Competitive Grant To Establish a USDA Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Policy Research

Department of Agriculture - Economic Research Service

 The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) invites proposals for a competitive grant to establish and fund a USDA Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Policy Research. The USDA Center will facilitate new and innovative research on the application of behavioral and experimental economics theory and practice to the provision of ecosystem services from the Nation’s agricultural lands. The USDA center will be expected to (1) establish an innovative behavioral and experimental economics research program related to the design and implementation of policies and programs that provide ecosystem services; (2) broaden the network of social scientists participating in policy-relevant behavioral and experimental economics research on agricultural ecosystem services, policies, and programs; and (3) disseminate information obtained via its research program to USDA and other Federal program agencies, along with other researchers and the general public. We anticipate that up to $750,000 will be available in fiscal year 2014 (ending September 30) to support this activity over the next 3 years. Additional funds may be awarded in subsequent years, subject to availability of funds and the performance of the USDA Center. The deadline for submission of applications is 11:59 p.m., July 7, 2014. 
For more information, visit: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=255553

Shifting Winds in International Agricultural Development

What’s Behind Africa’s Turnaround?

Washington, DC–May 13, 2014, For Immediate Release – Economic research on demographic and impact trends for international agricultural development will be the focus of a National C-FAR research seminar on Monday, May 19. The seminar will occur twice—first at 10 AM ET in 337 Russell Senate Office Building, and again at 12 PM ET in 1300 Longworth House Office Building. The presenter is Dr. William A. Masters, Professor and Chair of the Department of Food and Nutrition Policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition, Tufts University.

"International agricultural development is driven by a multitude of factors. After decades of investment in development, we are now seeing big payoffs in terms of economic opportunity and gradual poverty reduction all across Africa.” says Dr. Masters, Member of the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics’ Blue Ribbon Panel on Development. “Africa had been held back and is now being helped by some of the same trends that drove Asian development. We can anticipate those changes, and seize the moment through strategic investment in agriculture and nutrition."

“These presentations provide excellent examples of the value of federally funded food and agricultural research, Extension and education in producing the scientific outcomes and outreach needed to meet 21^st century challenges and opportunities,” says Chuck Conner, President of the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (National C-FAR).

ABSTRACT: Over the past decade, many African countries have reversed their earlier economic decline and achieved some of the world’s fastest rates of economic growth and job creation. This turnaround is associated with slow-moving trends in rural demography and agricultural productivity that lifted economic prospects in Asia from the 1980s, leaving Africa as the world’s poorest continent since the 1990s. Those winds have now shifted, creating economic opportunities in African agriculture and the prospect of rapid improvement in food security, nutrition and health. Today’s seminar discusses recent evidence on the speed and timing of rural development in Africa and other regions, and what these trends mean for US foreign assistance and agricultural development policy.

The seminar is open to the public and the media.

National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (National C-FAR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, consensus-based, and customer-led coalition that brings food, agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and natural resource stakeholders together with the food and agriculture research and Extension community, serving as a forum and a unified voice in support of sustaining and increasing public investment at the national level in food and agricultural research, Extension, and education. National C-FAR’s Hill Seminar Series, now in its tenth year, regularly presents leading-edge researchers working to provide answers to pressing issues confronting the public and Congress. The Hill Seminar Series helps demonstrate the value of public investment in food and agricultural research—investment that returns 45 percent per year on average, and $20 in economic benefit from every $1 investment in food and ag research.

The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. C-FARE promotes the work of applied economists and serves as a catalyst for incorporating economic thinking into the analysis of food, agricultural and resource decisions. We serve as a conduit between the academic research and extension community and Washington, DC policymakers and agency personnel, matching expertise to public needs.

Go to http://www.ncfar.org/Hill_Seminar_Series.asp for more information about the seminar series and past topics. Interviews with National C-FAR President Chuck Conner are available by request. For additional information, go to www.ncfar.org; or contact Tom Van Arsdall, Executive Director, at tom@vanarsdall.com or (703) 509-4746.

USDA Invites States to Participate in Marketing Improvement Program

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced the availability of approximately $1 million in matching grant funds through the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP). AMS is requesting grant proposals from state departments of agriculture, state colleges and universities, and other appropriate state agencies. Funds will support research projects to address challenges and opportunities in marketing, transporting, and distributing U.S. agricultural products domestically and internationally. Federal funds awarded must be matched dollar-for-dollar by non-federal funds and/or in-kind resources.
“These grants provide our state partners with matching funds to explore new and innovative approaches to marketing U.S. agricultural products,” said AMS Administrator, Anne Alonzo. “We’re really looking for proposals that demonstrate collaboration among state agencies, universities, producers and other stakeholders. We have seen some creative work in expanding and exploring new markets as a result of these kinds of partnerships.”
Proposals that address issues of importance at the state, multi-state, or national level are encouraged, including projects that:

• Assess challenges and develop ways to assist local and regional producers in marketing agricultural products that meet the mandates of the Food Safety Modernization Act.
• Have the potential to create economic opportunity in rural communities through research relating to marketing in local and regional food systems, and value-added agriculture.
• Contribute to the strategy of a designated Promise Zone.
• Demonstrate sound methods for processing, packing, handling, transporting, storing, distributing, and marketing agricultural products.
• Determine the costs of marketing agricultural products in their various forms and through various channels.
• Assist in the development of marketing methods, practices and facilities to bring about more efficient and orderly marketing, and reduce the price spread between the producer and the consumer.
• Develop and improve standards of quality, condition, quantity, grade and packaging in order to encourage uniformity and consistency in commercial practices.
• Eliminate artificial barriers to the free movement of agricultural products in commercial channels.
• Foster new or expanded markets and new uses of agricultural products.

Applicants must submit proposals through the federal website www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 16, 2014.
The request for applications, which describes details about the grant opportunity, including eligibility, application requirements and an outline of the review process, is available at www.ams.usda.gov/FSMIP, and is linked with the FSMIP opportunity posted on www.grants.gov.
A one-hour teleconference is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13, 2014, at 2 p.m. Eastern time to discuss the 2014 program and give potential applicants the opportunity to ask questions about the request for applications. If you are interested in participating, please send a message to janise.zygmont@ams.usda.gov before the teleconference date to receive instructions.

DEADLINE EXTENDED Call for Applications: C-FARE/AAEA Early Career Professionals Leadership Award

The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE), with support from the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) TrustEarly Career Professionals Leadership Award applications from young and beginning members of the agricultural and applied economics profession.
The six final award recipients will participate in a two-day program in Washington, DC from June 19-20, 2014. The program will expose the young leaders to federal funding opportunities and train them to be exceptional science policy communicators. This award represents an excellent opportunity for AAEA members to enhance their careers through networking and outreach.

Example Agenda 

• Day 1 AM - Navigating funding opportunities at the federal level (unconfirmed): US Department of Agriculture;  National Science Foundation; and/or US Department of Interior. 
• Day 1 PM -Congressional/science policy communications training.
• Day 2 All -Visit with Members of Congress and their staff in the Congressional Office Buildings in Washington DC.

C-FARE and AAEA will select recipients based on professional merit, guarantee of matching funds, and anticipated use of event information and training. Applicants must be an Early Career Professional member of AAEA. 

To apply for this opportunity, please send the following to info@cfare.org:

• Your name, postal address, e-mail address, and phone number;
• Your current status, including department and institution at which employed, brief summary of research area, funding, and professional rank;
• Description of your interest in and anticipated use of the workshop information and training (700 words);
• Proposed travel budget, including funding sources available, such as from your institution; and
• A nomination letter from a department, division head, or supervisor which includes a statement of nomination as well as financial support for travel expenses incurred beyond those provided by C-FARE. (Thanks to support from the AAEA Trust, 2 nights lodging will be provided along with four meals (breakfast/lunch) in D.C.)  

Deadline: Nomination documents should be submitted electronically in a single PDF to C-CFARE at info@cfare.org by May 5, 2014.* The C-FARE Board of Directors and the Chair of the AAEA Trust will review the applications. 
*Deadline has been extended to May 12, 2014.