Cooperative Agreement FX22TA10960C003

The Cooperativa De SM Cacao Bocatorena R.L. (COCABO) will receive $297,000 through a Project Grant award from the Inter-American Foundation's (IAF) Assistance for Overseas Programs to support cacao farmer renovation and organic cultivation efforts in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Administered under the IAF's CFDA #85.750 program, which aims to strengthen bonds of friendship and support self-help efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean, the three-year award will enable COCABO to renovate aging cacao...

This Cooperative Agreement (CA) award of $150,000 from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service under the Technical Agricultural Assistance program (CFDA 10.960) will establish a national sensory panel for cacao quality and flavor evaluation in Colombia that follows global standards. The award will also support the coordination of cacao research. The primary beneficiaries will be cacao farmers and processors in Colombia. The awardee is the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), a...

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) awarded a $246,000 Project Grant under the IAF Assistance for Overseas Programs (CFDA 85.750) to Asociacion De Productores Pico Bonito De San Francisco (ASOPROPIB) in Honduras. The grant aims to help small-scale cacao farmers in the Atlantida Department of Honduras earn higher incomes and reduce the incentive for irregular migration. ASOPROPIB will assist its members in producing value-added cacao products, such as butter and powder, and developing agrotourism...

The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (UGA Research Foundation) was awarded a $789,777 Project Grant under the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)'s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The funding supports research to elucidate the mechanisms of pathogenicity and host specificity of the devastating plant pathogen Phytophthora palmivora. Key objectives include determining how the pathogenicity factor PPALRXLR1 confers infection capability,...

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) awarded a $316,160 Project Grant to Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Regional (CEDER) under the IAF Assistance for Overseas Programs (CFDA 85.750) to support 300 smallholder avocado producers in the Peruvian highlands. The grant aims to increase the productivity, product quality, and market access of these small-scale avocado farmers by implementing efficient and sustainable water management systems, improving agricultural practices, and assisting with...

The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) was awarded a $599,448 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the 1890 Institution Capacity Building Grants Program (CFDA 10.216). The grant aims to revolutionize food science education by integrating chocolate science into academic curricula. Key products and services to be delivered include: Developing a comprehensive 3-credit course on...

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) awarded a $303,200 project grant to Cooperativa Agraria Norandino LTDA Coop Norandino (Norandino) under the IAF Assistance for Overseas Programs (CFDA #85.750) to improve economic opportunity for smallholder cacao producers in Peru. Norandino will work with cacao growers in Piura, Peru to strengthen productive organization and increase capacity to meet new international cacao export standards. The cooperative will implement innovative solutions to help farmers...

This $2,664,745 Project Grant awarded by the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (CFDA 10.309) seeks to introduce the faba bean as a sustainable fall/winter crop in the Mid-Atlantic region. The key objectives are to identify and develop winter-hardy faba bean varieties with desirable agronomic and quality characteristics for both conventional and organic farming, leveraging cutting-edge genomics, phenomics, and...

This $649,348 Project Grant award from the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program to Oklahoma State University (OSU) aims to investigate how sugar concentrations affect the alternate bearing phenomenon in pecan trees. The research objectives include: Determining the correlations between sugar concentration, expression of SWEET transporter genes, gibberellin levels, and floral gene expression in pecan trees undergoing alternate bearing. Examining how changes in sugar...

This $5,087,410 federal Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Specialty Crop Research Initiative (CFDA 10.309) supports research and extension activities to develop new bean varieties with enhanced nutritional and popping qualities. The key objectives are to: Improve advanced bean breeding lines with desirable popping and nutritional traits. Evaluate field performance and quality characteristics of new bean varieties under different growing conditions....