"We go where the farmers are": How global MSU programs feed and educate the world
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EmailInformational event highlights global MSU programs feeding and educating the world amid USAID budget cuts.
“Who Will Feed and Educate the World? Spartans Will.”
MSU faculty, staff and researchers looked to spread that message during programming at the Rock highlighting the impact of MSU’s federally funded international research and engagement.
Since recent executive orders halting most U.S. foreign aid, nearly 90 percent of the 6,200 global programs run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have been eliminated. These sweeping cuts have hit universities nationwide, including MSU, dismantling global projects without warning.
Last year, MSU received about $23 million in USAID awards. So far, 20 USAID-affiliated projects at MSU have received termination notices since the executive orders were issued in January.
To draw attention to this situation, faculty and staff from several MSU international programs organized a gathering on Wednesday, April 16, to paint the Rock. The following day, they held informational tabling to educate the MSU community about these programs.
Highlighting the positive impact of MSU’s global engagement, event organizers shared personal experiences, handed out snacks and distributed educational materials to passing students and campus community members. Among those present were leaders from the USAID Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership, USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research, the MSU Food Security Group and the USAID Transforming Higher Education Systems Malawi project.
Sudden and devastating cuts
Established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, USAID operates in over 100 countries, funding projects promoting economic growth, agriculture, global health, food security, climate resilience, education, disaster relief and democratic governance worldwide.
For MSU researchers and staff, there’s been a profound sense of sadness and confusion since the USAID cuts, but also a steadfast resolve in the face of these challenges deeply connected to MSU's land-grant mission.
“I got involved with international work because the potato is a world food crop,” said Dave Douches, director of MSU Potato Breeding & Genetics at MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and project lead for the USAID Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership. “I felt that the breeding and research we were conducting in the U.S. would have benefits to other regions of the world.”
Through the USAID partnership, Douches and his team have spent years working on developing and deploying late-blight resistant potatoes. The same disease that contributed to the Irish Potato Famine in the mid-1800s, late blight causes billions of dollars in damage to global potato crops annually, endangering food supplies in many parts of the world. In partnership with local farmers, their team focuses on innovative solutions to issues facing potato producers throughout the world, including Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
“Our late-blight resistant potatoes can have a great economic benefit, improving livelihoods and global food security,” said Douches. “I believe this project is completely aligned in making the U.S. and the American people safer, stronger and more prosperous.”
Kelly Zarka, a member of the Global Biotech Potato Partnership team, said that prior to the cuts, they were on the cusp of globally deploying a late-blight resistant potato. “The work was quickly advancing and would have led to self-reliance, deployment of products and opportunities,” said Zarka. “We were so close to helping millions of people.”
No matter the challenges, Douches said he and his team remain as committed as ever, because they know their work makes a real difference. “We don’t do this for the money or accolades,” said Douches. “As researchers we go where the farmers are, no matter where that takes us. It can be uncomfortable at times, but we do it because it is the right thing to do.”
“There are a lot of people that need to be fed. So, we will keep fighting… there just isn’t another option.”
Human costs, global consequences
MSU’s international engagement is a critical feature of a broader mission to connect and serve people wherever they are. Today, MSU is one of the most globally engaged universities in the nation, with more than 350 partnerships in 60 countries. MSU is also home to more than 4,500 international students and scholars and more than 1,600 faculty and academic staff involved in international research, teaching and outreach.
A prime example of MSU’s leadership on the global stage is the Food Security Group (FSG). For over 50 years, the FSG has been driving global change by advancing policies tackling poverty and hunger by addressing socio-economic issues like nutrition, youth employment and climate change.
Collectively, the FSG has published hundreds of scientific articles and attracted over $160 million in research grants. While research expenditures may focus internationally, FSG Director David Tschirley said the benefits associated with this work are also felt here at home.
“Some of our biggest supporters are Michigan commodity groups because they understand the value of what we do and the impact it makes domestically,” said Tschirley. “International research is an investment that pays dividends. The work we do abroad translates into results both for our global partners and here at home. Based on most recent studies, for every dollar invested in these programs, $30 to $40 comes back to the U.S."
Aidan Bocym, an MSU student studying genomics and molecular genetics from Caledonia, MI, stopped by the tabling event on his way to class. He expressed concern about the long-term effects of defunding international research initiatives given USAID’s role in fighting hunger and preventing disease. “It’s extraordinarily important. These programs help people,” he said. “Cutting off USAID programs hurts this university, and it hurts the world.”
Ann Marie Murphy, a nutrition science student from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, shared a personal story with faculty and staff leaders at the USAID tabling event. She recently spent a week in the Dominican Republic as part of a study abroad program through the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and saw firsthand how USAID funding cuts are impacting lives.
“We worked with doctors and public health officials,” said Murphy, “we talked to them about their HIV work and how, because of USAID cuts, a lot of their funding was cut, and a lot of people are suffering because of it.”
Project lead for the USAID Transforming Higher Education Systems Malawi initiative through the College of Education, Jessica Garrels, said that it is difficult to fully capture the human costs associated with disengaging from global outreach work. Working with 10 higher education institutions in Malawi, her program focused on strengthening the quality of degrees to better position graduates to succeed at home and in the international market.
The budget cuts have resulted in job losses for Garrels and her team at MSU. In Malawi, all staff and partners have also lost their jobs. Additionally, 47 undergraduate students in Malawi, who earned scholarships through a competitive selection process, have lost their funding. “It’s devastating to have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like that pulled out from under you,” she said.
Beyond the job and funding losses, Garrels said these cuts threaten one of the main attractions that draw students to MSU.
“One of the things that attracts students to this university is that you're not just going to learn about education here in Michigan,” she said. “But you're going to get some perspectives from outside too, sharing culture, ideals, that exchange makes the world more secure. So, I think we are going to lose a lot.”
Fighting for the future
Nobody downplays the magnitude of the challenges ahead. In the face of an uncertain future, no one has given up. Douches and other international program leaders across MSU are actively seeking alternative resources to continue their work in the short-term while advocating for the restoration of federal funding.
“Having the opportunity to work for these programs at the university truly has been the best experience that I've ever had,” said Jan Fierro, a communications manager for the Feed the Future USAID Potato Partnership and Legume Innovation Lab. With her position tied to USAID funding, Fierro’s role has also been eliminated. Like her colleagues, the loss is deeply disappointing. Yet she takes great pride in the work she’s been a part of.
“We are just a small part of our world and being able to help make an impact through this work has made a difference in my life.”
No matter what, the objective for these MSU researchers will remain: their mission to feed and educate the world continues.
Because that is what Spartans do.
