2022.11.12 SAT

13:00 - 14:30

Sustainable agriculture and Food security projects by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan

Organizer

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Seminar abstract

At the beginning of the seminar, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) introduced the outline of the "Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems, MeaDRI." The seminar speakers introduced their efforts to contribute to climate change countermeasures to the approximately 100 participants, including reports on research trends in decarbonization technologies such as intermittent irrigation technology to reduce methane emissions from rice paddies and BNI-enhanced crops that can maintain productivity with less nitrogen fertilizer, and efforts to improve productivity using digital technology in Africa. The presentation was made to approximately 100 participants.

Speakers

【Local Speakers】

• GODA Makoto（Nippon Biodiesel Fuel） CEO
• Rosário Avelino Timóteo（Nampula State Agricultural Extension Office and Farm Management） Supervisor of the Agrarian Extension Network in Ribaue district
• Oyewole Oluropo Babafemi（All Africa Farmers Organization） CEO

【Online Speakers】

• MINAMIKAWA Kazunori（JIRCAS） Senior Researcher
• YOSHIHASHI Tadashi（JIRCAS） Project Leader
• ISHITANI Manabu（CIAT） Senior Scientist
• ODACHI Aiko（Nippon Biodiesel Fuel） Director
• Abudulhamid Gambo（Sasakawa Africa Association） Deputy Country Director

Session Summary

This seminar was titled " Sustainable agriculture and Food security projects by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan," and introduced research results on sustainable agriculture by Japanese research institutes and efforts by Japanese companies to support the construction of food value chains.
The seminar consisted of two parts. In the first part, three lecturers presented their research results under the theme of "Agricultural Innovation for Climate Change Mitigation."
(1) In Dr. Minamikawa’s lecture, there was a presentation on intermittent irrigation technology for paddy fields that is effective in reducing greenhouse gases. He explained a method that leads to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by using the method of periodically discharging water from paddy fields. (2) In Dr. Yoshihashi’s lecture, there was a presentation on biological nitrification inhibition (BNI)-enabled wheat and corn that can maintain yields even when fertilizer is reduced. (3) Dr. Ishitani’s presentation on BNI-tropical forage concludes that well-managed tropical forage and productive grasslands are important to reduce GHG emissions.
In the second part, a lecture focusing on “food security” and a panel discussion were held on the theme of food security with Africans who involved in agriculture. In the lecture, Mr. Goda of Nippon Biodiesel Fuel. shared the current status of a digital platform (AGROPONTO) that enables joint sales and joint purchases as an initiative to improve agricultural productivity in the African region using digital technology. As for the current situation, it was explained that farmers are difficult to access the platform due to weak infrastructure and lack of interaction between farmers, and a proposal was made to link the use of renewable energy and individual IDs to the platform. In the panel discussion, Mr. Goda and Mr. Odachi from Nippon Biodiesel Fuel Co., Ltd., and Dr. Babafemi, Dr. Gambo, and Mr. Rosario, who are involved in agriculture on the African side, shared the current status of digital technology utilization in areas where AGROPONTO has been introduced. AGROPONTO leads to the organization of small and medium-sized farmers, countermeasures against unfair low-price transactions, sharing of weather information and appropriate harvest times, etc., leading to the establishment of food security.

Event Materials

• Seminar promotional posters

Message and Results

[General]

• ・Seminar participants: (local) 65 + (online) 149 = (total) 214
• ・Number of respondents to the post-seminar questionnaire: 60

[Questionnaire answers after the seminar]

• ・Satisfaction: extremely Satisfied (20%) and satisfied (52%) = 72%, dissatisfied (8%) and exteremly dissatisfied (3%) = 11%
• ・Reasons of satisfied
  Very relevant topics. Learning a lot. The lectures were clear, etc.
• ・Reasons of disatisfied
  There were operational troubles. I wanted to hear more about the content of the lectures.

[Suggestion for future seminar]

• ・All lecturer should be on site. It is better for the secretariat to monitor the distribution status.

Website of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Japan