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Comments by Selection Committee Chair

Takashi Shiraishi

The Asian Neighbors Network Program, which branched off from the Research Grant Program in fiscal 2003, was reestablished with minor changes in focus in fiscal 2009 as the Asian Neighbors Program.

Perhaps the most significant change was the decision to invite applications from problem-solving projects throughout Asia under a new theme: "Toward Community Formation Based on Mutual Reliance and Collaboration." Applicants were encouraged to approach issues from the perspectives of "relationships with nature" and "relationships with people: culture and social systems." This fiscal year, two types of grant were available: regular grants (up to ¥8 million) and small-scale grants (up to ¥2 million). Applicants could choose to apply for one or the other, depending on the scale of the proposed project. The aim of this grant program is to support practical activities; for this reason, academic-run proposals with a strong research focus were forwarded to the Research Grant Program that was accepting applications at the same time, in order to maintain a distinction between the two programs.

We received 313 applications this fiscal year, compared to 241 the previous year the second consecutive year in which the number of applications has increased. One noteworthy aspect of this year's application pool was that non-Japanese applicants (189) outnumbered Japanese applicants (124) for the first time. There were 138 Japanese and 103 non-Japanese applicants in fiscal 2008. The low selection rate for overseas projects last year just 3 out of 14 projects selected was something that the program was eager to address this year. The effect of the decision by the program administrators to put increased energy and resources into holding application workshops and publicizing the program overseas was clearly reflected in the figures.

After a rigorous evaluation process, the selection committee recommended 23 projects (18 regular and 5 small-scale) for grants to the Board of Directors. Of these, 10 were applications from overseas.

Now that the selection process is over, it is the opinion of the selection committee that the decision to call for practical, solution-oriented proposals led to an increase in applications from concrete projects with their feet planted firmly on the ground. At the same time, some committee members were of the view that there were fewer truly interesting and original proposals than in previous years. Revisions made to the program in fiscal 2009 were designed first to clarify the objectives of the program and second to define more clearly the areas eligible for grants. However, it may well be that these revisions had the unintended effect of discouraging adventurousness in some applicants. Finding ways to encourage more interesting and original proposals while still maintaining the basic aims of the program is therefore a key issue for the future, and the selection committee hopes that the program's administrators will give serious thought to this question in time for next year's application process.

Some applications came across as somewhat self-absorbed, failing to give adequate consideration to the dissemination of results and the potential for future development. In the project area "relationships with nature," in particular, a number of proposals had clearly given careful consideration to ecological sustainability, but focused too narrowly on the region in which they proposed to work and failed to give sufficient attention to such obvious factors as the role of the market. It is to be hoped that next year will see a greater number of applications from ambitious, imaginative projects with a clear vision of long-term sustainability.

A brief account follows of one project selected for a grant this fiscal year from each of the program fields.

(1) Relationships with Nature: Improvement of Rural Livelihoods in Bangladesh Through a Community Participation Approach Using the Integration of Rice-Duck Farming Methods (Regular grant, ¥4 million, 2 years)
Shaikh Tanveer Hossain; The greater number of applications received from outside Japan this year was presumably due to the decision to increase publicity activities overseas. In particular, efforts were made to publicize the program in South Asia, where the profile of the foundation had been low in the past. We received a large number of applications from this region, including this project from Bangladesh. Many Bangladeshi farming families struggle economically because of the need to buy pesticides and chemical fertilizers for their farms. This project aims to alleviate the problem by introducing a system of organic rice farming in which aigamo (Japanese for crossbreed of mallards and domestic ducks) are used as a natural form of weed and pest control. Although this was far from being the most ambitious proposal we received, the issue is an important one, and we believe that the project has a good chance of achieving its aims. Another point in the project's favor was that its results might easily be replicated in other regions.

(2) Culture: Silver Butterfly Project: Construction of a Network for Overcoming Narcotic Damage through the Folk Wisdom of the Lisu People in Northern Thailand (Small-scale grant, ¥2 million, 2 years)
Masao Ayabe; This is an experimental project that will work with children from the Lisu hill tribe in Thailand whose lives have been blighted by drug addiction. The project aims to use traditional music and dance to teach children about the wisdom of their ancestors, bringing happiness back into their lives and restoring their sense of human dignity.
The project was recommended for a grant as a small-scale project. Project leader Masao Ayabe is an anthropologist who previously worked on the "Construction of the Sanaam Rung Arun Meta-Network for Hill Tribes in Thailand" project supported by the Asian Neighbors Network Program in fiscal 2007 (under project leader Seiji Ohsawa). It was during this earlier project that Ayabe met the team members who will work with him in Thailand over the next two years. A frequent criticism leveled at anthropologists and other researchers in social sciences and regional studies in recent years has been that they tend to become self-absorbed and trapped within the confines of their own discipline. But this is scholarly suicide. It is to be hoped that more academics will be inspired to interact directly with society in a variety of ways, and that they will be more active in devoting their energies to finding and solving problems in the way this project aims to do, thus making a positive contribution to society through their work.

(3) Social Systems: Mekong Vocabulary on Labor Migration: Promoting a Common Understanding and Building a Network for Safe Migration in the Greater Mekong Subregion (Regular grant, ¥8 million, 2 years)
Jacqueline Pollock; Believing that the standardization of immigration law, labor law, and qualifications is essential to solving the problems faced by migrant workers in the greater Mekong subregion, this project aims to standardize immigrant law terminology throughout the region, and to provide an English translation of the immigration laws of each country. The movement of peoples across national borders in continental Southeast Asia is increasing rapidly, and the problems faced by both legal and illegal migrant workers are already a serious issue throughout the region. The project approaches these burning issues strategically through language and the legal system, and can be expected to produce real and lasting effects in the region for years to come.

In closing, I would like to touch briefly on the decision to omit the word "network" from the title of the program this year. As the program outline made clear, the importance of network building continued to be one of our underlying assumptions throughout the evaluation process. In that sense, the selection committee is well aware of the importance of networks. However, experience in previous years has shown that it is not desirable for network building to become an end unto itself. Network building should be a means of achieving a concrete solution to a problem. With this in mind, it was decided to omit the word "network" from the title.

The Asian Neighbors Program has been constantly adapting and refining its role since it was launched as the Asian Neighbors Network Program in 2003. It is our sincere hope that steady and purposeful management of the program in the years to come will enable it to contribute to society through its grants by helping to identify and solve the problems facing people throughout Asia.