42 SEPTEMBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils Another U.S. government project with great potential to reduce global food insecurity is Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), which was launched by U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security Dr. Cary Fowler in February 2023. Like F4L, VACS provides an opportunity to strengthen and expand the U.S.-Brazilian partnership by leveraging the unique and complementary strengths of both countries to support innovation in soil health management and develop climate-resilient crop varieties. Secretary Antony Blinken is championing VACS’ focus on more profitable and sustainable land use and production systems. VACS includes a decision framework that can be used to help target investments likely to have the greatest impact at field to national levels, including where to plant, what to plant, what management system to use, and how to apply the management system based on local conditions each year. The framework highlights the importance of integrating research in crops and soils to provide a broader range of crops adapted to a changing climate and soils. Increasing the diversity of crops and crop varieties to adapt to a changing climate while reducing the costs and environmental effects of agricultural production will also require continued innovation in management, including fertility management. The Way Forward The scientific communities in the United States and Brazil are up to the challenges facing agriculture. As the global leader for investment in agriculture and climate research, the United States is employing new technologies to make agricultural systems more resilient in a changing climate. The University of Florida, for example, is hiring artificial intelligence (AI) faculty who are applying novel technologies to improve current agricultural systems. In Brazil, more than 300 scientists are participating in Embrapa’s climate change research in tropical and subtropical agricultural systems. The rich bilateral history between our two countries provides linkages to expand our agricultural research efforts to improve climate-smart agriculture and global food security. F4L and VACS are positioned to be the catalysts to usher in a golden age of collaboration in agricultural research between our two countries, and this collaboration will pay dividends in countries across the globe, slowing the rate of climate change while ensuring the planet’s growing population has access to nutritious foods. n The United States and Brazil have made agricultural collaboration a cornerstone of their close relationship over the last several decades. COURTESY OF MICHAEL CONLON A U.S. delegation inspects a F4L project in the Cerrado, June 2024.
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