[L]ately, the United States, not nature, has created the biggest uncertainty for global agriculture.
Until last year, when the Trump administration dismantled it, the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID] had been a major supporter of global agricultural science, disbursing about $150 million a year to universities, companies and international research centers. That funding was part of the Feed the Future initiative, which was most recently reauthorized in 2023, with broad bipartisan support.ย Now, around the world, scientists are scuttling or scaling back studies meant to defend the worldโs food supply ….
About a third of Feed the Futureโs agricultural science budget went toย 17 labs at U.S. universitiesย that study everything from aquaculture and cereals to fruits and tubers. All but one of the labsย received stop-work orders early last yearย when the Trump administration froze development spending and laterย eliminated it.
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Vern Long, who directed U.S.A.I.D.โs agricultural research team from 2017 to 2019, said the need to address threats to the global breadbasket was bigger than partisan politics. โThese issues transcend national identity,โ she said. โThese issues are about humanity.โ
