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116. Earth Overshoot Day 2020
The Earth Overshoot Day is defined as the day when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds the Earth's renewable supply capacity. This year, the Earth Overshoot Day for 2020 was moved to the 22nd of August, three weeks later than 2019, as a direct consequence of COVID-19 pandemic and reduction of humanity’s ecological footprint.
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115. Biofuture Platform: Five Principles for Post-COVID Bioeconomy Recovery and Acceleration
On August 12, 2020, the Biofuture Platform, an international initiative with 20 member states aimed at promoting the bioeconomy, in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), launched the five principles that governments should adopt as post-COVID-19 economic recovery measures.
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114. JIRCAS-FFTC International Workshop: Applicable Solutions Against Rice Blast in Asia
An international workshop entitled “Applicable Solutions Against Rice Blast in Asia” will be jointly organized by JIRCAS and the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC) as online conference at 10:00-17:30 (Japan time) on September 18, 2020.
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113. World Bank: Food Security and COVID-19
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank has released a brief providing information and updates on the ever-changing agriculture and food situation, links to World Bank and other resources, and call for collective action to keep food trade flowing between countries.
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112. Food Security: Enabling Trade Across Borders and Food Security in Africa
On August 14, 2020, Food Security published a paper "Enabling trade across borders and food security in Africa." While progress has been made worldwide in efforts to eliminate hunger over the past three decades, Africa still faces food security challenges. This paper attempts to analyze whether the elimination of trade barriers through reductions in documents, time and costs to export and import paperwork will improve food security in Africa.
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111. Food Security COVID-19 Special Issue: Mapping Disruption and Resilience Mechanisms in Food Systems
On August 4, 2020, Food Security published a special issue with articles focusing the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on food security, the resilience mechanisms to such crises, the development of resilient food systems, and the policies to be considered. An opinion article by the Editorial Board entitled “Mapping disruption and resilience mechanisms in food systems” provides an overview and comprehensive analysis on how the current global pandemic is impacting food systems, locally and globally and a series of recommendations intended for policy makers and science leaders.
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110. Nature Climate Change: Current and Future Global Climate Impacts Resulting from COVID-19
On August 6, 2020, a paper entitled "Current and future global climate impacts resulting from COVID-19" was published in Nature Climate Change. According to the authors' analysis using national mobility data, it is estimated that the the cooling effect due to pandemic-driven response such as movement restrictions will be negligible. On the other hand, it is possible to avoid future global warming of 0.3°C by 2050 with an economic recovery geared towards “green” economic stimulus measures and reduction in fossil fuel investments.
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109. Bill Gates ー COVID-19 is awful. Climate change could be worse.
In the August 4, 2020 update of GatesNotes, the blog of Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist said that “COVID-19 is awful. Climate change could be worse”. At the same, he gave an optimistic view that “there are lessons from the current crisis that should guide our response to the next one”.
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108. WorldVeg: Building Momentum for Traditional African Vegetables in Madagascar
The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) is leading a study aimed at understanding the diversity of traditional African vegetables used by Malagasy farmers, assessing their conservation status, and exploring opportunities for income generation and increased consumption. Details of the study supported by the Darwin Initiative are presented in an article by Ritha Luoga and Sognigbe N'Danikou published in the WorldVeg website.
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107. Carbon Brief: 2020 Set to be First or Second Warmest Year on Record
On August 11, 2020, temperatures in excess of 40 degrees were recorded in several places in Japan. The Carbon Brief, a UK-based website covering the latest developments on on climate change, announced on July 30 that 2020 could be the first or second warmest year in history.
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106. World Bank ー Beyond the Pandemic: Harnessing the Digital Revolution to Set Food Systems on a Better Course
On August 6, 2020, the World Bank published an article entitled “Beyond the Pandemic: Harnessing the Digital Revolution to Set Food Systems on a Better Course” addressing the issues on pervasive information asymmetry and transaction costs in vast food systems and the need for transformation to a more comprehensive, resilient and sustainable model.
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105. World Economic Forum: To Counter the COVID-19 Recession, Invest in Food Systems
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) published an article entitled “To counter the COVID-19 recession, invest in the food system” at the World Economic Forum. Three measures have been proposed to stimulate the economy and strengthen the food supply chain: regional economic integration, food security, and strengthening the food system at the regional level.
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104. Science: Ecology and Economics for Pandemic Prevention
On July 24, 2020, the article "Ecology and economics for pandemic prevention" was published in Science Magazine. This paper evaluates the cost of monitoring and preventing disease outbreaks due to extensive loss and fragmentation of tropical forests, and the flourishing wildlife trade. Analysis shows that the costs associated with precautionary measures are far less than the economic and mortality costs associated with countering these pathogens.
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103. Science: COVID-19 Risks to Global Food Security
On July 31, 2020, researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) published a paper entitled “COVID-19 risks to global food security” in Science Magazine. The policy forum article tackles how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic fallout and disruptions to the food supply chain, and discusses critical responses that policy-makers should consider to prevent this global health crisis from becoming a global food crisis.
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102. IFPRI: ebook "COVID-19 & Global Food Security"
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has published an electronic book “COVID-19 & Global Food Security”, tackling the impact of COVID-19 on global poverty, food security, diets and nutrition, labor restrictions and remittances, food trade, supply chains, gender and employment. This e-book also presents policy responses to the pandemic on global food and nutrition security, and provides key insights on the future of pandemics and food systems.
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101. Food Security: Resilient Agri-food Systems for Nutrition Amidst COVID-19
Researchers at the International Potato Center (CIP) published a paper in Food Security entitled “Resilient agri-food systems for nutrition amidst COVID-19: evidence and lessons from food-based approaches to overcome micronutrient deficiency and rebuild livelihoods after crises”. Amidst the uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic, the paper stated that production and market diversification strategies should be prioritized in order to protect food and nutrition security of the world's poor.
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100. About Desert Locust 〜Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
This is the 100th article of this Pick Up, which started in March 2020. While the spread of the new coronavirus is a major problem in the world, the desert locust has also become a major problem in East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and South India. JIRCAS is conducting ecological research to develop a control method for desert locust and we have received many questions about this transboundary insect pest. We have prepared a FAQ on midge grasshoppers, so if you are interested in midge grasshoppers, please click here. -
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99. Highest-ever Temperature of 21.7 Degrees Recorded in the Arctic Svalbard where the Global Seed Vault is Located
On July 26, 2020, AFP reported that Norway’s Arctic archipelago Svalbard, which is located about 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, recorded it’s highest-ever temperature of 21.7 degrees on the 25th of July. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a long-term seed storage facility established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is located in Svalbard Islands and has been storing seeds from around the world since 2008. The climatic conditions that led to a record high temperature this time would affect the maintenance of storage and could threaten the agrobiological base of crop diversity.
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98. The Lancet: 6.7 Million Increase in Child Wasting Due to COVID-19
A commentary article published in the medical journal The Lancet, “Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality”, projected that an additional 6.7 million children will be wasted due to economic, food, and health system disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is widely expected that nutritional status and survival of children particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) will be at risk as income declines sharply, foods with high nutritional value become unavailable, and health, nutrition, and social security services are disrupted. This prediction underscores the need for immediate action and investments from the government and the private sector to protect children's right to nutrition in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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97. The Lancet: Fertility, Mortality, Migration and Population Scenarios for 195 Countries and Territories from 2017 to 2100
The Lancet published a paper “Fertility, mortality, migration, and population scenario for 195 countries and territories from 2017 to 2100: a forecasting analysis for the global burden of disease study” with a lower world population forecast than the estimate of the United Nations. In the reference scenario, the world population was projected to peak at 9.73 billion in 2064 and decline to 8.79 billion (6.83-1.8 billion) in 2100 based on novel methods for forecasting mortality, fertility, migration and population.