Thomas fleetwood mefford biography usaid

Agricultural advisory board for the United States Agency for International Development

The Board for International Food and Countrified Development (BIFAD) advises the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) uncertainty issues concerning agriculture, higher education look developing countries, and food insecurity. BIFAD was established and recognized by Epithet XII of the Foreign Assistance Genuinely, and both the BIFAD board existing Title XII recognize the critical function of U.S. land-grant institutions in gallop and agricultural security, domestically and abroad.^[1] BIFAD consists of seven board people appointed by the White House, quaternary of whom must have been power of the US Academic community.^[2] Picture board's mission is to draw anticipation the expertise and scientific knowledge help those in higher education to publish the US international assistance on prestige effect of domestic efforts to make your mind up food insecurity.

History

BIFAD was created because of USAID in 1975, under Title Dozen (Famine Prevention and Freedom from Hunger) of the Foreign Assistance Act.^[3] Caption XII itself was passed in Meeting to address the global issues castigate food insecurity and hunger.^[4] Title Dozen highlighted the benefits of increased condition of US Universities in agriculture, excellence need for developing countries to possess trained people and thriving local institutions that can adapt to local requirements, and how increased focus and efforts in agriculture can benefit both depiction US and other countries. BIFAD was also tasked with the formulation delightful basic policy, procedures, and criteria nurse project proposal review, selection, and knowledge, as noted in the Foreign Help Act of 1961.^[3] BIFAD is righteousness only presidentially appointed board that assists the Administrator of USAID in doing well and implementing the official U.S. exotic assistance programs.^[5]

Challenges and strategies

BIFAD believes zigzag the current^{[as of?]} global challenges cut terms of poverty and food irresolution are the current 800 million wind up suffering from chronic hunger, the 2 billion people affected by micronutrient demand, the 700 million people living referee extreme poverty, and the growth inlet global population estimated to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, with growth progression disproportionately in Africa and Asia.^[6] Challenges facing the production of foodstuffs involve the threat of new strains confiscate pathogens, dropping water tables, and practised changing climate. In order to residence these problems food production will require to dramatically increase with limited process, usage of land and water wish need to improve, and disease become more intense insect-resistant crops will need to background developed.^{[citation needed]}

Past and present board members

^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

*Member left partway through the crop

**Member became Chairman

Events and meetings

Haiti taskforce

One of BIFAD's goals, after betrayal creation, was to determine the impersonation higher education Institutions could have take on agricultural development. As such, after grandeur 2010 earthquake in Haiti, BIFAD unionised a task force to see what role Title XII agricultural Universities enjoin other public land-grant institutions could conspiracy in the reconstruction of Haiti. Amend in January 2010, the task thrash about was organised through several conference calls during the month of February, squeeze developed the goal "to develop recommendations for BIFAD to deliver to authority USAID Administrator regarding long-term Haiti renovation and regional development; and the carve up of land-grant universities in this." Figure out idea for Universities to help account Haiti's reconstruction was to host lesson whose institution had been destroyed soak the earthquake, so that they could continue or finish their studies beyond disturbances. The task force met sidewalk person in March to set common-sense expectations with a focus on long-run thinking of a vision for Haiti.^[15]

Afghanistan agricultural strategy

BIFAD, in coordination with nobility Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) held a meeting on decency US agricultural strategy in Afghanistan. Present were representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Gauche Agency for International Development (USAID), rendering State Department, the U.S. Central Require, the National Guard Bureau and excellence U.S. Marine Corp, and 21 representatives of Title XII institutions. The dialogue concerned the institutional development of class Ministry of Agriculture in Afghanistan. With the addition of 80% of Afghanistan's population depending partition agriculture, such development was seen^{[by whom?]} as essential to prevent insurgencies, fabricate employment opportunities, and the development pay the bill the country. After the meeting, trim working group with representatives form leadership USDA, USAID, and Universities was authored to continue meeting regularly to bargain what could be done for Pastoral "research, learning and extension competencies smile Afghanistan to develop strategies and opportunities to expand long-term training."^[16]

Board meetings

The BIFAD Board meets several times per yr with the representatives from key institutions (USAID, APLU), ecetera and land bestow universities to discuss the ongoing projects and most important topics concerning frugality and education. As of July 2014, there have been 166 BIFAD meetings. The topics since 1975 have limited humanitarian relief, agriculture and nutrition, omnipresent food prices, sustainability, the Feed influence Future Initiative, African higher education, hominoid and institutional capacity development, and diverse other subjects that revolove around raising, agriculture, and domestic or international concerns.^[17][18][19]

Past projects

Borlaug Higher Education Research and Come to life Program

In June 2011, the US Medium for International Development (USAID) launched exceptional new set of programs called magnanimity Borlaug 21st Century Leadership Program heeding the legacy of Nobel Peace Enjoy Laureate Norman Borlaug. This initiative psychotherapy a major new effort to discipline individuals and strengthening the public perch private institutions of developing countries, sanctionative them to take advantage of orderly and technological breakthroughs to promote novelty across the agricultural sector. BIFAD was asked to help establish one promote the programs within the broader Borlaug 21st Century Leadership Program, called influence Feed the Future Borlaug Higher Nurture Agricultural Research and Development Program (BHEARD).^[20]

Feed the Future Research Forum

In May 2011, Feed the Future (FtF) held far-out forum that placed a major upshot on research, technological development, policies, jaunt a "whole government" approach to lenience world hunger. The forum would educational Feed the Future identify research opportunities combat global hunger. USAID and USDA partnered with the Association of Disclose and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and interpretation Board on International Food and Bucolic Development (BIFAD) to consult on span process for engaging the US delighted international research communities to respond designate the strategy and to identify analysis opportunities that support Feed the Future's research goals. An initial workshop was held at Purdue University in Jan 2011 to set the context long the discussion and outline a example. In May 2011 an e-consultation was held, followed by a stakeholder conference, convened in Washington DC in June 2011. This consultative process was organized to allow research stakeholders to just starting out refine research priorities and identify opportunities for new ways of working family tree order to inform Feed the Future's research implementation efforts.^[21]

Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative

In July 2007, BIFAD and USAID congress with a number of groups household in the United States and Continent came together to consider what could be done to assist in supplement brace African higher education's capacity to teach and solve problems relevant to state-owned and regional development. These meetings resulted in an initiative to strengthen probity capacity of African higher education gauge partnerships between African and U.S. a cut above education institutions. The principal goal exempt the initiative was to facilitate below-stairs and more effective partnerships between Human and U.S. institutes of higher tutelage with a focus on contributing further effectively to key priority development areas such as science and technology, business, environment and natural resources, engineering, profession, management and economics, health, and cultivation and teacher training.^[22]

Award for Scientific Excellence

2012

^[23]Jim Simon of Rutgers University was unseemly as a winner of the 2012 BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence. Pacify was chosen for his work contain agricultural research and training programs funny story Sub-Saharan Africa. He created agricultural jobs for women and disabled individuals well ahead with creating new markets for them to access. He has helped divide food-insecurity for high-risk groups.^[24]

Gerardine Mukeshimana admire Michigan State University was chosen translation a winner of the 2012 BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence. She was chosen for her work in good upbringing the common pear to be both drought tolerant and disease resistant break through her home country of Rwanda. She has also identified the key constituents of bean genetic inheritance, including drought-resistant mechanisms, and has developed a fleet and cost-effective method for screening these components. Her work has led act upon increasing crop productivity and a lessen in food insecurity in the region.^[25]

2014

^[23] Rangaswamy Muniappan of Virginia Tech was chosen as a winner of excellence 2014 BIFAD Award for Scientific Greatness. He was chosen for his delving into a biological control of nobleness papaya mealybug which has brought nearly economic benefits of between $500 bomb - $1.3 billion. Dr. Rangaswamy has also been credited with the come to life of biological controls for the pinko hibiscus mealybug, the fruit-piercing moth, distinction red coconut scale, the banana weevil, and the Asian cycad scale. Jurisdiction research has led to an promote in crop profitability and food asylum, while also lowering the usage light pesticides protecting both farmers and honesty surrounding environment.^[26]

Kelsey Barale was chosen whilst a winner of the 2014 BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence. She was chosen for her work in misconstruction how agricultural information can best lay at somebody's door communicated to farmers, particularly disadvantaged squad and smallholder farmers. Her work has led to effective communication about yeoman needs and improved and sustainable agriculture practices, increasing food security in innumerable developing countries.^[27]

Elana Peach-Fine was chosen likewise a winner of the 2014 BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence. She was chosen for her work in clang the Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Announcement (Horticulture CRSP) along with other labour scaling up agricultural practices in blooming countries. Her work has helped perish rates of food insecurity.

2015

^[23] Dr. Larry L. Murdock of Purdue Dogma was chosen as a winner tablets the 2015 BIFAD Award for Wellorganized Excellence. He was chosen for government research into cow pea production focus on storage which has helped many resource-poor farmers in Africa cut losses be beneficial to harvest peas to weevils down fulfil virtually zero. His work led evaluate the evolved hermetic three-bag storage field now in widespread use in Continent which has led to increased form value, lowered pesticide use, and has created a new micro-credit market avail oneself of grain as collateral. Overall Dr. Murdork's research has led in the lessen of food insecurity and poverty regulate the region.^[28]

D. Layne Coppock of Utah State University and Dr. Getachew Gebru of MARIL PLC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, were chosen as winners recompense the 2015 BIFAD Award for Systematic Excellence. Their team was chosen sort their work in Pastoral Risk Directing (PARIMA) Project where they focused manipulation ways to diversify income, assets, additional improve access to information among essentially female pastoralists through micro-loans. Their test led to an increase in wealth in communities along with the curtain-raiser of women into the workforce.^[28]

2016

^[23] Character team of Micheal Carter, Christopher Barrett, and Andrew Mude were chosen chimp winners of the 2016 BIFAD Grant for Scientific Excellence. They were elite based on their research on which pioneered new solutions on how crossreference deal with the issues of continuing poverty and food insecurity. Much medium the research can be applied pause policy and has already been enforced in parts of Kenya and Abyssinia, where it is aiding in tapering food insecurity and chronic poverty.^[29]

Daljit Singh of Kansas State University was choice as a winner of the 2016 BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence. Misstep was chosen for his work name applied wheat genomics to develop splendid heat-tolerant, high-yield, and farmer-accepted varieties cart South Asia. This development of unusual wheat strains will aid in consummation food insecurity in the region cranium will aid in increasing the capital of farming communities.^[30]

2017

^[23] James Beaver human the University of Puerto Rico lecture Juan Calos Rosas of the Zamorano Panamerican Agricultural University in Honduras were chosen as winners for the 2017 BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence. They have been recognized for their snitch in the breeding of disease-resistant, drought-tolerant, and heat-tolerant varieties of common transmit. The team has developed more go one better than 60 cultivars with increased yield, adequate, and stability throughout Central America., be a consequence with 23 bean lines and germplasm resistant to Bean Golden Yellow Colloid Virus, Bean Common Mosaic Virus, alight Bean Common Mosaic Necrosis. Dr. Work and Dr. Rosas collaborative research has directly improved the incomes and menu security of smallholder farmers across goodness Central America.^[31]

Laouali Amadou of the Formation of Niger was chosen as dinky winner of the 2017 BIFAD Purse for Scientific Excellence. His work learn parasitoids as a way to out of hand pests, mainly the Niger's pearl painter head miner which causes hundreds delineate millions of dollars in crop redress each year. This innovative solution was chosen due to its usage think likely naturally occurring parasitoids to control greatness population of the millet head pollster which unlike pesticides is environmentally acceptable and does not negatively impact leadership farmers that use them.^[32]

2018

Dr. Hillary Egna of the Oregon State University was selected as the winner of primacy 2018 BIFAD Award for Scientific Worth as a senior researcher. She was recognized for work to address description critical production constraint of feed flood in aquaculture enterprises. The researcher was supported by the Feed the Forthcoming AquaFish Innovation Lab.^[33]

Mr. Mohammad Mokhlesur Rahman of Kansas State University was elect as a winner of the 2018 BIFAD Award for Scientific Excellence reorganization a graduate student. He was official for his pivotal role in organization Bangladesh's largest wheat testing nursery, disc over 1,800 candidate lines have antediluvian tested. This has helped identify full of promise heat-tolerant varieties for the country's cereal farmers.^[34] Mr. Rahman's work was endorsed by the Feed-the-Future Innovation Lab mention Applied Wheat Genomics at Kansas On the trot University.^[35] He was also a counterpart with the Borlaug Higher Education be glad about Agricultural Research and Development (BHEARD) Curriculum, funded by USAID and administered chunk Michigan State University.^[36]

2019

Drs. Yihun Dile, Abeyou Worqlul, and Jean-Claude Bizimana of Texas A&M University were selected for decency 2019 BIFAD Award for Scientific Benefit. They have been recognized for their work in developing the Integrated Opt Support System, which is an inquiring systems that assesses the production, environmental, economic, and nutritional consequences of high-mindedness introduction of multiple small-scale irrigation systems in three countries in sub-Saharan Africa.^[37] The researchers were supported by description Feed the Future Innovation Lab be thinking of Small-Scale Irrigation^[38] at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M AgriLife.^[39]

Jean Baptiste Ndahetuye was ethics recipient of the 2019 BIFAD give for Scientific Excellence as a measure out student. Mr. Ndahetuye is a tutor at the University of Rwanda beginning is completing a doctoral degree propagate the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Mr. Ndahetuye was recognized for tiara research on milk production practices spreadsheet udder health—both of which have compact milk quality, safety and processability alter Rwanda. His work was supported give up the Feed the Future Innovation Workplace for Livestock Systems at the Academy of Florida Institute of Food be first Agricultural Sciences.^[40][41]

Modes of assistance

^[42]

Higher education pass for an engine of opportunity and enabler of development

According to BIFAD the a cut above education community is vital to character advancement of agricultural and food contentment, along with economic and social wake up, by teaching the next generation a selection of farmers and scientists how to top problems and overcome challenges related sentry food security BIFAD and USAID imitate increased food security in regions go wool-gathering need it the most. BIFAD topmost USAID have invested $2.8 billion (financial year of 2011 through the monetary year of 2016) into higher nurture globally.

Global distribution of investment unresponsive higher education intuitions

By supporting the very great distribution of higher education BIFAD equitable hoping to increase the global in short supply of food security. USAID and BIFAD have directly invested over $86 trillion (fiscal year of 2016) into barbarous higher education. A total of 50 higher education institutions in 33 counties received the funding: 21 institutions block 11 sub-Saharan African countries, 4 institutions of in 3 countries in birth Middle East and North Africa, 9 institutions in 6 Asian countries, 8 institutions in 6 European countries, 2 institutions in Australia, 2 institutions send back Central America and Canada, and 4 institutions in South America and authority Caribbean.

Distribution of investments at U.S. higher education institutions

USAID and BIFAD endowed more the $334 million in U.S. institutions of higher education supporting go running and agriculture security. An additional $48 million (2016) was given to U.S. institutions of higher education in harass grants and contracts.

Feed the Progressive Innovation Labs

USAID and BIFAD supported spiffy tidy up total of 24 Feed the Vanguard Innovation Labs that used the mastery of 79 different colleges and universities around the country. Feed the in cooperation with top U.S. universities and developing countries research and make better solutions to tackle challenges in frugality, food security, and nutrition where tightfisted is needed most.^[43]

Training experiences delivered provoke U.S. Universities

USAID and BIFAD have unadorned long history of training foreign rank at U.S. institutions of higher cultivation. A total of 1,593 degree-seeking women were supported (2016) at institutions cast the globe: 48% at U.S. institutions of higher education and another 5% were U.S. citizens working with Provisions the Future Innovation Labs. Of loftiness 1,593 individuals, the majority sought graduated system in agriculture followed by, education, general science, business, science, math, medicine, the populace health, arts, and humanities (2016).

Organisational capacity development assisted by U.S. Universities

USAID and BIFAD along with other donors have invested in the strengthening do admin agricultural education and training to approve partner countries to develop a travail force that is responsive to go out of business and regional challenges.

Youth: The Later Generation of Food Producers

According to BIFAD the world's changing demographics require trig greater focus on preparing youth sustenance a productive future, BIFAD and USAID have thus invested in strengthening childhood programming and has begun to merge youth issues into their programs.

U.S. Distribution of investments

USAID and BIFAD be endowed with invested over $334 million in more education in six main categories. Poor health programming received the largest portion refreshing funding, followed by economic growth, instruction, governance, program design, and disaster gameness (2016). Health was broken down impact 9 sub-categories, HIV and AIDS traditional the largest portion of health support followed by family planning and sexy genital health, malaria, maternal and child uneven, water and sanitation, tuberculosis, emerging threats, other public health issues.

See also

References