On December 6, 2021, JIRCAS, in collaboration with the FAO Liaison Office in Japan, held a successful online symposium on "Fruits and Vegetables – Research and Action Opportunities for Human and Planetary Health”. The symposium introduced the research potential and advanced technologies for fruits and vegetables to contribute to health, development, and the environment. It also highlighted the gaps that exist in the world, particularly in developing regions, and discussed the challenges and areas where research and policy interventions are needed. An archive of the symposium is available on the JIRCAS YouTube channel.

The Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2021 was held under the auspices of the Japanese Government on December 7 and 8, 2021, and the “Tokyo Compact on Global Nutrition for Growth” was issued as the outcome document. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has also issued the “Specific Action Plans for Implementing N4G Compact by Japan's Food Stakeholders”.

Increasing temperatures due to climate change will lead to an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, which may have a tremendous impact on food and nutrition security. On December 17, a workshop on “Effects of Climate Change and the Spread of COVID-19 on Food Supply and Demand: Food Security under Uncertainty” will be held online under the auspices of JIRCAS and the CCFS Society. The workshop will share knowledge on the analysis of agricultural production and markets under climate change and the spread of COVID-19, and discuss food security and climate change preparedness.

In 2021, with the United Nations Food Systems Summit in September and the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit hosted by the Japanese Government on December 7th and 8th, the transformation to build a food system that contributes to human and planetary health is on the global agenda. The key to this transformation is an earth-friendly diet centered on fruits and vegetables. The Symposium “Fruits and Vegetables – Research and Action Opportunities for Human and Planetary Health” is held online today, December 6th, at 4:00 PM JST, to discuss the research potential of vegetables and fruits to contribute to health, development and the environment.

As the host country of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Government of Japan will host the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit on December 7-8, 2021 to promote international efforts to solve malnutrition. In conjunction with this summit, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) will hold a side event to introduce and disseminate Japan's efforts to the world. JIRCAS will participate in 2 sessions of the MAFF side event, Thematic Session 2 “Towards Sustainable Solutions for Nutrition Issues through Food - Food is Local, Wisdom is Global” and the Presentation Session by Stakeholders.

Diversification of production in the food system at the field, farm household, and market levels has the potential to improve the resilience of the food systems to shocks such as climate change, extreme weather events, and market disruptions, according to a recent article published in Nature Food. A recently published article in Nature Food argues that the relationship between food system diversification and resilience depends not only on the local natural environment, but also on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions that define existing agricultural systems, and that trade-offs need to be analyzed. In the symposium to be held online on December 6, we will discuss fruits and vegetables, which are essential for building a sustainable food system for humanity and the planet. Please register and join us!

The Symposium "Fruits and Vegetables– Research and Action Opportunities for Human and Planetary Health" will be held online on December 6 (Monday), as an official side event of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G). We are pleased to announce that the Symposium flyer is now available.

Today, more than 50% of humanity lives in urban areas, and this figure is projected to reach 68% by 2050. Urbanization is a multifaceted process that brings about demographic, biophysical, economic, cultural, and social changes at the global level. A paper recently published in One Earth showed that urbanization is not necessarily a trade-off for agrobiodiversity. For example, with regard to urban and suburban land use, there are approaches that can provide a variety of food products, such as vegetable gardens, orchards and dairy, that contribute to maintaining food and nutritional diversity.

The JIRCAS “Tropical crop genetic resources” project is promoting the development of strategic genetic resources information, breeding technologies, varieties and materials, and cultivation and dissemination technologies based on the problems and research needs of each crop in Japan and overseas, taking advantage of the diverse and abundant genetic resources of tropical crops and the geographical advantage of the subtropical island research facility. In addition, by sharing and providing information and technologies, we aim to strengthen collaboration that will lead to the formation of networks with domestic and overseas research institutions for the advancement of tropical crop genetic resource utilization.