CIDA funding to African agricultural / food security R&D

On June 20, 2012, IDRC and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) announced six winning projects to be funded under the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF). Six research teams of Canadian and developing-country researchers will receive a total of CA$16.5 million in funding to carry out applied agricultural and nutrition research to increase food security. This brings to 19 the number of projects funded by CIFSRF since its launch in 2009.

The projects for Africa are:

• Developing a vaccine for eradicating contagious bovine pleuropneumonia in Africa (#106929) Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute are developing a vaccine for bovine pleuropneumonia in Africa, a highly contagious bacterial disease in cattle that can significantly reduce the incomes of small-scale farmers. [Funding: CA$1.6 million, Duration: 2012–2014]
• Vaccines to combat livestock diseases in sub-Saharan Africa (#106930) Researchers at the University of Alberta and the Agricultural Research Council in South Africa are developing inexpensive, safe, and easy-to-use vaccines using a novel delivery technology to combat a host of livestock diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. This will contribute to food availability, nutritional security, and higher incomes for rural families. The delivery technology being developed could also be useful to Canadian farmers. [Funding: CA$3.7 million, Duration: 2012–2014]
• Improving nutrition in Ethiopia through plant breeding and soil management (#106927) Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan and Ethiopia’s Hawassa University are testing ways to combat micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition in three different regions of Southern Ethiopia. Using plant-breeding and improved soil management, they are working to increase the zinc and iron content of pulse crops. (this is a new phase of the research project Improving pulse crops in southern Ethiopia (#106305) (September 2010 - August 2012) [Funding: CA$3.1 million, Duration: 2012-2014]