The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recently announced a $30 million grant for the Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) at the University of Illinois (U of I), according to a release.
The grant was given to SIL under the U.S. government’s global initiative Feed the Future, created to address world hunger and food security and led by USAID. The investment awards SIL for its almost 10-years of progress toward creating a soybean value chain throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, dedicating additional resources to promote the adoption of life-changing products.
“We’ve done the discovery research, but we need to get end products through the last mile so that soybean farmers all across Sub-Saharan Africa can adopt these technologies,” said Peter Goldsmith, director of the Soybean Innovation Lab and U of I professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. “Our technology solutions incorporate the product life cycle and directly address acute bottlenecks, such as the lack of seed, persistent low yields and manual threshing challenges that limit a sustainable soybean value chain in Africa.”
The five-year project is the launch of “SIL 3.0,” the most recent iteration of soybean value chain research spearheaded by USAID funds. SIL 3.0 focuses on removing the “‘last mile’ to localizing technology adoption,” focusing on issues such as the licensing of new soybean varieties, the adoption of technology geared towards improving productivity by soy processors and food manufacturers and “mobilizing credit and investment to support organizations’ capital needs as they deploy these technologies through their large and active networks,” explained the release.
“The U of I has a long history of work building knowledge and capacity for agricultural development in Africa and an even longer record of research on soybean production and utilization. Under Goldsmith’s leadership and with USAID’s support, SIL has married our capabilities in international agriculture and soybean value chains to make a real difference globally,” said Alex Winter-Nelson, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Science’s associate dean of research. “We are delighted USAID has selected Illinois to lead its latest efforts in using soybean as a mechanism for addressing global poverty and hunger.”
SIL was founded in 2013 through a Feed the Future grant to tend to the foundation for African soybean success. In 2018, a funding renewal made SIL 2.0 possible, turning the focus to widespread release of technological solutions.
SIL recognizes the large role African women play as smallholder farmers and household decision makers, as they include gender equity and inclusivity into their development activities.
“The new Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Soybean led by the University of Illinois will provide critical research and innovations that make high quality, nutritious foods more affordable for African consumers, while ensuring that smallholder farmers contribute to and benefit from the growing role of soy-based foods in Africa,” said Rob Bertram, chief scientist in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security.
The Feed the Future initiative currently supports 21 Innovation Labs throughout the U.S., with the goal to combat poverty, hunger and undernutrition.
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