Timely Research. Actionable Evidence. Development Impact.
The Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) supports USAID’s Missions, Bureaus, and Independent Offices to make evidence-based decisions. Our global network of 1000 plus university-affiliated scholars and development experts work to enhance the impact of USAID sponsored initiatives and guide decision making with the latest research.
Read about our workOur Global Network
RTAC Network
Research Translation
A Profile of RTAC’s Research-related Partnerships
As we enter the midpoint of the Research Technical Assistance Center’s (RTAC) fifth year, we take stock of the…
Story
Climate and Environmental Protection
Preserving and Restoring Mangroves Protects Communities
This brief, available in English and Tagalog, details the valuable services that mangroves provide, explains the challenges of preserving and restoring mangrove forests, and provides recommendations for local leaders to take to protect communities from the consequences of sea level rise and increasingly severe typhoons. Both briefs also include links to the “State of Mangrove Summit” findings for Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, and the Central and Eastern Visayas.
Resource
Conflict & Security
Feed the Future and Conflict Integration Toolkit
Conflict remains one of the largest drivers of global food insecurity worldwide and the stressors this puts on the food…
Resource
Our Global Network
View all Universities
1048
Faculty, Graduate Students, Post-Doctoral Students
394
Women Researchers
524
Researchers affiliated with Developing-Country Academic Institutions
75
Countries Represented in the Network
474
Universities Around the World
55%
Members Outside the U.S.
Our Expertise
RTAC has specific expertise in implementing complex research studies, developing a range of research-translation products, organizing, and facilitating expert panels and convenings, designing and implementing tailored technical trainings, and offering other technical assistance and strategic support at the request of USAID. Learn more about RTAC and our nine distinct areas of expertise.
Education
Education is a foundational driver of development, and fundamental to achieving self-reliance. Education is transformational for individuals and societies–it creates pathways to better health, economic growth, a sustainable environment, and peaceful, democratic societies.
More Stories More ResourcesUSAID READ Program: A Novel Approach Boosts Literacy in Dominican Schools
Literacy skills are essential building blocks for success in primary education and advancement to secondary schooling. Yet schools in the…
Factsheet
Applying Novel Digital Strategies in Development: Education and Engaging Offline Communities
On April 8, 2020, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/U.S. Global Development Lab’s Center for Digital Development (CDD), under the auspices of the Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC), hosted a live public webinar on “Digital Strategies in Education: Evidence from the Field as part of USAID’s “Digi-Know” series,” Led by RTAC partner Arizona State University (ASU) a second webinar entitled “Digital Strategies for Offline Communities: Cases and Lessons from the Field,” occurred on August 12, 2020, diving deeper into case studies based on the ASU faculty team’s research.
Story
Digital Strategies in Education – Evidence From the Field
On April 8, 2020, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/U.S. Global Development Lab’s Center for Digital Development (CDD), under the auspices of the Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC), hosted a live public webinar on “Digital Strategies in Education: Evidence from the Field.”
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Climate and Environmental Protection
Forests, grasslands, rivers, lakes, coral reefs and other ecosystems provide essential resources that provide food, water, shelter and energy. But those ecosystems and resources are threatened further by global climate change.
More Stories More ResourcesScaling Back Wildlife Trade in the Mekong Delta: Applying a Political Economy Lens to the Farmer Loophole with a Focus on Vietnam and Laos
Growing economic prosperity in the Greater Mekong region in Southeast Asia has increased demand for wildlife products used in medicines, delicacies, and ornaments. This rise in demand has led to illegal animal trafficking, greatly threatening the survival of many endangered species in the region.
Story
Training Manual: Using Cocoa Pod Husks to Improve Crop Yields and Soil Quality
The training manual “Using Cocoa Pod Husks to Improve Crop Yields and Soil Quality” offers farmers in Cameroon step-by-step instructions…
Training Manual
Preserving and Restoring Mangroves Protects Communities
This brief, available in English and Tagalog, details the valuable services that mangroves provide, explains the challenges of preserving and restoring mangrove forests, and provides recommendations for local leaders to take to protect communities from the consequences of sea level rise and increasingly severe typhoons. Both briefs also include links to the “State of Mangrove Summit” findings for Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, and the Central and Eastern Visayas.
Brief
Economic Growth and Trade
Broad-based economic growth is essential to sustainable, long-term development.
More Stories More ResourcesGridWatch: A Low-Cost Approach to Measuring the Reliability of Power Systems
Across sub-Saharan Africa, more than half a billion people cannot access electricity, while millions more live with unreliable and intermittent sources of power. Data on power quality at the customer level are limited or nonexistent in these contexts. In response to this challenge, nLine has developed GridWatch, an innovative, low-cost way to measure grid performance and provide estimates of key performance indicators for grid reliability.
Factsheet
Researchers Team Up to Identify Strategies for Attracting Investment for Small and Growing Businesses in Uganda and Nigeria
Through USAID’s Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC), a research team is collaborating to identify and advance effective investment solutions for Nigeria and Uganda’s Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs)—commercially viable businesses with five to 250 employees seeking between $20,000 and $2 million in investment capital.
Story
Educating Moroccan Youth for a Productive Future
The fact sheet “Educating Moroccan Youth for a Productive Future” provides insights into some of the challenges for addressing youth…
Factsheet