The Feed the Future Research Strategy

U.S. Feed the Future Research Strategy Advances Agricultural Biotechnology

Feed the Future is the U.S. global hunger and food security initiative in partnership with developing countries, to address root causes and long-term solutions for chronic food insecurity and undernutrition (http://www.feedthefuture.gov/).  At the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Food Security, our investment strategy is carried out in several ways, including agricultural research to increase sustainable productivity.  Three long-term focus areas include climate-resilient cereals, advanced technologies to combat crop and livestock pests and diseases, and productivity in grain legumes.  Biotechnology is an important component of the research strategy, offering creative, novel, and elegant solutions to problems facing smallholder families with significant anticipated impacts on livelihoods.  Globally, the annual growth rate of cultivated agri-biotechnology products is 8%, reaching 160 million hectares, making biotech crops the fastest adopted agricultural technology in recent history.  These advancements are benefiting 16.7 million farmers, of which 90% are smallholders in resource poor regions of developing countries.  Priority regions in the Feed the Future initiative are predominantly in Africa and South Asia, particularly areas where high population, importance of agriculture and high levels of child malnutrition and stunting coincide.  Our investments respond to the needs of smallholders, generally in crops, breeds or traits that are not traditionally pursued by the private sector. Thus USAID supports programs that advance technological developments in many globally important crops (e.g., rice, wheat, maize, beans, potato) but also important tropical crops such as banana, cassava, and low-latitude potato, legumes, and vegetables, such as eggplant.  Productivity gains in staple cereals are also a high priority, given their importance to producers and consumers alike.  For example rice, which has been estimated to potentially lift 72 million people above the $1.25 poverty line and reduce the global number of poor by 5%.  Much of these research activities are carried out through partnerships with U.S. universities and the private sector, and with international partners, especially CGIAR centers and host country institutes and companies.  The growing acceptance of biotechnology necessitates appropriate science-based regulatory systems to help advance new technologies for dissemination, particularly to resource limited smallholder farmers as the intended beneficiaries of advances in science.  USAID works with partners to help facilitate the establishment of host country regulatory frameworks that are responsible, rigorous but not onerous, timely, and cost effective.