Category: Research Activity

From August 9th to 24th, 2023, Tetsu Sato visited Malawi.
JCC and Technical Meetings were held, where research content was discussed and detailed reports were given to JCC members. A common understanding was built with new participants from Malawi regarding Sato-umi resource development, and progress was made in the development of new tour programs by the tour guide association.

From August 8th to 23rd, 2023, Hiromu Okazawa visited Malawi.
From August 8th to 21st, 2023, Hiroko Gono visited Malawi.
Participated in a technical meeting and JCC in Zomba, and discussed the future research content of the project with agricultural group members Daud Kassam (LUANAR) and Lameck Fiwa (LUANAR). Performed maintenance on the installed weather instruments and measurements using GNSS-RTK, visited farmland, and conducted price surveys in the market.

From June 6th to 25th, 2023, Tetsu Sato visited Malawi.
From June 10th to 24th, 2023, Kazuaki Takahashi visited Malawi.
Visit to the Japanese Embassy in Malawi. Held a meeting with Friday Njaya, Daud Kassam, and others regarding the international symposium scheduled for November, and were able to solidify our plans for their visit to Japan and short-term joint research. Also, held a meeting to discuss collaboration in community-based conservation activities. Held a meeting with Madothi BVC regarding the current situation and future management plans for Chirundu, and conducted underwater observations, test operations, and maintenance work at Chirundu. To develop a simple method for producing seedlings of useful tree species, we confirmed and measured the survival and death of seedlings in a germination and cultivation experiment plot set up within the Sustainable Cape Maclear plot in Chembe, and were able to confirm the growth status of the seedlings. We also established an environmental monitoring system to identify suitable environments.

From February 22nd to March 23rd, 2023, Tamano Hayashi visited Malawi.
From February 22nd to March 15th, 2023, Ke Zhang visited Malawi.
Held a meeting with project members to discuss GNSS positioning and drone image capture in Chembe village. We also discussed, prepared and conducted surveys regarding DWA, and held meetings to prepare a plant inventory and develop forest resource guidelines, as well as a meeting regarding the integrated household survey.

From January 24th to February 8th, 2023, Tetsu Sato visited Indonesia.
Accompanied by Motoko Shimagami, who stayed in Indonesia, Sato held seminars in Ulele and Bone, and had discussions with participants. Also, accompanied by Dorotea Rampisela, Sato held seminars in various locations, spoke with farmers who practice multi-variety cultivation, and visited advanced cacao seedling production sites, waste recycling, and poultry farming trial sites. Adjusted the schedule for the dispatch of third-country experts to Malawi, scheduled in 2023.

From January 10th to March 2nd, Wisdom Changadeya from the University of Malawi was accepted as a short-term foreign researcher at the Ryukoku University.
He learned how to use the laboratory to extract eDNA to assess fish stock status for the project, and was trained on how to quantify eDNA for sequencing on the ISEQ platform. He went back to the University of Malawi ready to train other members of the project on how to use the ISEQ platform.

From November 25th to December 12th, 2022, Tetsu Sato and Kazuaki Takahashi visited Malawi.
On November 29th, Sato and Takahashi participated in the second Technical Meeting, where they moderated, made a presentation, and held discussions. On November 30th, they participated in the second JCC, where they made a presentation and held discussions. On December 2nd, they participated in the JST mid-term evaluation on-site report session, where they moderated, made a presentation, held discussions, and exchanged opinions. Had a meeting to discuss the visit of Phillip Kapulula, Placid Mpeketula, Talandila Kasapila, Happy Mussa, and Daud Kassam to Japan and their plans to continue to graduate school. Regarding the forest survey, Sato and Takahashi visited the seedling production facility and germination experiment facility regarding the use and management of forest resources, prepared for germination and cultivation experiments, and were able to set up plots for germination and cultivation experiments and start the experiments.

From October 15th to December 28th, Marlene Chikuni from the University of Malawi was accepted as a short-term foreign researcher at the Yokohama National University and Ryukoku University.
She visited Aya Town in Miyazaki Prefecture and Chizu in Tottori Prefecture. She conducted joint research on the Japanese Sato-yama natural view and landscape management methods, and the concept and management methods of biosphere reserves. She learned the theory and methodology to adapt the knowledge to the actual situation in Malawi and put the research into practice.

From October 15th to December 28th, McPhillip Mwithokona from Lake Malawi National Parks was accepted as a short-term foreign researcher at the Yokohama National University.
He visited Aya Town, Miyazaki Prefecture and Yakushima Island. He conducted joint research on the methods and impact of participatory nature conservation area management, focusing on Japan’s biosphere reserves. He also conducted training with the goal of acquiring theories and methodologies for adapting the knowledge to the actual situation in Malawi and utilizing it in the field of protected area management.

From September 29th to December 28th, Lameck Fiwa from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources was accepted as a short-term foreign researcher at the Tokyo University of Agriculture.
He visited Miyakojima and Nagano prefectures and conducted joint research on sustainable environmental conservation agriculture through the use of small-scale irrigation in villages along Lake Malawi, utilizing the principles and advanced technology of small-scale irrigation research in Japan. After returning to Malawi, he will promote research on the effective use of small-scale irrigation technology and contribute to realizing integrated resource management, which is the goal of the future project.