USAID announced an expansion of the Feed the Future Innovation Labs network – including two new Innovations Labs and a new research collaboration – for a total of 17 Innovation Labs across the United States. Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, will utilize these critical investments to broaden research and innovation to strengthen small-scale farmers’ resilience to climate change and other shocks. Feed the Future Deputy Coordinator and Assistant to the Administrator for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security Dina Esposito made the announcement today at the World Food Prize.
This expansion, over five years, includes up to $37 million for a new Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Climate Resilient Cereals, led by Kansas State University, and up to $40 million for a new Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems, led by the University of Nebraska subject to the availability of funds. Additionally, two existing Feed the Future Innovation Labs – the Livestock Systems Innovation Lab, led by the University of Florida, and the Animal Health Innovation Lab, led by Washington State University – have teamed up to work on a nearly $2 million initiative over three years to explore One Health Approaches to Mitigate Brucellosis, a globally widespread zoonotic disease that affects both livestock and humans.
The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Climate Resilient Cereals will work to develop new climate-resilient varieties of cereal crops such as rice, wheat, sorghum, and millet. Climate change and extreme weather conditions such as drought and excessive heat negatively affect crop yields, particularly for smallholder farmers who depend solely on rain to water their crops. With more than 60 percent of the world's cereal grains produced by rain-fed agriculture, advancing this work is critical to generate a pipeline of climate adapted varieties for current and future needs. The Climate Resilient Cereals Lab will work with USAID’s country partners to focus on meeting the unique needs of small-scale farmers, as well as the needs of women and youth, who typically have limited access to innovations and technology.
Source: usaid.gov
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Categories: Kansas, Government & Policy