“It was IFPRI that did so much work to make a visible, rigorous and convincing case that we had to continue to invest in agriculture and food security.” – Rob Bertram.
Working with IFPRI since the late 1970s, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is IFPRI’s largest supporter and knowledge partner. IFPRI has been conducting robust evidence-based research and analysis to help develop, implement and evaluate USAID food and nutrition security programs, which has become a vital resource to the agency’s advancement of food security, nutrition security and agricultural growth. In 2009, President Barack Obama launched the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative to solve global hunger, a program that IFPRI is actively supporting through monitoring and evaluation, and providing empirical evidence on project outcomes.
Other innovative USAID-IFPRI projects include gender and agriculture; country development strategies designed to work with local stakeholders to identify the main drivers of economic growth, agricultural transformation, increased food security, and poverty reduction; and the Program for Biosafety Systems to support partner countries in Africa and Asia in the responsible development and use of agricultural biotechnology.
During IFPRI’s 40th Anniversary celebration, Rob Bertram, Chief Scientist, Bureau for Food Security at USAID, spoke on the impact IFPRI’s work has on policies and work of the U.S. government.
