Strengthening function as an international hub for providing strategic information on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and mobilizing new research partnerships
As record-breaking heat continues across Japan and around the world, the free online video “2050 Weather Forecast (Ver. 2),” was released at 1:00 p.m. on August 3. The video was produced by the 2050 Weather Forecast Production Committee, in which NHK Enterprises serves as one of the lead organizations. Dr. HASEGAWA Toshihiro, President of the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), contributed to the project as an expert on food security issues.
From April 9 to 10, 2026, the “First ASEAN Consultation Workshop and Capacity Building: Development of Regenerative and Resilient Agriculture Systems Implementation Plan and Biochar Guidelines,” an event co-hosted by the ASEAN Secretariat and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), was held in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) participated in the workshop at the invitation of the ASEAN Secretariat.
According to new data from WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, 25 countries, home to one-quarter of the global population, face extremely high water stress each year. These countries regularly use up almost their entire available renewable water supply. At least half of the world’s population, or around 4 billion people, lives under highly water-stressed conditions for at least one month of the year.
While insufficient vegetable intake has become a global health concern, the diversity of vegetable species, varieties, and crop wild relatives that support our diets is also being lost. A Perspective published in PNAS argues that conserving vegetable biodiversity and linking it to breeding, school meals, local markets, and policy can be key to improving nutrition and building food systems resilient to climate change.
On 21 August 2026, the UK Met Office reported that the El Niño event currently developing could become an exceptional event, unprecedented in recent decades and possibly the largest since the 19th century. According to the Met Office forecast, sea-surface temperatures in the Nino3.4 region, one of the key indicators used to assess the strength of El Niño, may exceed 3°C above average in the coming months.
The Thailand National Science and Technology Fair 2026 (NST Fair 2026), one of the country's largest science and technology events, opened on August 15. The fair runs through August 23 and typically attracts around 200,000 students and members of the public each year.
Progress toward food systems transformation is generally off track for 2030, with major gaps remaining in food security, access to healthy diets, and the reduction of environmental impacts.