What is 2KR & 2KR Monitoring Network?

We are the 2KR Monitoring Network,

a network of citizens and NGOs that question the Grant Aid for Increased Food Producation (known as 2KR), a scheme of the Japanese Official Development Assistance and advocate reconsidering what it ought to be.
Please read our position paper on this issue
Also our Urgent Statement for details and current discussion.

The 2KR is a part of the bilateral grant aid

to provide agricultural inputs such as pesticides, chemical fertilizers and agricultural machinery. Starting 1977, this aid scheme provides the agricultural inputs approximately equivalent to 20 billion yen for more than 40 countries in each financial year.

In 1993, the pesticide assistance to Cambodia as a part of the 2KR was terminated due to the opposition of the civil society organizations that pointed out the hazardous effects of pesticides. Article on this

Yet, this pesticide assitance to the other countries has never halted nor even reviewed without. The 2KR assistance continues to add the problems to the recipient countries by providing the excess amount of pesticides and fertilizers that are sometimes not suitable for the local food production at all and thus become obsolete without being used. Reference on this

Especially, African countries have sufferred by the shift of the recipient area from Asisa where the civic monitoring is more severe. Interestingly, although 68% of the 2KR aid to Asia was Fertilizers, 48% of the aid to Africa was Pesticides in 1993.
Some obvious problems cause by 2KR will be found in Mozambique.

Also this scheme has been criticized both domestically and internationally for its unclear process of tenders.

One of the specific feature of this aid (this applies to some other chemes of the Japanese Grant Aid Assistance) is to require the counter(-part) fund ("Mikaerishikin" in Japanese) to be accumulated by the recipient government through the sales of the 2KR materials and to be invested in social development of the recipient country.

However, this system has also been criticized for being a possible cause of the corruption in recipient governments and creat debt for local farmers.
For more explanations on the structural probelms on this aid

We Want Better & Sustainable Aid!

Currently, we are carrying out all kinds of activities such as networking local and International NGOs in the recepient countries, Japanese NGOs and citizens and International Agencies; advocating the Japanese government; investigating each case, based on the governmental documents and other resources and so on. Our WSSD Parallel Event

It is not our intention to deny everything for our political aim. We simplly wish the Japanese ODA to be more transparent, responsible, effective, sustainable, grass-rooted, harmless, meaningful and participantry! That is very, very difficult in Japan. However, we already see some change (although very small yet better) in the policy of the Japanese government on ODA.
Please let us creat a partnership with you for better cooperation and better world!