PAFERN: Advancing Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research via Networking

Agroforestry education in the Philippines is already 30 years old. While there was interest among the state colleges and universities to offer various agroforestry education programs in the Philippines, these institutions were faced with a number of issues, development needs, and challenges that hindered program implementation.

This article highlights the significant contributions of the Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) in strengthening the quality of agroforestry education in the Philippines. It argues that institutional capacity-building programs of PAFERN made a difference in the current state of agroforestry education in the Philippines. These include building staff capability, establishing learning resources and support facilities, developing institutional linkages, providing access to agroforestry information, and enhancing policy advocacy programs.

PAFERN's experiences in strengthening agroforestry education in the Philippines only prove that creative networking and implementation of need-driven capacity-building programs would help advance a specific field or area of concern. PAFERN should continue providing institutional capacitybuilding programs to sustain its relationships, resources, and relevance in a changing world.