts to contribute to the development of the cooperative movement in various countries including those in Asia as well as coexistence with the world through training programs, etc. in collaboration with ICA (International Co-operative Alliance), Japanfs International Cooperation Agency (JICA), etc. so that IDACA training participants will develop into people who understand agriculture and JAs in Japan very well.