Feed the Future Launches Request for Applications on Climate Resilience, Nutrition, and Policy Research

Under the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future, the Bureau for Food Security at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched a request for applications (RFA) for global food security and hunger research that focuses on climate resilience, nutrition, and policy objectives under the Feed the Future Research Strategy.

The research strategy emphasizes a new paradigm of sustainable intensification to catalyze agriculture-led economic growth. It focuses on environmentally sustainable productivity gains through ‘research for development’ activities that are purpose-driven and impact-oriented, and that operate in close coordination with deployment of research outputs through extension, education, evaluation and feedback at the individual country level.

Feed the Future agricultural research investments link agricultural productivity, climate change, nutrition, enabling policies, economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable natural resources management, integrating natural science and social science research to increase impacts for developing world farmers.

The RFA is part of USAID’s renewed engagement with the U.S. university community and covers six program areas:

1. High-Yielding, Climate-Resilient Legumes (two distinct opportunities: soy and other legumes)
2. High-Yielding, Climate-Resilient Cereals
3. Increased Livestock Productivity through Climate Resilience and Disease Resistance (two distinct opportunities: vaccine development and breeding/genomics approaches)
4. Small-Scale Irrigation Technologies and Agricultural Water Management Practices
5. Reduced Post-Harvest Losses and Food Waste
6. Food Security Policy

The closing date for applications is December 21, 2012. Eligible U.S. colleges and universities are encouraged to apply. To view this opportunity on www.grants.gov, please search RFA-OAA-12-000036.