Canadian International Food Security Research Fund - Phase II
Programs and partnerships
Summary
In 2009, IDRC and the Canadian International Development Agency (now part of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada) launched the five-year CA$62 million Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF).Read more
In 2009, IDRC and the Canadian International Development Agency (now part of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada) launched the five-year CA$62 million Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF). The fund was designed to finance initiatives to solve global food and nutritional insecurity problems through applied, collaborative, and results-oriented research. To date, the fund has supported 19 large applied agriculture and nutrition research consortia in 20 countries. Each has a mix of Canadian and developing-country researchers. Early results appear promising. There is a large volume of high quality research being conducted, much with the potential to be scaled-up. The second phase is budgeted at CA$62.5 million and designed to build on Phase 1. The program will support new food security research in priority areas and countries. It will bring the most promising research results to directly benefit subsistence farmers, particularly women. It will also contribute to long-term global food security. Research will build on existing findings and gaps, while focusing on long-term sustainability and uptake. The project's specific objectives are to: -develop more equitable, productive, and environmentally sustainable agri-food systems that increase food security and enhance nutrition in developing countries; -increase food security in developing countries by funding applied agricultural development and nutrition research; -apply Canadian science and technology expertise in collaboration with developing-country partners to address food security; -use research results to inform food security policies and programs; and, -identify innovations and scale-up the most promising research results.