The new Borlaug Higher Education Agricultural Research and Development program, named after Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug, is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development's Bureau for Food Security. Part of Feed the Future, the government's global hunger and food security initiative, the program will strengthen agricultural research institutions and support long-term training of agricultural researchers at the master's- and doctoral-degree levels.

"MSU has 50-plus years of engagement in Africa, and we're currently managing several M.S. and Ph.D. training programs whose objectives and program design are similar to those of this initiative," said Eric Crawford, professor of agricultural, food and resource economics. "MSU faculty is well versed in planning, designing and managing training and human capacity-building programs, especially in plant breeding, food science and food security, which are key areas of Feed the Future."

Crawford, who also serves as co-director of MSU's Food Security Group, and Frederik Derksen, chairperson of MSU's Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, housed in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will lead the effort.