Canadian International Food Security Research Fund - Phase II

The Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) supports applied research projects that address food security challenges in the developing world. It is jointly funded coordinated and implemented in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and uses the combined expertise of both organizations to maximize the impact of the projects funded. Through investments in applied research the CIFSRF contributes to the development of more productive sustainable and gender-sensitive agricultural techniques for women subsistence farmers with the ultimate goal of making food sources more secure and accessible and the food produced more nutritious for poor households. Women and girls are particularly targeted by this project since they face the heaviest burden of chronic hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. The objectives of the CIFSRF are: (1) to increase food security in developing countries by funding applied research in agricultural development and nutrition; (2) to apply Canadian science and technology expertise in collaboration with developing country partners to address food security; (3) to use research results to inform food security policies and programs; and (4) to identify innovations and scale up the most promising research from both Phase I and Phase II of the Fund to help meet future global food demand. Phase II focuses geographically on the 20 countries already targeted under Phase I as well as all other official development assistance-eligible countries in Africa. Project activities for phase II include: (1) developing farming methods that can better withstand the effects of climate change; (2) developing environmentally sustainable gender-sensitive farmer-led research models for breeding and distribution of new crops or underutilized traditional crops and consumption of sufficient safe and nutritious food; (3) improving family-based aquaculture; (4) decreasing domestic animal losses through deve

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased use of Canadian knowledge and resources by developing country researchers to address key food security research priorities in developing countries and globally with emphasis on environmental sustainability and equitable participation and benefit of women as farmers consumers and entrepreneurs alongside men; (2) increased application and scaling-up of environmentally sustainable food security and nutrition solutions that benefit subsistence farmers (particularly women) and promote the equitable participation of women and men in decision-making in targeted developing countries; and (3) more informed gender responsive environmentally sustainable and better developed public policies and programming related to food security and nutrition in developing countries.