The Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship

The Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship administers a grant program that supports agricultural research and capacity building through international fellowships and collaborative projects. The program operates as a sub-office within USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service and funds scientific partnerships between U.S. academic institutions and international agricultural counterparts.

The Fellowship has obligated $5 million in combined federal and non-federal grant dollars across 46 awards since its inception in 2017, supporting 28 distinct recipients. Activity has been uneven: the program awarded 16 grants in 2017 and 16 in 2018, then dropped to 4 awards in 2019, 1 in 2020, and resumed with 9 awards in 2023. The most recent recorded grant award closed on 2023-10-01. The program structures nearly all funding as Cooperative Agreements (45 awards, 98%) with a single Block Grant (1 award, 2%).

Grant recipient concentration among the current leadership is fragmented. Over the last five years, the top five recipients by award count—Iowa State University of Science and Technology (2 awards, $184 thousand), New Mexico State University (1 award, $300 thousand), University of Tennessee (1 award, $267 thousand), Mississippi State University (1 award, $215 thousand), and University of California, Davis (1 award, $221 thousand)—account for 67 percent of recent awards. By federal dollars obligated, the top five recipients are University of Missouri System ($1 million), Texas A&M Agrilife Research ($500 thousand), New Mexico State University ($300 thousand), University of Tennessee ($267 thousand), and University of Florida ($260 thousand), covering 47 percent of recent federal dollars. The disparity between award-count and dollar-based concentration reflects the program's mixed award sizes and uneven funding across recipients.

No recent grant opportunities are recorded in the source data. Given the three-year gap between the most recent award (2023-10-01) and the current date, the program's current solicitation status is unclear. Prospective applicants should verify current funding cycles and eligibility through the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service directly.