Event Information

The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD), an advisory committee to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on food and agricultural development issues, is hosting a full-day public meeting, Elevating Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in USAID’s Agricultural, Nutrition, and Food System Programming to Inform Strategy Implementation: A Discussion of the BIFAD Climate Change Subcommittee Draft Commissioned Report, to address the opportunities and challenges of transformational climate change adaptation and mitigation in USAID’s agricultural, nutrition, and food systems programming. The meeting will take place on Monday, September 11, 2023, with both in-person and virtual participation options available.

The meeting is open to the public and will be hosted in-person and virtually. Register for in-person participation here and virtual participation here. 

The public meeting will be organized in two sessions:

I. Morning Session: A Vision for USAID Research to Advance Food Security, Nutrition, Climate, and Environment Goals

This session will focus on opportunities to integrate climate change in the implementation of the U.S. Government Global Food Security Research Strategy. Speakers will explore opportunities to strengthen the relationships among environmental, agricultural, nutrition, and food systems research programming, promoting investments that take explicit account of climate impacts while advancing food security, nutrition, and environmental goals. This session will highlight USAID’s plans to bring a climate change lens to agriculture, nutrition, and food systems research in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, other interagency partners, and the higher education community, particularly the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, in alignment with the U.S. Government Global Food Security Research Strategy. The session will invite comments and questions about this plan, and the conclusions will inform the specificity and actionability of recommendations relevant to the research outlined in the BIFAD-commissioned study.

II. Afternoon Session: A Deliberation of Draft Report Recommendations from the BIFAD Subcommittee on Systemic Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems

This session will provide a platform for the BIFAD Subcommittee on Systemic Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems to share and discuss the main findings, targets, and recommendations of the draft report with BIFAD, USAID representatives, and other stakeholders.

These include realistic 2030 targets for USAID and recommendations to achieve transformative change, encompassing both Agency operations and social and technical leverage points that merit additional investment. The recommendations are intended to support the implementation of USAID’s 2022–2030 Climate Strategy across the agricultural, nutrition, and food systems portfolio.

The Subcommittee’s draft report will be linked to www.usaid.gov/BIFAD on September 5, 2023. Members of the public are invited to submit written comments on the draft report until September 18, 2023. All public comments will be included in the public record and considered in BIFAD’s finalization of recommendations. For questions about BIFAD, or to submit written comments, evidence, or materials in advance or following the meeting, please use this feedback form or contact Clara Cohen, Designated Federal Officer for BIFAD in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security at USAID via email at [email protected] (Subject: Comment on the BIFAD Subcommittee on Climate Change Recommendations) or telephone at (202) 712-0119.

The BIFAD is a seven-member, presidentially appointed advisory board to the USAID established in 1975 under Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Act, as amended, to ensure that USAID brings the assets of U.S. universities to bear on development challenges in agriculture and food security and supports their representation in USAID programming.  

For questions about registration, please contact Rachel Helbig at [email protected].