Recent Progress: VACS on Food Security at DialogueNext

Today, at the World Food Prize DialogueNext Conference, “Seeds of Strength: Nurturing Farmer Resilience,” held in Texcoco, Mexico, Dr. Cary Fowler, Special Envoy for Global Food Security, and partners from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) announced progress toward executing the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS). The U.S. government supports VACS as part of its whole-of-government poverty and hunger initiative, Feed the Future.

Participants at the conference made several announcements regarding new collaborations in support of VACS.

• Co-Led FAO-CIMMYT Partnership. FAO and CIMMYT launched the Partnership for VACS, through which they will co-lead the VACS movement globally, leveraging relationships with the private sector, farmers’ organizations, and a wide range of groups to institutionalize the VACS framework focusing on investment in soil health and climate adapted crop varieties.  An Executive Secretary housed at CIMMYT will guide the Implementer’s Group, Champions, and Community of Practice.   
• Community of Practice. The VACS Community of Practice serves as a platform for innovative collaboration and the exchange of ideas to advance VACS.  With more than 1,500 active participants, the Community of Practice broadens the input received from the public, nonprofits, private sector, and others to leverage technical expertise and expand the diverse coalition of stakeholders working to advance VACS.
• Community of Practice Working Group Co-leads. Members within the Community of Practice are volunteering to develop a global agenda and write papers addressing policy challenges, solutions, and best practices.  An initial six working groups have been created and their co-leads include:
  • Access to Improved Crop Varieties, Global Crop Diversity Trust and the World Vegetable Center
  • Increase Demand for Opportunity Crops, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
  • Value Chain Creation, World Business Council for Sustainable Development and GAIN
  • Sustainable Land Use, World Wildlife Fund
  • Soil Management, CIMMYT and The University of Zambia, Lusaka
  • Africa, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
• Global Crop Diversity Trust Joins VACS Implementers Group. The CGIAR, FAO, and IFAD welcomed the Global Crop Diversity Trust to the VACS Implementers Group, which serves as the primary means of coordination and collaboration across those institutions with dedicated funding to advance VACS goals.  The group promotes collaboration at the strategic and country levels, developing common strategies and frameworks to align activities, identifying opportunities to maximize collective impact, and ensuring information sharing across major VACS lines of effort.
• Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). The U.S. Department of State and the CFC will collaborate to scale private sector investment into climate adapted crop varieties and healthy soils through VACS.  The CFC will identify viable investment opportunities and develop a VACS pipeline of projects suitable for finance and technical support.  The CFC’s Agricultural Commodity Transformation Fund (ACT) will incorporate qualified investment opportunities with the goal of increasing the agricultural resilience and incomes of smallholder farmers in Africa and Central America.  The CFC and the Department of State will work together to broaden VACS-aligned technical assistance across global supply chains for smallholder farmers.
• VACS Champions. VACS Champions Program recognizes private sector and non-governmental organizations for undertaking projects committed to developing climate-adapted nutritious crop varieties and building healthy, fertile soils. Current Champions include Bayer AG, Catholic Relief Services, ADM, Concern Worldwide, The One Acre Fund, Grow Further, Global Crop Diversity Trust, IBM, Helen Keller Intl, Solutions for Environment Services, Roots of Peace, Esomchi Foundation, and QuinoaHub.
• Expansion of VACS to Guatemala. IICA, the Ministry of Agriculture of Guatemala, and numerous partners, including CIMMYT, FAO, Catholic Relief Services and World Vision, are collaborating on VACS in Guatemala.  IICA has joined the VACS Initiative as an institutional lead in Guatemala, coordinating technical workshops to build the program from 2025-2030.