The Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Dr. Daniel Gustafson, visited JIRCAS on January 23, 2020 and held discussions with JIRCAS President Dr. IWANAGA Masa, executive staff and researchers. Pres. Iwanaga talked about priority areas in agricultural research that FAO and JIRCAS are commonly addressing towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on global food and nutrition security, climate action, and responding to transboundary pests.

As an example of JIRCAS research activities in developing countries, Dr. TSUJIMOTO Yasuhiro (Senior Researcher, Crop, Livestock and Environment Division) introduced the SATREPS project in Madagascar. He also talked about the technologies under development in this project and the capacity building of local research institutes, and possible cooperation with FAO in disseminating the research results. Dr. Gustafson expressed interest in research activities in developing countries particularly in the strategic target countries of JIRCAS.