Global trade relies heavily on agricultural commodities, such as grain and cotton, and mineral resources, such as copper, which is essential to the electronics industry. However, over-reliance on these commodities poses serious risks to economies, particularly those with high poverty rates, by exposing them to the vagaries of market shocks. This over-reliance on commodity-based exports, especially when they account for more than 60% of a nation's export earnings, creates a critical dilemma for developing countries. A recent report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) outlined five key challenges associated with commodity dependence and its impact on economic development.

While the international community is busy responding to conflicts and climate change, Mother Earth faces many challenges in feeding a global population that is expected to reach approximately 10 billion people by 2050. Scientific and technological innovations in production and changes in consumption habits are key to providing more nutritious food to more people with minimal environmental impact.environmental impact.

Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable sectors to disaster risk. On October 13, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a report on the impact of disasters on agriculture, estimating that $3.8 trillion in crop and livestock production has been lost worldwide over the past 30 years. The report estimates that $3.8 trillion in crop and livestock production has been lost worldwide over the past 30 years.

Modern agricultural production systems rely heavily on chemicals, including fertilizers to increase yields and pesticides to control pests. A paper published in Nature Food discusses the environmental impact of pesticides in Europe and their short- and long-term losses and impacts on food and feed security, and the need to address research and policy bottlenecks for a more sustainable food system by recognizing differences in pesticide use by farmers, regions and crops, and by improving data collection on pesticide use.

At the nexus of food security, climate change, rural livelihoods, and environmental sustainability there have been calls to leverage the potential of high-yielding Neglected and underutilised plant species (NUS) that are climate-robust and nutrient-rich.  On October 26, the University of Tokyo's Center for Future Vision and JIRCAS will hold a hybrid seminar on NUS to provide a forum for scientists engaged in NUS research abroad and in Japan to discuss the characteristics, potential and challenges of adopting and utilizing NUS in different African contexts.  

Temperatures have been fluctuating wildly since the beginning of October, and it has been announced that Japan and the rest of the world recorded much higher than normal temperatures in September 2023. One Earth's article discusses areas such as non-CO2 gases, carbon dioxide removal (CDR), and halting deforestation that need to be addressed in order to achieve the Paris Agreement.

On October 3, Virginia Tech released its Global Agricultural Productivity Report (GAP Report), which highlights the need to achieve an average global agricultural productivity increase of 1.91% per year through the adoption of productivity and efficiency-enhancing technologies and practices to feed a growing world population while preserving the environment.

Over the past few decades, global food security indicators have improved, driven by the economic boom in China. Africa, however, still faces the same challenges of hunger and malnutrition as it did decades ago. To accelerate change to solve the problem, the continent itself must change, as discussed in this article on the African food system published in Nature Food.

Research on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from paddy fields and its mitigation started in the 1980s, and a great deal of knowledge has been accumulated so far. Although meta-analyses have achieved success to synthesize fragmentary knowledge, it has been two decades since GHG emissions from paddy fields were comprehensively reviewed. Therefore, JIRCAS together with international research experts, especially those from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, revisited the the mitigation of GHG emissions from paddy fields and published a comprehensive review paper from Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.