Quarterly Report for AID-OAA-A-14-00031

The themes of the conference calls were planning for two upcoming BIFAD public meetings, the study being commissioned by BIFAD concerning strategic investments in international agriculture and food security upon American farmers and consumers, and other items of BIFAD's work plan for FY'18. These calls facilitated coordination and planning among BIFAD members. Significant time was devoted to preparing for two public BIFAD meetings to be held early in Q3 of FY'18. The meetings will focus on two new areas of emphasis in the Global Food Security Strategy: resilience and youth employment. BIFAD was asked by the USAID Administrator to investigate these issues and make recommendations. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) provided substantial support to BIFAD by engaging with presenters prior to the meetings, scheduling more than a dozen conference calls, and providing analysis to create a series of meetings that can allow BIFAD to give better advice to USAID. In preparation for hiring an expert for the benefits to the US commissioned study, APLU developed an annotated bibliography of articles published in the area, authored a linked set of resources for BIFAD members to use when ranking potential candidates, and summarized the rankings from BIFAD members. These activities will help BIFAD identify the best available expert to conduct this study, which is of high importance to USAID. The BIFAD Secretariat held six conference calls this quarter, focusing on planning for the BIFAD executive planning calls and the upcoming meetings. APLU assisted in arranging these calls and/or hosting the conference calls. The Senior Counselor and others at APLU sent numerous communications to the US higher education community. The Senior Counselor directly supported the Awards working groups. These efforts demonstrate the collaborative nature of BIFAD's work and the importance of partnerships in achieving its goals. The activities undertaken during this quarter have laid the groundwork for future meetings and initiatives, and will contribute to the development of effective strategies for addressing global food security challenges. The focus on resilience and youth employment in the upcoming BIFAD meetings reflects the evolving priorities of the Global Food Security Strategy. By investigating these issues and making recommendations, BIFAD can provide valuable insights to USAID and inform its programming and policy decisions. The work of BIFAD and its partners during this quarter has been instrumental in advancing the goals of the Global Food Security Strategy and promoting international cooperation on food security issues.