In celebration of African American History Month, the Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) is highlighting some of our Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) faculty and alumni members. Academic researchers affiliated with HBCUs, which were originally established to serve the educational needs of Black Americans, are an important part of the RTAC’s research network. RTAC aims to engage these researchers in its activities, whenever possible, drawing on their valuable insights, experiences, and knowledge to increase our collective impact in international development.

In India, 60% of food is lost or wasted between the field and the end-consumer. The wastage is concentrated among a few crops, with fruits, vegetables and cereals being especially vulnerable. One of the biggest challenges facing farmers is the lack of affordable on-farm cold storage for their produce. To address this issue, a team from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has designed and evaluated an off-grid, clean energy cooling system for low-income farmers. Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) team member Dr. Marlene Lee recently led a virtual Research-to-Action workshop to guide the IARI team in promoting the use of its research among key stakeholders.

This year’s World Food Day called for greater collaboration to build more resilient food systems. As every year, this day prompts us to reflect on how food transits from the field to the table, while nourishing and sustaining the world population. In this blog, we want to highlight two of RTAC’s research activities in recognition of their contributions to the knowledge base for food security.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the International Day of Peace, a day committed to strengthening the ideals of peace among all nations and peoples by promoting non-violence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), local researchers at the Sharing the Land (STL) Center at Christian Bilingual University successfully promote peace in communities through a community-based, participatory approach to land management. Over the last year, USAID’s Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) has worked with the team to help create lasting impact.

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. 

In response, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) worked with researchers from University of Notre Dame’s Department of Anthropology and the Pulte Institute for Global Development to better understand approaches that build refugee and host community self-sufficiency and resilience capacities.

In April 2020, USAID and Arizona State University (ASU), under the auspices of the Research Technical Assistance Center, hosted a webinar about recent developments in the use of digital strategies in education. It included presentations by Dr. Mary Jane Parmentier and Dr. Faheem Hussain, both of ASU. While the webinar was planned months in advance, the topic has become especially pertinent because of the education challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.”