Dr. Nur Abdi, Manager of Agricultural Global Practices of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), visited JIRCAS on August 29, 2019. Dr. Abdi was in Japan in conjunction with the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) held in Yokohama City on August 28-30, 2019. He was accompanied by Mr. Hiroshi Hiraoka, Senior Advisor of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).  The IsDB is an international financial institution headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, providing financial support for economic development of Islamic societies in Islamic and non-Islamic countries.

Dr. Abdi met with JIRCAS executive and research staff. Vice-President Dr. Osamu Koyama gave an overview of the research activities of JIRCAS whereas Program Director Dr. Kazuo Nakashima talked about initiatives of JIRCAS for improvement of rice production in Africa and its contribution to the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD). On the other hand, Dr. Abdi explained about the rice production support program of IsDB for countries such as Senegal, Gambia, Niger, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Among these countries, JIRCAS is conducting joint research with the agricultural research institutes of Senegal and Guinea supported by the IsDB, as well as the African Rice Center, an international agricultural research institution committed to improving livelihoods in Africa through increased rice production. There was an exchange of opinion on the possibility of future cooperation.