2The World Bank announced on April 8, 2020 that due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the economic growth rate in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is projected to decline from 2.4 percent in 2019 to -2.1 to -5.1 percent in 2020, the first recession in the region in 25 years. Countries that depend on oil and minerals exports such as Nigeria, South Africa and Angola, and countries with strong value chain participation such as Ethiopia and Kenya, will be particularly hit hard. In addition, exports and movement regulations will also affect the agricultural production and is expected to contract between 2.6 to 7%. The World Bank, with the support of the SSA governments, has called for the need to avoid the outbreak of an African food crisis associated with COVID-19. Through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), Japan has taken the position of strongly supporting development in Africa, the fastest-growing frontier of the 21st century, in cooperation with the public and private sectors.

April 7, 2020 marks the 26th year since the genocide which is claimed to have killed more than 500,000 people in about 100 days in Rwanda, a landlocked country in Africa. During this time, investment in the tourism industry, ICT and urban infrastructure has been remarkable, the medical field is often praised as a model to follow in Africa, making Rwanda the success story for post-conflict reconstruction. Regarding the new coronavirus (COVID-19), the Rwandan government took advantage of the experience of controlling Ebola infection in the previous year, and once again quickly strengthened the check system and started a lockdown. In Rwanda, small-scale agriculture is still at the core of the economy. Under the excessive population pressure that far exceeds Japan's population density, agricultural land is being fragmented and narrowed, and sustainable cultivation techniques and systems are required. At the same time, the rural areas in Rwanda also face nutritional challenges and it is necessary to introduce a variety of foods to improve the diet of the people.

On April 2, 2020, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) expressed strong concern that food insecurity levels in the central Sahel region, encompassing Burkina Faso, Mari and Niger, are “spiralling out of control”. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries, the 182nd out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index, but due to recent droughts and militant activities, the number of internally displaced persons has increased sharply, health centers nationwide have been closed, and the medical system is weakening. As for food-related issues, there is concern that school closure due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will affect children whose only source of nutrition is the school lunch, and movement restrictions would disrupt logistics and prevent external assistance. WFP predicted that by June this year, the number of people facing food security crises could triple, compared to the same period last year, and called on the international community for help.

The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was confirmed in December 2019, is now sweeping the whole world. The expansion in low-income countries with vulnerable heath care systems including the Sub-Saharan Africa may further worsen the global food and nutrition security crisis in addition to the social and humanitarian crisis in the future. On the night of March 26, 2020, the leaders of 20 countries and regions (G20), including Japan, USA, EU, and emerging countries, held the G20 Summit Video Teleconference Meeting, the first in history of the summit, to respond to the new coronavirus and to deal with the economic impact of the pandemic. In particular, the G20 leaders expressed serious concerns about the crisis facing the developing with vulnerable health systems and economies especially in Africa and the small island states, and a commitment to use all available policy tools in order to minimize the economic and social damage from the pandemic.

In 2019, the world’s leading international organizations warned that climate change and environmental degradation are progressing more than expected. Along with the negative impact of environmental degradation and climate change on agriculture, it should be noted that agriculture is one of the major contributors to these global problems. Agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) activities accounted for 23% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and changes in these activities are also major causes of loss of biodiversity. In order to achieve food and nutrition security while avoiding irreversible risks in the future, it is necessary to develop and disseminate AFOLU to minimize the negative impacts on climate change and the environment. JIRCAS aims to realize sustainable integration of agriculture and contribute to climate change issues through technological development that improves productivity while sustainably and stably utilizing agricultural resources such as water, soil and fertilizer.

The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, known worldwide as a miracle of nature, is surrounded by fields with high salinity and barren lands devoid of major crops. Quinoa is an extremely rare crop that grows in such a severe environment and has recently attracted attention as a “superfood”. It is also one of the so-called “orphan crops” which receives less attention in terms of breeding. JIRCAS is embarking on a project aimed at developing improved and high value-added quinoa varieties and clarifying the mechanism of crops that adapt to severe environment and climate conditions in order to gain insights into breeding strategies as countermeasures against climate change.

The desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, is now raging across East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian-Pakistan border, causing serious damage to crops and serious food crisis. This locust affects almost 10% of the world's population and 20% of the earth’s surface and annual damage of more than 40 billion yen in West Africa alone. Currently, it is feared that the new coronavirus epidemic will greatly hinder support activities in affected countries. JIRCAS is utilizing its vast experience in research collaboration with overseas partners in order to understand the ecology of desert locust in the field and to develop a sustainable management and control system that promotes environmental conservation.