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485. Addressing the Global Challenge of Malnutrition ~ Contributions from the JIRCAS Information Program

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JIRCAS publishes a bulletin in Japanese called “Koho JIRCAS”, which introduces the activities of JIRCAS staff. This article introduces an excerpt from the latest issue focusing on our efforts to address the global challenge of malnutrition. For more details, please refer to the Koho JIRCAS link.

About one in ten people in the world is undernourished. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of hungry people has increased by more than 100 million. In addition to energy deficiency, micronutrient deficiency and overnutrition are also major problems. With the world's population expected to approach 10 billion by 2050, we are faced with the critical question of how to feed an ever-growing population in a healthy manner.

A long time ago, the issue of food was “how to produce rice, wheat, and other staple crops more efficiently and in large quantities”. Even now, increasing production is of course important, but there are many other issues that need to be considered. It has been pointed out that the current food system is not able to supply a healthy diet and is also bad for the environment, and it is recommended to drastically change agricultural production and dietary habits on a global scale. Even so, it will be ineffective if we do not come up with measures that match the actual conditions of the region.

We are conducting interviews with farmers in rural areas to understand their food supply and nutritional status. We also publish topics related to international agriculture, forestry and fisheries research on our website. Last year, 2021, was a very important year for the food system and nutrition, as the UN Food Systems Summit and the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit were held. We are making efforts to increase awareness on food and nutrition issues by taking advantage of these international forums for discussion, event planning and seminar lectures.

Under the slogan “Together for our food and planetary health”, JIRCAS aims to create a world where people's health and the sustainability of the Earth are compatible. Let's all work together towards that kind of future!
 

 

Reference

Shiratori S. (2022) Introduction of research activities at JIRCAS (In Japanese) Koho JIRCAS, Vol 9 pp 4-7. https://www.jircas.go.jp/sites/default/files/publication/jircas/jircas9…

Contributor: SHIRATORI Sakiko (Information and Public Relations Office)
 

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