Publication: Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Published: 11/17/2006

AMES, Iowa -- The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has received a $500,000 grant from the Henry A. Wallace Center at Winrock International to begin a third phase of the successful Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture (VCPSA) project. The grant will cover the next three years of operation through 2009.

VCPSA began in 2002 as a partnership among the Leopold Center, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Iowa State University Extension and the ISU Colleges of Agriculture and Business. Its goal is to support new supply networks for farmer-led food and fiber enterprises that follow sustainable practices.

VCPSA is among four market-based change projects nationwide selected by the Wallace Center for funding. The Iowa project has operated working groups to address challenges and markets for niche pork, the bioeconomy and natural fibers, regional foods and flax.

The third phase of the project will follow a performance-based business approach that uses various indicators such as jobs, sales and profits to measure progress. Goals are to work with at least 10 farmer-based businesses, 200 farmers and two Iowa communities over the three-year period.

"We learned a lot in the first two phases of this project about helping businesses that participate in value chains that are characterized by trust, cooperation, transparency and risk-sharing," said Rich Pirog, who leads the Leopold Center's Marketing and Food Systems Initiative and is the VCPSA project director. "This new phase will help us better measure success as we deliver benefits to farmer-based businesses, communities and the landscape."

Other project goals are to launch a self-sustaining Value Chain Institute and to help two of the four working groups become financially self-sufficient.

During its first four years, VCPSA awarded 46 grants totaling more than $265,000 for research and development projects managed within the four working groups. Those funds were leveraged for an additional $818,000 for niche pork and $319,000 for bioeconomy research. Also as part of the project, a new MBA degree with a minor in sustainable agriculture was launched in the ISU College of Business in collaboration with the ISU Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture.

Winrock International works with people in the United States and around the world to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources and protect the environment. The organization targets work in three areas: Empowerment and Civic Engagement; Enterprise and Agriculture; and Environment: Forestry, Energy and Ecosystem Services.

The Henry A. Wallace Center has been a key organization in fostering a more sustainable food and agricultural system in the United States since 1983. As a part of Winrock International, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Center continues to provide leadership in program design and implementation, policy analysis, research, and technical assistance to further the development of sustainable and equitable agriculture and food systems. Winrock's global staff of more than 600 members in 65 countries works to increase long-term productivity, equity, and responsible resource management to benefit the poor and disadvantaged.