USDA Funds Six International Research Projects on Climate-Smart Agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service is awarding $300,000 to six U.S. universities – including three minority-serving institutions – for research and educational partnerships focused on climate-smart agriculture in tropical countries, FAS Administrator Daniel Whitley announced today.

FAS is awarding the funds under the Scientific Cooperation Research Program (SCRP).

“This year’s SCRP is explicitly focused on helping agriculture adapt to, and mitigate its impacts on, our changing climate,” Whitley said. “We are pairing some of the United States’ top research institutions and scientists with their counterparts from countries where agriculture is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We’re confident that they can collaborate on climate solutions that contribute to food security and agricultural sustainability, both locally and globally.”

FAS is awarding approximately $50,000 each to:

• Tennessee State University for a project in Nepal
• University of Hawaii at Manoa for a project in Vietnam
• Texas State University for a project in Mexico
• University of Missouri for a project in India
• University of Nebraska for a project in Paraguay
• Louisiana State University for a project in Malaysia

Whitley noted that this year’s SCRP awards support two of USDA’s top priorities under Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh: putting agriculture at the center of solutions to the global climate crisis; and advancing racial justice, equity and opportunity in USDA program administration through the involvement of three prominent minority-serving institutions.

Since the SCRP was established in 1980, USDA has sponsored more than 400 projects in nearly 100 partner countries. The program supports applied research, extension and education projects that create practical solutions to challenges faced by farmers around the globe.