70 years of partnership: Japan’s unwavering commitment to development and future

By Akihiko Tanaka

October 6, 2024 is a significant milestone for Japan. It marks 70 years since the country’s commencement of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 1954. Over these seven decades, as a major global partner, Japan has extended its cooperation programmes to 190 countries and regions, contributing to their economic and social development as well as peace and prosperity in the global community.

Japan’s international cooperation efforts began in parallel with the payment of post-war reparation to Asian states, the aim at this point being to rebuild trust within the international community. Starting with providing technical training programmes to Asian states and expanding its cooperation initiatives, Japan has become one of the leading bilateral development partners in the world.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is responsible for administrating Japan’s ODA, offering a wide variety of cooperation programmes, including finance and investment cooperation, technical cooperation, and other services, including emergency aid and the dispatch of volunteers.

In synergy with the domestic initiatives of recipient countries, JICA’s cooperation programmes such as those for infrastructure and human resources development, have laid a solid foundation for their advancement. In Kenya, for example, the Mombasa Port Development Projects facilitated by JICA’s loans have been a cornerstone of Kenya’s economic growth and regional trade. By expanding and modernising the port’s infrastructure, the projects have increased its handling capacity to meet rising cargo demands, driving economic growth and strengthening regional connectivity to accommodate the growing trade needs of neighbouring countries, positioning Mombasa as a regional trade hub.

Another prominent example is JICA’s agricultural cooperation, which aims to enhance agricultural production and improve livelihoods of farmers by increasing their income from agriculture. Since 1986, JICA has supported the Mwea Irrigation Schemes in Kenya to boost rice production through infrastructure expansion – such as the construction of Thiba Dam, canals, and drainage facilities – and technical assistance for the development and promotion of innovative rice cultivation techniques. JICA’s enduring support has expanded rice production areas and improved Kenya’s self-sufficiency, enhancing food security.

Additionally, JICA’s Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) project has empowered small-scale farmers, increasing their incomes by up to 70 percent. The SHEP Approach, which originated from Kenya, has been successfully upscaled across the country and over 60 other nations globally, aiming to improve the livelihoods of millions of farmers.

It has been the fundamental principle of JICA to respect ownership and self-help efforts of the partner country, and to put strong emphasis on unwavering commitments with a long-term vision.

JICA highly values people-to-people interactions, bringing strengths together through dialogue, rather than unilateral transfer of technology and knowledge. This approach enables JICA to offer solutions tailored to local contexts and develop human resources necessary for sustainable growth. The approach also deepens mutual understanding and trust, thereby strengthening bilateral relations between JICA’s partner countries and Japan.

Despite the significant efforts by the international communities, many global challenges remain unresolved. Issues such as climate change, armed conflict, pandemics, natural disasters, economic crises, and other threats, have become more complex and interlinked, leading to compound crises. A UN report warns that only 17 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are on track to be achieved, with only six years remaining to the target year (2030).

Kenya has been grappling with multifaceted crises, facing simultaneous challenges relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, economic difficulties, and climate-related disasters. These intertwined issues have significantly impacted the nation’s economy, food security, and overall well-being. The international community needs to work harder and more closely than ever to overcome the multiple crises.

In response to the changing global landscape, the Government of Japan revised its Development Cooperation Charter in June 2023 to update its development cooperation to be implemented in a more effective and strategic manner. In the revised charter, human security is positioned as the guiding principle that underlies all of Japan’s development cooperation. Human security refers to a state in which people, as individuals, are free from fear and want, and can live with dignity. In the midst of this compounded crises, many people find their human security threatened. Critically vulnerable people in developing countries are the most seriously affected.

JICA Kenya assists the Government of Kenya in implementing projects that support sustainable development, enhance resilience against climate change, and empower vulnerable people, including refugees. The projects are in agriculture, renewable energy, circular economy, transportation, industry, safe water supply, education, and healthcare. Additionally, there are efforts to prioritise empowering women and girls fostering gender equality and a “gender-based violence-free society”, economic opportunities, and access to essential services. JICA is further committed to ensuring human security by its efforts for poverty eradication through quality growth.

To achieve these goals, JICA is evolving its cooperation programme to engage diverse actors and facilitate collaborative work in development efforts. There are enormous unresolved development issues, and many of them remain without clear solutions.

The complexity of the development challenges requires innovative solutions that emerge from collaborations among the public sector, private sector, academia, and other stakeholders. In addition, it is not the exclusive role of developed countries to lead global transformations, as many developing countries have experienced remarkable economic progress and start-ups from these nations have entered the global market. Given this situation, one of the critical keys to accelerating efforts to address development issues is our function as a catalyst for collaboration to harness the wisdom and technology of these diverse sectors.

JICA offers a diverse portfolio of human resource development programmes in Kenya, that foster collaboration, co-creation, and capacity building. The scholarship programmes, including the ABE Initiative for the youth, JDS scholarship programme for future governments’ policy leaders, amongst others, support research and knowledge sharing to address complex development challenges.

Furthermore, JICA’s Project NINJA (Next Innovation with Japan), launched in 2020 in Kenya, fosters innovation and entrepreneurship to address local and global challenges. It has successfully facilitated partnerships, promoted cross-cultural collaboration, and contributed to the development of innovative solutions through its first cycle in Kenya, which ended in March 2024. JICA continues to engage Kenyan entrepreneurial ecosystem through continued efforts in private sector development initiatives.

Building reciprocal relationships through continuous dialogues with partner countries to create solutions is a strong tradition of Japan’s cooperation, and JICA is ready to advance co-creation by leveraging the tradition. 

JICA’s vision is “Leading the World with Trust”. Our development cooperation has focused on human security, equal partnerships, and self-ownership by developing countries. We are committed to continued cooperation with developing countries and like-minded partners. In a world of disruptions, it is important to maintain the values we consider essential, and that we respond to new challenges in a new way together, building on the trust that Japan has built over the years.

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Akihiko Tanaka is the JICA President