On Friday, June 12, 2026, Project Leader NAKAMURA Satoshi and Senior Researcher Papa Saliou Sarr (both from the Crop, Livestock and Environment Division) paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Mr. Jean Antoine Diouf, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Senegal to Japan, at the Embassy of Senegal in Tokyo. During the visit, they introduced a new research collaboration between JIRCAS and the Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles), and exchanged views on the outline of joint research activities and future prospects.

The heads of 5 agricultural research institutes from Africa, namely, Dr. Famoï Béavogui, Director of Agricultural Research Institute of Guinea (IRAG); Dr. Alioune Fall, Director of Senegal Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA); Dr. Joseph G. Mureithi, Deputy Director of Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO); and Dr. Robert B. Zougmore, African Regional Leader of the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), together with Dr. Regina Sagoe West, Senior Researcher at Crop Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) and Coordinator of West African Agricultural Production Program (WAAPP) of the International Research Center for Semiarid Tropical Crops (ICRISAT), visited JIRCAS on August 28, 2017.

JIRCAS President, Dr. Masa Iwanaga met with Dr. Harison Edmond Randriarimanana, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock of the Republic of Madagascar, and Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Equipment of Senegal at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo on October 6-7, 2018.