The Impact of policy shifts on farmers and global food security

Today millions of people lack access to nutritious food. Access to affordable nutritious food is a basic human right. Since its founding, the Danforth Center has been dedicated to harnessing plant science to address this global challenge. 

In 2020, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project $8M, of which $6.75M has been spent to develop varieties of the staple food crop, cassava that are resistant to serious virus diseases and have increased levels of iron and zinc in the storage roots. Funding also supported development of the seed systems needed to deliver improved varieties to farmers. 

VIRCA is a multi-institutional project involving research scientists, breeders, regulatory experts and communication specialists at the Danforth Center and the National Agricultural Research Systems in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zanzibar.

Drastically, as part of the new administration’s foreign policy mandates, the Danforth Center was notified that, effective February 25, 2025, all USAID funding for the VIRCA project has been terminated. 

The shortfall of $2.1M seriously impacts the project just as it is entering crucial phases in 2025. Project activities will have to cease in three countries and must be scaled back in Kenya and Rwanda. Because of this policy shift, in Kenya alone, tens of thousands of farming families will not be able to access enhanced, disease resistant cassava in 2026-2027 as planned.

Cassava is a starchy root crop is consumed by over 800 million people in tropical regions around the world. It is also increasing in importance as a cash crop for manufacturing biofuel, beverages and processed products, providing income for smallholder farmers and fueling economic development. 

However, cassava production is threatened by  virus diseases that suppress productivity and marketable value of the crop. In severe cases yields from entire fields are lost. The crop is also lacking in key nutrients. 

“Often you can’t see the symptoms cassava brown streak disease on the leaves which can be very mild,” said Nigel Taylor, PhD, Dorothy J. King distinguished investigator at the Danforth Center who has been working on the project for nearly 20 years. “But when you dig up the storage roots there are big, brown lesions. It makes the roots inedible. You can’t feed them to animals. You can’t sell them — they’re ruined.”