Zoom presentation for young Southeast Asian leaders.

Young leaders gather on Zoom to discuss food security
One of my favorite East-West Center programs brings young leaders from throughout the region together, first in Honolulu, to study and plan natural resource protection projects together. Called Yseali (Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative), the last cohort met in Hawaii beginning in late September.

I got a chance to virtually meet part of this cohort on Friday via Zoom. These young leaders, ages 20-25 and from Laos and Myanmar, weren’t able to come to Hawaii with their peers because of  administration visa policies that blocked their travel here. So, we’re giving them as much of the experience as we can in a virtual setting.

Our Friday session was a discussion of food security in the region, and featured excellent presentations by Jefferson Fellows (see previous posts) Danielle Keeton-Olsen, a reporter in Cambodia, and Leilani Chavez, a journalist in the Philippines. Their presentations paved the way for an interesting discussion of food insecurities in Laos and Myanmar. The Ysealis all overestimated food insecurity in their home countries, which is 30% in Myanmar and 14-20% in Laos, according to the UN. The participants discussed food insecurity’s deep impact on migration and education, as well as the differences between rural and urban areas.

I concluded the session with info on how media report about food issues, especially the tendency to blame hungry individuals rather than the systemic issues that created the problem.

I hope to meet these vibrant young people in person some day.

Magazine on the Way
The December issue of The Peace Journalist magazine is just weeks away. Stay tuned to this space, and to social media (@peacejournalism on Instagram; @PeaceJourn on Twitter/X; on the Facebook peace journalism page) for details.

Fellow Yi-Ning Tzeng, at a special school in Thailand where
kids learn food production skills, including raising chickens

Journalists praise indigenous focus, spirit of Jefferson Fellowship
(Bangkok, Thailand; Jakarta, Indonesia; Honolulu, Hawaii)—The just concluded 2025 Jefferson Fellowship that I helped to coordinate was one of the highlights of my long professional career. Based on the post-program evaluations filled out by the Jeff fellows, I’m not alone in this assessment.

The East-West Center’s Jefferson Fellowship each year takes 10-12 journalists from the Asia Pacific region on a study and reporting tour. This month, the program included 12 journalists who studied and reported about food security from Honolulu; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Chiang Rai and Bangkok, Thailand.

In a discussion on the final day of the program last week, the journalists pointed out the aspects of the study and reporting tour that they most appreciated. At the top of the list was the program’s focus on indigenous food security and production, illustrated by our visits to the He’eia Fishpond in Hawaii and Javara indigenous food production and marketing organization in Indonesia. Others pointed to the fellows’ visit to the World Food Program in Bangkok, to CNN-Indonesia, and to the  APTERR rice reserve in Bangkok as highlights.

In post program surveys, the journalists were effusive in their praise for the 2025 Jefferson Fellowship, and enthused about the quality and quantity of their learning and of the source materials they collected for their reporting.  Fellow Se Eun Gong write, "The fellowship equipped us with the language and conceptual tools for reporting on the topic, but also with ideas and knowledge about who to talk to." Jeff Sabeen Arshad agreed, writing that the speakers and field trips "provided insights info comparative frameworks between the countries of the region, and equipped me to file stories related to food security...in the best way." Fellow Danielle Keaton-Olson praised the program's execution, noting, "I loved how well the program built upon itself structurally and informationally."

Journalist Kate Green at a solemn certificate-
awarding ceremony.

Personally, I couldn’t have enjoyed more my interactions and travel with these fellows, who were consistently lively and entertaining. They were all good travelers—not a whiner in the bunch! The group’s cohesion was gratifying to witness. For example, one of the fellows couldn’t travel to Indonesia and Thailand because of visa issues. The other Jeffs, knowing his disappointment, showered him with gifts purchased abroad which filled up half of one of my suitcases. One Jeff described the environment as “nurturing,” and I couldn’t agree more. 

At the program’s conclusion, I received many heartwarming messages from the fellows, either in person or by text. One such message kindly thanked me for my part in facilitating the fellowship, and added, “It was a terrific experience for me, and I’m happy we got to do it with you.”

Jefferson Fellows, it was a terrific experience for me, too. And I am also happy that I got to do it with all of you.

The 2025 Jefferson Fellows in Chiang Rai, Thailand 

 

Jefferson Fellows explore rice farming techniques in Northern Thailand

 Jefferson Fellows explore food security, policies in Thailand
(CHAING RAI AND BANGKOK, THAILAND)-This year’s Jefferson Fellowship is concluding this week with a fascinating trip to Thailand, where the fellows are learning about food security and seeing a number of best practices up close.

The East-West Center’s Jefferson Fellowship each year takes 10-12 journalists from the Asia Pacific region on a study and reporting tour. The fellows’ previous stops this month were in Honolulu and Jakarta, Indonesia.

During their visit to Chiang Rai and Bangkok, the fellows visited:

--A CP Foundation school where the students learn not only the three R’s but also self sufficiency through raising chickens and selling their eggs;

--Several organizations that work with farmers on sustainable, organic agricultural practices; 

In Northern Thailand, visiting a greenhouse
tended by a local farmer.

--APTERR, which hosts a strategic rice reserve for ASEAN nations plus China, Japan, and South Korea. Since 2011, they’ve distributed 60,000 metric tons of rice to needy countries, primarily Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Cambodia.

--Bangkok Rooftop Farming, which has a large urban farming and compost production facility on top of a shopping mall;

--Farmers who have transitioned from producing opium to producing agricultural products like peaches and coffee. The farmers insist that they make more money now producing coffee than they did with opium. Interesting.

The fellows also visited with UN officials from the Food and Agriculture Organization, where officials emphasized the outsize role of affordability on food security. In this region, 36% can’t afford a healthy diet. We also visited with the World Food Programme in Bangkok, where we heard a fascinating presentation on food security particularly as it relates to refugees and internally displaced persons. In short, there is a malnutrition crisis impacting 1.3 million migrants in the region. The food security situation is especially dire, according to WFP Regional Director Samir Wanmali, when food is used as a weapon of war.

All three stops have been interesting, stimulating, and surprising. Next week, I’ll wrap up my columns on the Jefferson Fellowship with some conclusions and reflections.

Near Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand, journalists interview
a farmer who has switched from growing opium to growing coffee.

 

At the Indonesian rice center, Jefferson Fellows
explore demonstration plots. 

Jefferson Fellows analyze food systems in Indonesia
(Jakarta, Indonesia)-Week two of the 2025 Jefferson Fellowships is in the books. Here in Indonesia, the fellows, 12 journalists from throughout the Asia-Pacific region, continued their reporting about food insecurity.

The program is sponsored by the East-West Center.

We took a number of interesting field trips this week, managing (mostly) to dodge Jakarta’s spirit-crushing traffic.

Among the trip we took were:
--Javara, “an Indonesian social enterprise dedicated to preserving the nation’s food biodiversity and indigenous food culture by introducing them to global markets.” We met the remarkable Helianti Hilman, founder and director. She led us through a cooking demonstration and presentation about Javara’s marketing strategy. 

Arif Ahmad, Indonesian journalist,
demonstrates his cooking skills
at Javara.

--The National Center for Rice Farming Assembly and Modernization, where we learned about efforts to cultivate new rice varieties and introduce them to Indonesian farmers.

--CNN, where we had a revealing discussion about reporting food insecurity. Especially interesting was the discussion about which stories audiences prefer. Not surprisingly, the most-clicked and viewed stories were about the ‘kitchen economy’ that includes food prices and safety.

--The Research Institute for Environment and Climate Change, where the fellows reported about a groundbreaking project called Land4Lives, which is designed to enhance economic and climate resilience of food growers, especially women. They’ve planted kitchen gardens throughout the region which serve as educational hubs for learning about organic farming and healthy diets.

The fellows learned about food systems here from Dr. Ageng Herianto from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who presented the good news that hunger and malnutrition in the region is down, but that more innovation, sound policy, and stronger farms are needed to continue the trend. They also visited the World Food Program offices, where we discussed how WFP supports Indonesian government food programs, including a troubled school lunch program, aimed at eliminating hunger.

Finally, the executive director of an Indonesian development NGO (INFID) spoke to the group about food sovereignty for indigenous communities. Siti Nimah noted the ongoing conflict between the government, which seeks mass production, and indigenous peoples, who prefer to produce on a smaller scale for individual and community needs. He also discussed land rights, and the scourge of palm oil production, which ruins lands that would be better used for indigenous food production.

The fellows are great travel companions—interesting, fun people. And they’ve been consistently on time—something especially important to a neurotic such as myself.

We’re traveling onward to Thailand today for the final leg of the fellowship. Stay tuned for details.

The fellows' CNN-Indonesia visit included a newsroom tour

 

Jefferson Fellows at the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center

Jeffs learn about food systems, research, peace journalism
Peace journalism made its first appearance at the 2025 Jefferson Fellowships this week.

The Jefferson Fellows (Jeffs) are 12 outstanding journalists from the region who are on an East-West Center study and reporting trip to Honolulu this week, then Indonesia and Thailand the following weeks. The theme is food security.

I introduced peace journalism’s principles, then we had a robust discussion about its applicability to reporting about food security. I suggested that PJ could apply in several ways:

1. Lead discussions about solutions to food insecurity
2. No “us vs. them” (food secure vs. insecure; rich vs. poor)
3. Illuminate systemic nature of problem
4. Voice to the marginalized—Empower the food insecure to tell their stories
5. Words/Images-Empathetic, respectful
6. Offer counternarratives—No helpless victims; no individual blame; debunk myths

The Jeffs were fascinated by our field trips this week to the He’eia Fishpond (see previous post); the Hawaii Agricultural ResearchCenter; and the Wai’anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (WCCHC). At the Ag Center in Kailua, they visited research plots and learned about the cultivation of cash crops like cacao and coffee. At WCCHC, the Jeffs learned about the myriad of services the center offers to its community of native Hawaiians, among whom 43% experience food insecurity. These services are provided for youth and seniors, and include an innovative food prescription program to facilitate healthier eating. These food programs offer a “beacon of hope” to the community, according to Alicia Higa, the center’s director. 

We also heard a number of informative presentations this week from University of Hawaii food researchers, state officials (food system planning), and the Hawaii Food Bank, where the Jeffs heard about the concurrent challenges the bank faces. These are an increased demand for food and a simultaneous decrease in federal and SNAP nutrition funding.

The fellows each presented a short research paper on the state of food security in their home regions (Cambodia, Hawaii/US, Indonesia, Taiwan, Mongolia, South Korea, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines).

We’re on our way now for a week of reporting in Indonesia. Stay tuned for details.

At WCCHC, learning about seedlings