The U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization projects that agricultural production will need to increase by 70 percent to feed a world population of 9.6 billion in 2050. One of the greatest challenges will be educating the future labor force, skilled workers, and scientists to ensure continued growth in agricultural production in the next decades.
NIFA education programs enhance the agricultural and food workforce through programs that support agricultural workforce development, increase agricultural literacy, strengthen student recruitment and retention, and build educational capacity.
Strengthening Agricultural Education
NIFA’s approach to strengthening agricultural education is based on enhancing the education pipeline continuum and includes several priority areas.
- Engage K-12 students in agricultural literacy programs in nonformal and formal educational settings.
- Nonformal Education: NIFA provides leadership for 4-H, the Nation’s largest youth development program, that is conducted in partnership with 110 universities and engages 6 million young people.
- Formal education: NIFA offers professional development and curriculum development opportunities in agriculture for K-14 education professionals.
- Broaden learning and engagement opportunities for undergraduates to develop the workforce skills needed in the food, agricultural science, natural resources, and human science professions.
- Advance the development of high-quality educational curricula
- Enhance learning methods
- Design teacher preparation and professional development programs
- Promote linkages among secondary, two-year post-secondary, and higher education programs in the food and agricultural sciences.
- Advance science and promote innovation by supporting graduate and postgraduate education to cultivate future leaders who can address and solve emerging agricultural challenges.
Workforce Development
NIFA promotes workforce development and employability through multiple programs. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) has a program area devoted to workforce development. The AFRI Education and Workforce Development Program addresses projected shortfalls of qualified graduates in the agricultural, food, and renewable natural resources sectors through formal and nonformal education, experiential learning, professional development and in-service training.
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)
AFRI is the Nation’s flagship agricultural competitive grants program. It supports scientists, researchers, and Extension professionals as they seek solutions to our most pressing challenges.
Explore AFRIWhat We Do
NIFA is securing the future of the Nation by investing in crucial scientific innovation to address key challenges facing agriculture.
Every university teaches. Most conduct research. But only the Nation's more than 100 Land-grant Colleges and Universities have a third, critical mission—sharing that research-based knowledge and information to every county in the United States through Cooperative Extension.