Partner Participation In the Feed the Future Initiative's Research Strategy.

Arcadia Biosciences is a small agricultural biotechnology company committed to building opportunities to leverage technologies that advance both the productivity and sustainability of agriculture in developing countries.  We partner with other companies to pursue commercial opportunities in overseas markets, as well as partner with the public sector to bring technologies forward where markets are less developed or the risks of reaching those markets are higher.   Our collaborations to bring abiotic stress tolerant rice to Africa and Asia illustrate both pathways and how public investment creates an opportunity to tackle big problems together.  Transgenic rice has not been fully commercialized in any country.  As a staple food, there are significant socio-political barriers to GM rice at the same time as potentially high returns to poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.  USAID's funding and partnerships with local public sector institutions when combined with private sector technology and product development expertise promise to both accelerate and broaden the introduction of new technologies that will expand the productivity frontier in developing countries.