A special lecture by Mr. Ronald Thomas Hartman, Director of Global Engagement, Partnership and Resource Mobilization Division of IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) took place in YCU Kanazawa Hakkei Campus on 22nd July.
The lecture on the topic of “The State of Food Security in the World and the Role of IFAD” was specially held for the students enrolled in “International Organizations Theory Class” by Associate Professor Rikiya Takahashi. The lecture and Q&A session was conducted in English. Many of the students proactively attended the rare opportunity in which they could learn from the experience of a high-level official of the United Nations agency.
In the lecture, the fact that the hungry and undernourished population of the world increased in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the War in Ukraine was highlighted. Additionally, Mr. Hartman explained that it will be difficult to achieve Goal 2 of the SDGs— Zero Hunger by 2030—if we don’t act immediately, and that therefore, cooperation among the international community is highly required. In response to these issues, IFAD invests in small-scale farmers in developing countries to achieve stable and sufficient global food supply.
After the lecture, many students asked questions, taking almost an hour. One student asked “What can we do under the situation of increasing hunger and accelerating climate change?” Mr. Hartman answered “it is really important for the young generation to voice up and take actions against the global crisis, and please knock on the doors to work in International Organizations tackling global issues.” Even after the program ended, a long line of students appeared in front of Mr. Hartman to ask him additional questions. And he kindly responded one by one. As a result, this lecture became a very worthwhile time to encourage YCU students to work globally in the future.
After the whole program ended, Dr. Nobuharu Suzuki, Dean of the School of International Liberal Arts conveyed his appreciation to Mr. Hartman and discussed future partnership between IFAD and YCU.
Mr. Hartman, IFAD (right) and Dean, Dr. Suzuki, YCU (left)
This article was written by Kodai Onodera, 4th year of School of International Liberal Arts, Intern of IFAD Japan Liaison Office in Yokohama.