MANILA / Philippines, 22 June 2025: In a bold move to combat growing food insecurity driven by climate change, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has launched the CGIAR Asia Pacific Hub, a regional platform to accelerate climate-resilient agricultural innovation across South and Southeast Asia.
The newly launched Hub is designed to coordinate research and tailor global agricultural breakthroughs to the region’s unique environmental and socio-economic realities. The initiative is especially critical as the region faces intensifying threats from erratic weather, heatwaves, and declining crop productivity.
“Asia’s food systems are at a tipping point,” said Dr. Yvonne Pinto, Director General of IRRI. “The Hub will bring global science closer to local challenges, helping us deliver faster, more targeted innovations to farmers who need them the most.”
South and Southeast Asia are home to some of the world’s most vulnerable farming communities. More than 793 million people in South Asia depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia produces a third of global rice, with 40% of that output bound for export markets.
In the Pacific, nearly three-quarters of the population live in rural areas, relying on farming and fishing to survive. Rising sea levels and declining soil health further threaten these already precarious livelihoods.
Without aggressive intervention, experts warn that yields of staple crops like rice, wheat, and maize could fall dramatically by 2050, triggering a rise in hunger and malnutrition across the region.
Led by IRRI as its first Asia Champion, the CGIAR Asia Pacific Hub will act as a coordinating powerhouse—bringing together the scientific capacity of multiple CGIAR centers. By situating experts within local time zones and closer to regional cropping systems, the Hub aims to speed up the translation of research into real-world results.
“Through this Hub, CGIAR will be able to operate more effectively and more responsively,” said Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of CGIAR. “This is a crucial step toward accelerating transformation in agriculture through science and innovation.”
The Hub’s mandate extends beyond rice. It aims to foster cross-crop and cross-country collaborations, such as integrating potato research from the International Potato Center (CIP) with IRRI’s rice-based systems to promote sustainable cropping patterns.
Additionally, the Hub will strengthen partnerships with ASEAN member nations and the Philippine government, helping national agencies tap into global CGIAR research pipelines and funding networks.
This regional-first approach marks a strategic pivot for IRRI, which has long focused on crop science and rice innovation. The Asia Pacific Hub reflects IRRI’s broader goal of customizing solutions for climate adaptation, sustainability, and nutrition, especially for smallholder farmers.
With agriculture under growing pressure from climate variability, land degradation, and water scarcity, experts agree the Hub could become a model for regionalized science deployment.
In an era where science must meet speed, the CGIAR Asia Pacific Hub offers a blueprint for how collaborative, locally embedded research can safeguard food systems for millions across one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.