United States through the US Agency for International Development USAID has announced a five-year extension for two research partnerships under Feed the Future, U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
According to the statement released by the Agency on Thursday, stated that these critical investments will increase productivity, raise incomes of small-scale farmers and fishers so they can produce more affordable, nutritious foods and help improve diets in their own communities and beyond.
It added that this investment consist of $15 million extension for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish, led by Mississippi State University, and $14 million extension for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research, led by Michigan State University, subject to the availability of funds.
According to the Agency, “The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish works to strengthen the climate resilience of fisheries and other aquatic food systems such as the harvesting of shellfish and seaweed – in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia.
“Aquatic foods are nutritious sources of animal protein and, as one of the world’s most traded agricultural products, are also important sources of income for aquatic farmers and fishers. Rises in oceanic temperature and increasing acidification can cause the decline, and in some cases collapse, of fisheries.
“It is estimated that fisheries in tropical regions could lose up to half of their current catch levels by the end of this century. With about 2.6 billion people in developing countries depending on fish for protein and income, these additional shifts could have dire consequences for their food security and resilience.
USAID noted that through this innovative research, production of these new legume varieties will be scaled up and brought to market, increasing both the resilience of legume farmers’ livelihoods and the availability of nutritious food.
Adding that “the program will also expand to reach more communities in new regions of Africa and, for the first time, into Latin America and the Caribbean. The extension will also enable the lab to continue important research on empowering women
“And young people within the legume production systems, which has already shown strong results in providing economic opportunities to rural women’s groups and supported more than 60 students to achieve higher education degrees”, the Agency said.
