At Fundación Tropicalia we are convinced there is extensive value in international collaboration to expand development opportunities for the communities we work with, and for this reason, we approached the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to request the assignment of one of their Japanese program volunteers to collaborate with us in Miches (JICA). 

It is a technical cooperative program established by JICA, where it sends volunteers to developing communities as a way to support nations by offering social assistance for development in the countries with which they maintain relations of international goodwill. 

In the Dominican Republic, the process of convening the program and requests from local institutions interested in benefiting from the program is managed through the Ministry of Economy and Development (MEPyD), which evaluates interested organizations and participates as intermediaries throughout the process. 

The Vice Minister of International Cooperation, Inocencio García Javier, explained that the arrival of volunteers contributes to the strengthening of the professional and technical capacities of Dominican institutions, in areas and sectors of priority for national development.

During the event that presented the three individuals who will live the experience of volunteering in the country for a year, the ambassador of Japan in the Dominican Republic, Hiroyuki Makiuchi, expressed his enthusiasm for their arrival, and their expectations to contribute their knowledge to help communities, as well as learn everything our culture has to teach them.  

Recognizing the advances in Japanese agriculture, we identified an interesting opportunity for the communities with which Fundación Tropicalia works with to benefit from the knowledge of a volunteer specialized in the area of ​​agriculture, forestry and fishing. Volunteers working in this area contribute to improving productivity, food security and increasing productivity through the introduction of good practices in management systems and innovation in the implementation of techniques in the field. 

Daisuke Denuma, baptized 'Rodrigo' since he arrived in the country two months ago, is the young man who has come from Japan to join Fundacion Tropicalia for the next two years to share his knowledge as an agronomist, joining the team focused on the productivity program area.

Among the programs in which Daisuke will be supporting the Foundation are: 

1- The scholarship program coordinated by Fundación Tropicalia in collaboration with Universidad ISA that benefits young people in the community with higher education focused on agronomy, food technology and animal production.

2- League of Enterprising Farmers in Training (LEAF), which works with children in the 4th grade of primary school, promoting agriculture’s worth as a profitable and desirable way of life. 

3- The Fruits and Vegetables program that began this year as a pilot project to strengthen the technical and social capacities of a group of community members, guiding them to expand their production in a more ecological way. 

In identifying opportunities in the value chain and climate resilience for Miches farmers.