Agroforestry education in the Philippines: status report from the Southeast Asian Network for Agroforestry Education (SEANAFE)

This paper is based on the survey data collected by the Southeast Asian Network for Agroforestry Education (SEANAFE) from 22 out of 34 member instit utions of the Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) between 200 7 and 2008. The survey was also intended to help PAFERN and SEANAFE identify future projects and activities relevant to accomplishing SEANAFE’s vision-mission of improving livelihoods a nd ensuring sustainable rural development in the region through improved agroforestry education. The survey results indicated a significant growth i n agroforestry education in the Philippines since 1976 because of the perceived need to continuously produce manpower to help rehabilitate the upland areas. Currently, there are already 34 academic in stitutions offering different types of agroforestry programs in the country. These programs include BS Agriculture major in Agroforestry (BSA-AF), BS Forestry major in Agroforestry (BSF-AF), BS Agro forestry (BSAF), BS Agroforestry Entrepreneurship (BSAE), terminal and ladderized Di ploma/Certificate in Agroforestry, and Master of Science in Agroforestry (MSAF). The past two decades have also shown considerable i mprovements in the qualifications of teaching staff in academic institutions offering BSAF progra m. Teaching materials, though limited in number, were always made available to students. The Poli cy, Standards and Guidelines (PSG) for BSAF issued by the Philippine Commission on Higher Educa tion (CHED) in 2006 has helped standardize the curriculum for the said program among instituti ons surveyed. Nevertheless, agroforestry courses were still being taught in other related programs. While interest to conduct research and extension activities among faculty was increasing, opportunit ies were nevertheless limited for them due to resource constraints and heavy workload. On the ot her hand, students’ interest to pursue a BSAF degree was observed to be declining due to limited job prospects after graduation. Incidents of drop out among BSAF students were also occurring in most academic institutions because of financial constraints. There is a need for academic institutions and agrof orestry networks, such as PAFERN and the National Association of Agroforesters of the Philip pines (NAAP), to establish more innovative recruitment, curricular review, and job placement p rograms to make agroforestry education more attractive to students and prospective employers. P AFERN and NAAP should also take the lead to lobby with the local government units (LGUs) to cre ate core positions for agroforestry graduates and provide financial support to implement collaborativ e agroforestry research and extension programs for rural development with learning institutions. A dat abase of essential agroforestry teaching materials and facilities available in the country would facil itate effective and efficient sharing of the same among the learning institutions and ensure the qual ity of teaching agroforestry to students

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