A $6 million grant has been bestowed on the Kansas State University Feed the Future Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab (SIIL).
University officials, in a Tuesday news release, cited the lab’s “decade of success” in providing global food security as a key reason it was awarded the grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Agency officials say the funding will help strengthen existing agricultural research, education and outreach entities in Guatemala. The country’s rural and indigenous communities have struggled for years with poverty and malnutrition, due to a lack of resources. Guatemala has the highest rate of stunting in the Western Hemisphere at 47%.
Associate Director of SIIL Jan Middendorf stated Tuesday that the $6 million has four main objectives, including the strengthening of multi-sector collaboration, communication and strategic partnerships; creating innovation and technology transfer; strengthening institutions, human and social capital and knowledge management and improving knowledge of agriculture nutrient management and farmer use.
SIIL is in its 10th year operating at Kansas State University. The lab’s portfolio over the past decade totals more than $75 million.
