Remarks by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah to the CGIAR Board of Directors

The following is an excerpt from remarks, as prepared, by USAID Administrator Shah at an event at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Read his full remarks on the USAID website or watch a video of his remarks. 

At USAID, we have taken similar steps; we are advancing a fundamental new emphasis on agricultural research. And we, along with our partners, have placed this at the heart of our work in Feed the Future, the United States Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

We are working with our Feed the Future partners across the U.S. Government to leverage core capabilities and bring resources to bear against the challenge of global hunger. We are engaging, for example, with the G-20 to advance broader global dialogue and collaboration in agricultural research and development for efforts we know can make a difference. And we are pleased that the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and USAID are partnering to award five grants totaling $4.5 million to support research to improve common bean production in East and Southern Africa, a critical crop for millions of African households that are cultivated mainly by women.  These grantees will work closely with existing Feed the Future projects to help reduce poverty and undernutrition.

In four years, the U.S. has more than doubled research investments in global food security. And this past October, we launched the Feed the Future Food Security Innovation Center to ensure our efforts in research are strategic, focused, and well-coordinated.

For instance, instead of organizing our research by type of partner—CGIAR, private sector, or university—we’re organizing our research agenda by the greatest challenges we face.

To help achieve a critical “research mass” in these areas, I’m pleased to announce a new competitive exchange program that’s designed to encourage U.S. university scientists to share their expertise and build meaningful collaborations with CGIAR scientists around the world. This year, $1 million in funding is already available. I encourage you to contact USAID’s Bureau for Food Security Chief Scientist Julie Howard to find out more.