 Rice is the world's most important food crop, eaten and grown across the globe. With 90% of rice production and consumption occurring in Asia, the continent is at the heart of the global rice sector. Here, each person eats around 80 kilograms of rice every year. In some countries, such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Laos, this number can double, rising to 160 kilograms per year. With people's lives so intertwined with rice, it cannot be denied that in Asia, rice is life. Rice is the world's most important food crop. For Asians, rice doesn't just stand for sustenance. In almost every country on the continent, this staple food is of great cultural, historical and political significance, a shared reality that brings together all Asian nations. More than that, rice unites Asia as the backbone of its economic development, food security and political stability. Rice creates an economic environment for economic growth. The tremendous economic miracle of Asia over the last 50 years coincides directly with increased rice supplies, decreased prices and stable and affordable rice. At the same time, Asia is also home to around 70% of the world's poorest people, those who are deeply affected when rice prices increase. Rice farmers, particularly in areas in Asia, are one of the sectors of the population that are poor. So with increasing productivity and increasing income, they can now buy food that are good for their health. They will have money for education and for health care. So in effect, they will reduce the poverty that they are in now. For more than 50 years, the International Rice Research Institute, or ERI, has been helping rice farmers grow more rice to reduce poverty and improve the lives of farmers and consumers while safeguarding the environment. ERI's high-yielding rice varieties helped prevent famine in Asia in the 1960s, lifted millions out of poverty and saved countless hectares of natural ecosystems from being turned into farmland. Despite these successes, feeding Asia's ever-growing population continues to demand more of rice production, a challenge that rice scientists are set to face. The people are increasing, but the production is not increasing. So what we're doing is to increase the production of rice so that we'll be using the same area at the same time we could feed the increasing population. ERI works with its public and private sector partners in leading the Global Rice Science Partnership, or GRISP, in Asia. Through collaboration, ERI is tailoring new rice varieties to meet the local needs of farmers and the preferences of consumers across different parts of Asia. ERI is helping farmers prepare for climate change, reduce the impact of rice production on the environment, and use natural resources, such as water, more efficiently. ERI is also finding smarter ways to grow rice and communicate new technologies to farmers, such as providing rice production advice via mobile phone apps. Based in the Philippines, ERI works across Asia and Africa with its partners and donors from all around the world as part of the Global Rice Science Partnership. With the potential to bring people out of poverty, out of unproductive fields, and out of the trap of rising prices, rice research is an essential part of the future of Asia and the world. You can help too. Join us as we deliver a better world through Rice Science.