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Food Security in AfricaThe University: Experience and Qualifications Since its founding in 1855 as the first land grant university in the U.S., Michigan State University has adhered to its original mission: to “strive to discover practical uses for theoretical knowledge, and to speed the diffusion of information to residents of the state, the nation, and the world.” In operational terms, MSU has concentrated on building its strengths in educating and training succeeding generations of researchers both from the U.S. and the world at large. It has sought to establish collaborative links with people and institutions worldwide, broadening its research, academic and service outreach. MSU is recognized as a center of excellence in international development. The academic and professional community at Michigan State is highly diverse and responsive and augments the University’s international goals with a broad array of globally relevant skills and expertise. People from every county in Michigan, every state in the U.S. and 134 countries around the world contribute to the University’s success. Annually, more than 3500 international students and scholars enroll in MSU’s graduate and undergraduate and certificate programs. MSU plays host to hundreds of international visitors every year who come to view campus research facilities, participate in campus life as visiting scholars and specialists, or to meet with MSU colleagues. Hundreds of MSU faculty members are engaged in critical outreach programs in many countries throughout the world, teaching, conducting research or providing technical assistance. For more than 50 years, Michigan State University has been a leader among U.S. universities in international development programs. MSU has had a broad and deepening involvement in conducting technical assistance and research in developing countries, assisting the development of new institutions, and providing training for development tasks. MSU, through its Departments and Institutes and Centers, has also managed projects throughout the world, providing short- and long-term in-country technical assistance, degree and non-degree training programs, and extensive backstopping support from the main campus. The Office of the Dean of International Studies and Programs has overall responsibility for the university’s international initiatives. While historically a majority of MSU’s international development and technical assistance projects have been conducted by faculty in various departments of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, international expertise is increasingly incorporated into all aspects of university life marking MSU as a global university. The Office of Contract and Grant Administration (CGA) holds fiscal audit authority and responsibility for the MSU contractual portfolio with both domestic and international external donors. In fiscal 2006-2007 awards for sponsored projects reached $308 million. To ensure that MSU is aware of, and can comply with the various agency regulations, CGA is organized by funding agency. CGA has a separate group dedicated to administration of international projects. Food Security in Africa What is food security? Assuring that all people at all times have enough food for a healthy active life: 3 dimensions – access, utilization, and availability. To succeed in the fight against hunger and poverty, Africans must lead the way. To that end, MSU attracts world-class resources to fight hunger and poverty: faculty, graduate students, African partners, and the broader community. MSU faculty have a long history of involvement in Africa, collaborating with many partners: USAID/Washington, USAID Missions, African institutions, local and international NGO’s. The MSU core faculty working on food security include faculty with an aggregate of over 300 years of professional experience, including some 170 person-years of work on previous MSU African food security projects. Most of the faculty team’s members have lived as long-term residents in some 19 sub-Saharan countries. Food Security III Cooperative Agreement The FS II/III approach includes strengthening Africans’ voice in policy and program formulation, building African capacity to conduct applied research, outreach and training using information technologies and other tools and promoting public-private sector and NGO collaborations. The cooperative agreement’s contributions include making markets work more effectively, improving farmer’s access to better technologies, improving poor people’s access to food, and strengthening civil society through farmer and trade associations. Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa The objective of the Partnership to Cut Hunger in Africa is to develop a new consensus on a long-term strategy for U.S. efforts to help cut hunger in Africa and a continuing partnership to implement the resulting program. Africa's massive food and hunger crisis is the world's most challenging development problem. In the year 2000, almost 200 million Africans, fully a third of the total population, go to sleep hungry and 31 million African children under the age of five are malnourished. These problems are compounded by the AIDS epidemic now ravaging the continent. The human and economic costs are staggering. Strengthening agriculture in Africa is key to addressing the root causes of hunger. By providing rural families (two thirds of the population) with opportunities to produce more of their own food, or earn income to buy more food and basic consumer goods, countries can lay the foundation for fighting hunger in a sustainable way. Agricultural investments that favor the poor are essential to stimulating new growth and income-earning opportunities not only in farming, but in other rural and urban activities as well, particularly micro-enterprises. These investments also stimulate the necessary economic growth to finance improvements in child/maternal health and nutrition education, which are essential to cut malnutrition. Agricultural productivity growth also reduces population pressure on forests and fragile ecosystems, thereby helping to protect the environment. This initiative originated with M. Peter McPherson, who was President of Michigan State University at the time and continues a strong relationship with MSU. |
