Dear Colleagues,
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) is expanding and refining the FFAR Challenge Areas for 2019. FFAR funds innovative research to solve food and agriculture's most pressing problems, which are defined by the Challenge Areas. The original Challenge Areas, established in 2016, funded projects and programs that helped the U.S. in feeding ourselves and the world. To continue supporting cutting-edge research, FFAR is updating the Challenge Areas to ensure alignment with existing research gaps and rapid impact.
As food and agricultural researchers, FFAR is seeking your input on this Challenge Area 2019 realignment. If you are interested in learning more about FFAR's funding priorities and/or providing comments on identified gaps and needs to inform the development of the 2019 FFAR Challenge Areas, please consider participating in the FFAR Public Meeting scheduled onFriday, October 12, 2018 from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM PT.
You may register to attend the Public Meeting at the following link: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07efp9lhrg72c4b0b2&oseq=&c=&ch=
FFAR is also accepting Challenge Area refinement comments online: https://foundationfar.org/ffar-challenge-area-realignment-2019/
Challenge Areas under consideration for realignment are as follows:
- Healthy Soils, Thriving Farms - FFAR will expand our view of soil health in the future by looking at linkages between soil health and many other dimensions of the food system. The Healthy Soils, Thriving Farms Challenge Area aims to increase soil health by building knowledge, fueling innovation, and enabling adoption of innovative practices. FFAR is expanding and exploring transdisciplinary approaches that draw linkages between soil health and farm productivity, economics, human health, management practices and other areas. FFAR will continue to support research that provides open, data driven, innovative science that allows farmers to make the most productive and sustainable decisions to conserve and improve soil health while supporting thriving farms.
- Sustainable Water Management - Of strong interest are opportunities to diversify production systems that could result in climate resilience and efficient production systems, and innovative practices that could result in cross-sectional improvements in agricultural water productivity from crop to livestock production that incorporate best practices in soil management and sustainable grazing methods. The Sustainable Water Management Challenge Area aims to increase the efficiency of water use inagriculture, reduce agricultural water pollution and develop water reuse technologies using a coordinated landscape approach. This Challenge Area will continue work on water efficiency throughout the production chain, improving crop and livestock varietals and breeds toward water conservation, increasing the social and economic tractability of water-conserving technologies and practices and enhancing extension services support to reduce water scarcity.
- Advanced Animal Systems - This Challenge Area evolved from the former Protein Challenge, which included plant proteins. Plant proteins are now part of the Next Generation Crops Challenge Area. The Advanced Animal Systems Challenge Area will use innovative technologies and environmentally-sound practices to enhance animal production systems. FFAR-funded research will promote health- and welfare-oriented animal production systems for the for a growing global population. There will be a strong emphasis on the use of big data and sustainable practices that benefit producers, animals and the public.
- Next Generation Crops - The Next Generation Crops Challenge Area aims to develop non-traditional crops and new economic opportunities for conventional crops, increasing crop diversity, nutrition and profitability. FFAR will support the advancement of novel, nutritious, profitable and resilient on-farm crops. There will be a strong emphasis on increasing crop diversity and use of new technologies to benefit consumers, producers and the environment. Research approaches will focus on innovative technologies and environmentally-sound production practices combined with the discovery and development of new end uses for both conventional and non-traditional crops. This area will include advanced breeding methods and development of biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.
- Healthy Food Systems - This new Challenge Area contains the former Food Waste and Loss and Making My Plate Your Plate Challenge Areas. In combining these areas FFAR hopes to improve food systems once food has left the farm to table. The Healthy Food Systems Challenge Area addresses inefficiencies in the food system to improve food and nutrition security and human health through sustainable food production practices. FFAR will support innovative, systems-level approaches aimed at reducing food and nutritional insecurity regionally, nationally and globally in a broad socioeconomic and environmental context. There will be emphasis on innovative and sustainable production of nutritious foods, novel processing and packaging technologies, transformational approaches that increase access to food, groundbreaking food waste reduction strategies and the development of methodologies to predict the supply of and demand for individual crops.
- Urban Food Systems - This Challenge Area has become more focused on research gaps in the urban setting. For example, while many industry partners are focusing on the economics of vertical farms from the lighting and heating and cooling perspective, FFAR will focus on breeding potentially high-value plants in this setting. The Urban Food Systems Challenge Area will support innovative, systems-level approaches aimed at reducing food and nutritional insecurity in a broad socioeconomic and environmental context. This area supports multiple aspects of food and agriculture in an urban setting. There will be an emphasis on transformational approaches that connect multiple dimensions of urban environments.
- Innovation Pathways to Sustainability - Because projects in this area typically fit into other Challenge Areas, Innovation Pathways to Sustainability will no longer be a stand-alone Challenge Area. Barriers to innovation adoption will be addressed in the Challenge Areas to which they pertain.
- Rapid Outcomes for Agriculture Research - FFAR will continue the Rapid Outcomes for Agriculture Research (ROAR) program to provide rapid response research funding in the case of a food or agriculture emergency.
- Other FFAR Priorities - FFAR will also continue to develop programs and projects to propel students and retain researchers in food and agriculture research.
- Many technologies and methods will be used and tested in FFAR's upcoming programs and projects. These include blockchain, data analytics, robotics, sensors, open source platforms, artificial intelligence, new genetic technologies, and systems approaches to food and agriculture that consider sustainability, farm profitability, and health. These and other innovative approaches may be used across Challenge Areas.
Thank you.
Kathleen Nolan, Director, ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG)