Connecting the Future through Food: Co-creation Between Africa and Tohoku University
On April 26th, GP-Food and Tohoku Forum for Creativity held a public lecture, titled “Connecting the Future through Food: Co-creation Between Africa and Tohoku University.” The public lecture was held both online and offline at Tokyo Electron House of Creativity, Katahira Campus, Tohoku University. This lecture was a follow-up event from a chain of thematic programs revolving around the theme of “Designing Foods for the Future,” which has been going on since 2024.
The event started with opening remarks by Professor Asako Sugimoto, the Executive Vice President of Tohoku University. The Executive Vice President emphasized the importance and the need for collaborative effort between Tohoku University and Africa, especially in solving the current food issue in Africa, and thinking about the food of the future.
The next speaker was Professor Tomonori Nochi from the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University. Professor Nochi introduced the theme program, “Designing Foods for the Future,” which is a theme that was held as an effort to provide some answers to the various problems we have in the modern world regarding food. These problems include complex issues of population growth, global environmental change, the spread of infectious diseases, and food insecurity. Professor Nochi stressed how international and interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to provide a fresh eye and a new way to solve these problems.
This event was continued with a lecture on ”Improving Rice Productivity in Africa: Current Situation and Challenges” by Dr. Eustadius Francis Magezi, from the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University. This lecture covered the need to improve rice productivity in Africa to fulfill the increasing demand due to population growth. Dr. Magezi reviewed some of the technology and techniques currently commonly used, such as fertilizers, irrigation, agricultural machinery, and various modern rice varieties. In the future, he also highlighted the urgency of establishing sustainable rice farming technology based on scientific evidence.
The third speaker, Mr. Shotaro Kikuchi, the Director of the Sasakawa Africa Foundation’s Business Division, also expressed the significance of promoting sustainable farming efforts. His lecture, “Popularization of Environmentally Regenerative Agriculture in Africa,” explores the concept of regenerative agriculture, an agricultural technology that improves productivity and adds to soil restoration and ecosystem rehabilitation. The concept of regenerative agriculture was initially developed as a response to the problems of declining productivity due to soil degradation and climate change. Mr. Kikuchi explained some examples of regenerative agriculture, such as the practice of using cover crops. He introduced the findings of studies exploring the results of the effort to promote technology extension in agriculture. He concluded his lecture by stating the role of NGOs in the practical application in the field; however, cooperation with academia is crucial to promote a science-based approach.
After a short break, the event continued with a lecture by Dr. Yemisi Dorcas Obafemi from Covenant University, Nigeria. The topic of this lecture was “Innovative Approaches to Food Security: Lessons from the Covenant–Tohoku University Future Food Project.” In this lecture, Dr. Obafemi explores the world of fermented food in Nigeria, and the possibility of its development as a functional food, mainly to prevent diarrhea in children. Currently, Dr. Obafemi is engaged in joint research with Tohoku University, screening the various lactic acid bacteria in Nigerian traditional fermented food, to identify indigenous lactic acid bacteria that have health-improving benefits and elucidating their mechanism of action.
The last speaker was Professor Gideon Obare, who gave a lecture on the topic “Enhancing Global Food Security: Strengthening Japan–Africa Partnerships for Transforming Agriculture Value Chains.” Professor Obare spoke about the structural challenges of food security in Africa and the potential for collaboration between Japan and Africa to address these challenges. He addressed issues such as yield reduction, economic loss, and gender disparity due to climate change. Professor Obare emphasized that improving women’s access to agricultural resources, particularly, can contribute to productivity and economic development. Professor Obare underlined the importance of introducing climate change-responsive technologies, developing gender-sensitive technologies, and building long-term community-led partnerships as a way to move forward into the future.
Finally, Professor Haruki Kitazawa, Dean of the Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences and Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, gave closing remarks. He spoke about the successful completion of the theme program in 2024 and how, based on this, the Faculty of Agriculture and the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, while promoting research to solve food problems, will promote collaborative creation with universities in the African region. This collaborative creation will aim to contribute to society by implementing and integrating research-based findings into field applications.
GP-Food students who wished to participate also joined the event, making it a valuable opportunity to broaden their international perspectives through discussions with the speakers.
