Additional Context: Before the U.S. aid cuts, the Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois supported breeding pipelines with partners including IITA (Zambia), CSIR (Ghana), EIAR (Ethiopia), and Makerere University (Uganda), helping ensure a steady flow of improved soybean varieties suited to unique ecological conditions on the African continent. The Gates Foundation has stepped in to fund IITA through November 2027. But with U.S. support withdrawn, researchers warn that other breeding pipelines and testing systems will stall, slowing the release of improved varieties and risking a return to informal seed systems where farmers receive poorly tested varieties that often underperform.

Devex Researcher Note: The Feed the Future Innovation Labs were USAID-funded research programs that advanced U.S. innovation leadership in agriculture and global food security. Of the 17 Innovation Labs, 16 received cancellation notices from the Department of State/USAID, while one—the Climate-Resilient Cereals Lab at Kansas State University—received a resume work order on April 7, after a three month freeze in operations. The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture at UC Davis has since launched ‘Responsible Innovations’ to preserve years of food systems research and global partnerships.

Source: Soybean Innovation Lab