In May 2022, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) outlined an ambitious action agenda for how the agency would address the climate crisis.
More than two years on, a new report outlines the various initiatives NIFA has since undertaken to advance climate-related research, strengthen food supply chains and support communities responding to climate challenges.
Published earlier this month, the NIFA Climate Change Priority Team: Accomplishments and Action Agenda Report highlights the agency’s progress over the last two years on the 44 unique actions outlined in the NIFA Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan. These concrete, near-term actions, developed through several rounds of staff and external stakeholder input, were identified to reflect a coordinated, collaborative response to the vulnerabilities and impacts caused by our changing climate.
The new report provides descriptions and overviews of NIFA’s accomplishments to date in the following categories: climate change programming; strategic planning; organizational effectiveness; and stakeholder outreach and engagement. It highlights NIFA’s broad climate change-relevant funding opportunities, exciting projects spearheaded by our partners and stakeholders, actions NIFA has taken to support staff and grantees, and where we plan to go next.
“One of the accomplishments I am most proud to celebrate in this report is the integration of climate change throughout NIFA’s major competitive funding opportunities, including our flagship program, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative,” said NIFA Director Dr. Manjit Misra. “I join the NIFA Climate Change Priority Team in looking forward to engaging stakeholders, including our Land-grant University partners and beyond, as we continue to address climate change through new technologies, develop market opportunities, and support communities.”
A first-in-kind portfolio analysis
One key accomplishment NIFA achieved in the programming category is the completion of a comprehensive portfolio analysis that enables NIFA to present, for the first time, validated data about agency funding in climate change science.
The analysis of climate change science awards funded with Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations shows that NIFA invested more than $207 million on projects related to climate change research, education and Extension, accounting for approximately 15 percent of the total competitive funding that year.
Across all the climate change-related awards, 57 percent was directed towards research activities, with the remainder being almost equally divided between education and Extension activities, 21 percent and 22 percent respectively. NIFA has prioritized increasing funding for Extension and education activities related to climate change science since 2021.
Expanding opportunities for climate change science
Since 2021, NIFA created several new funding opportunities specific to climate change science, both within the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative and through other funding sources. NIFA also collaborated with other federal agencies to fund programs related to climate change and has continued to support multiple programs that were already funding climate change science.
In addition, NIFA integrated climate change science into USDA priorities like workforce development, environmental justice, and food and nutrition security.
“Climate change touches our lives in so many ways,” said Dr. Kevin Kephart, deputy director of NIFA’s Institute of Bioenergy, Climate, and Environment. “It affects our jobs, the way we live and how we eat.”
Other NIFA accomplishments highlighted in the report include:
- Staff sharing of expertise in published scientific reports, government reports, and strategic plans
- Staff serving as expert reviewers for other USDA grant programs
- Developing funding programs with rolling deadlines to assist applicants impacted by disasters
- Holding public webinars on climate change science funding opportunities
- Working with partners to identify opportunities to address climate change
Charting a course for future action
Another area of analysis conducted by the Climate Change Priority Team was to assess gaps between NIFA’s actions and accomplishments and the most relevant NIFA and USDA strategic plans and guiding documents, which were then aligned with the four categories first established in the NIFA Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan: programming, strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, and outreach and engagement.
Priority actions related to this gaps analysis include:
- Developing a comprehensive and systematic process to analyze the agency’s climate portfolio
- Connecting with technical counterparts at other federal agencies to coordinate around foundational climate change science research
- Organizing symposia at public meetings with the goal of linking nontraditional partners to identify the most pressing climate change scientific opportunities
Misra said the actions identified by the agency’s Climate Change Priority Team build on the strong accomplishments identified in the report.
“Acting on these priorities will equip NIFA to better identify and report on the impacts of our climate change investments, continue to improve the climate knowledge of NIFA’s workforce, build even stronger relationships with our stakeholders and, hopefully, spur accelerated innovations that can support rural and agricultural communities across the United States and Territories/insular areas to be more resilient to climate change,” he added.