To commemorate the 50th anniversary the Africa Rice Center (formerly WARDA) which is one of the CGIAR centers, Field Crops Research (Elsevier), an internationally renowned research journal has published a special issue on "Sustainable productivity enhancement of rice-based farming systems in Africa". Nineteen papers in the special issue were written by researchers at the forefront of research on rice agronomy in Africa, and JIRCAS researchers contributed to two of the papers.

On July 28, the winners of the 7th Niigata International Food Award, which is given to individuals who have devoted themselves to solving problems in the fields of food and agriculture, were announced. Among the five awardees this year, Dr. SAITO Kazuki, an affiliated researcher at JIRCAS, received the 21st Century Hope Prize.

As recently announced in Pick Up, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and JIRCAS will co-host a TICAD 8 side-event “Healthy Soils for Food Security in Africa - Potential of Regenerative Agriculture” online via Zoom on August 5 (Fri), 2022. The poster of the event is now available. Please take a look.

For too long, African agriculture has suffered from chronically low soil fertility and nutrient deprivation, resulting in low agricultural productivity and a food security crisis. Now, more than ever, the need for "healthy soils for healthy crops" is critical to Africa's agricultural development, and on Friday, August 5, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and JIRCAS will co-host an online TICAD 8 side-event "Healthy Soils for Food Security in Africa - Potential of Regenerative Agriculture”. We look forward to your participation.

According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the East African region is currently facing the triple threat of COVID-19, floods and locusts. Although East Africa is home to only about 3% of the world's population, the region also hosts 22 percent of the world’s total number of acutely food-insecure people. It is expected that the socio-economic fallout from the pandemic will be far more devastating than the disease itself due the unemployment of people in the urban areas.