NIFA's FY 2021 Accomplishments in
USDA Priority Areas
Throughout this week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has released USDA-wide accomplishments for the year highlighting accomplishments in the key priority areas. Here is a recap of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) accomplishments in each area:
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility
NIFA held recruiting events for Hispanic-serving Institutions; conducted quarterly outreach with 1890 Universities; welcomed increased diversity and experience among NIFA staff; launched an enhanced system for tracking the diversity of NIFA peer review panels; increased funding to Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) in both MSI-specific and other programs; and opened new lines of communication to stakeholders.
- In FY 2021, NIFA administered 16 MSI- specific programs with over $250 million in funding. These programs include capacity and competitive funding opportunities specifically for: 1890 Land-grant Universities, 1994 Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, Insular Land-grant Institutions, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
- NIFA recently awarded over $21.8 million to 1890 Land-grant Institutions to support 58 projects.
- NIFA provided FY 2021 funding of $20 million ($10 million mandatory funding and $10 million discretionary funding) for scholarships to students at 1890 Institutions.
- NIFA awarded $21.5 million for 1890 facility funds to upgrade research, Extension and teaching facilities at the eligible 1890 Land-grant Institutions to participate fully in the research, Extension and education enterprises of the higher education system.
- In FY 2021, NIFA awarded nearly $5.8 million to the following four Centers of Excellence at 1890 Institutions: Center of Excellence for Student Success and Workforce Development at North Carolina A&T State University; Center of Excellence for Farming Systems, Rural Prosperity, and Economic Sustainability at Tuskegee University; Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; and Center of Excellence for Nutrition, Health, Wellness, and Quality of Life at Southern University.
- NIFA invested $4.2 million for Tribal College Research grants and $3.4 million for New Beginning for Tribal Students to support recruiting, tuition and experiential learning.
- NIFA invested $3 million to promote and strengthen the ability of Alaska Native-Serving Institutions and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions to carry out education, applied research and related community development programs.
- NIFA and 4-H partnered with the Department of Defense Office of Military Community and Family Policy; Army Child, Youth and School Services; Air Force Airman and Family Services; and Navy Family Readiness to support positive youth development education for youth whose parents are serving in the military; and joined with national partners National 4-H Council and Cooperative Extension to develop a priority plan for increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in all 4-H opportunities.
Climate
In FY 2021, NIFA established a Climate Team focused on program development; held webinars for stakeholder feedback and information; published Requests for Applications for the Farm of the Future; and announced an opportunity for expanding the reach of Climate Hubs through Cooperative Extension. NIFA is also developing efforts to involve 4-H and youth nationwide in climate-focused work.
A sample of NIFA’s investments include:
- $146 million for sustainable agricultural research to improve a robust, resilient, climate-smart food and agricultural system.
- $9 million for new Cooperative Extension and USDA Climate Hubs partnerships to bolster climate research and share climate-smart solutions with the agricultural community.
- $8 million to create two new AFRI Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institutes to help farmers mitigate the effects of climate change on labor and resource management.
Nutrition Security
Our agency increased partnerships across USDA, among both new and traditional groups. NIFA launched a monthly webinar series showcasing efforts across multiple NIFA programs. The results of these activities led to NIFA-initiated program development for sustainable agricultural systems focused on culturally appropriate local/regional food systems.
- With the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), NIFA invested $220 million in 11 new Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes. USDA-NIFA and other agencies and organizations have partnered with NSF to pursue transformational advances in a range of economic sectors and science and engineering fields — from food system security to next-generation edge networks. The new investment builds on the first round of seven AI Research Institutes funded in 2020, totaling $140 million.
- Adopting and maintaining healthy dietsare crucial for preventing a variety of chronic diseases. There is a critical need for validated objective markers of dietary intake to measure the effectiveness of interventions that promote a healthy diet. The National Institutes of Health and NIFA are supporting research to develop metabolomics-based dietary intake biomarkers at two multidisciplinary Dietary Biomarker Development Centers, investing $1 million a year for five years at each center.
- NIFA invested $15 million in two key programs awarded through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics and Tools. The 30 grants support research in two critical areas:
- Big data analytics, machine learning, AI and predictive technologies needed to keep U.S. agriculture on the leading edge of food and agricultural production; and
- Nanotechnology-based solutions that improve food production, nutrition, sustainable agriculture and food safety.
Building Back the Economy
NIFA enhanced funding for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, conducted a stronger push for increasing applications in the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative, and strengthened connections to community colleges for workforce development through AFRI, 1994 and 1890 scholarship and research, Extension programs and other areas.
- As part of the Organic Agriculture Program, NIFA invested more than $30 million for 33 grants to support farmers and ranchers who grow and market high-quality organic food, fiber and other organic products.
NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research, education, and Extension across the nation to make transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA supports initiatives that ensure the long-term viability of agriculture and applies an integrated approach to ensure that groundbreaking discoveries in agriculture-related sciences and technologies reach the people who can put them into practice. In fiscal year 2021, NIFA’s total investment was $1.96 billion.
Visit our website: www.nifa.usda.gov; Twitter: @USDA_NIFA; LinkedIn: USDA-NIFA.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
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