As climate change accelerates the spread of crop-destroying pests across sub-Saharan Africa, Korea is stepping in with scientific expertise to help secure the continent’s fragile food supply. The Rural Development Administration (RDA), Korea’s national agricultural research agency, said Tuesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nairobi-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) to expand joint research into insect science and pest management. Under the agreement signed in Seoul by RDA Administrator Lee Seung-don and icipe Director General Abdou Tenkuano, the two organizations will collaborate on developing innovative pest monitoring techniques, biological control agents and eco-friendly pesticides. The partnership will also extend beyond pest eradication to encompass beneficial insects, focusing on apiculture, crop pollination and high-value research into insects used for food, livestock feed and fertilizers. The collaboration comes as rapidly shifting climate patterns exacerbate pest outbreaks across Africa, threatening crop yields in re