Advancing its long legacy of collaborations and capacity-building projects around the world, the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) remains engaged with one of its first international partners, Sierra Leone’s Njala University.

URBANA, Ill. –The Feed the Future Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) at the University of Illinois has partnered with Argentinian company Rizobacter to bring soybean technology to 26 African countries. This unique public-private partnership provides the SIL Pan-African Soybean Variety Trial (PAT) network with access to a cutting-edge inoculant product, Rizoliq TOP, for use in the Africa-wide PAT platform.

URBANA, Ill. ­– If your day started with a cup of coffee, there’s a good chance your morning brew came from Colombia. Home to some of the finest Arabica beans, the country is the world’s third largest coffee producer. Climate change poses new challenges to coffee production in Colombia, as it does to agricultural production anywhere in the world, but a new University of Illinois study shows effects vary widely depending on where the coffee beans grow.

URBANA, Ill. ­– As the global population grows, the demand for food increases while arable land shrinks. A new University of Illinois study investigates how rice production in India can meet future needs by adapting to changing climate conditions and water availability. 

In an effort to dramatically strengthen and expand its capacity to improve global human and environmental health via the food system, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) has hired a cluster of new faculty who bring strengths in these areas.

Undergraduates from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) will soon have the opportunity to work with other students around the world to support children’s health and design water projects. Thanks to the new Global Classrooms initiative and our faculty’s commitment to create such courses, these invaluable “international” experiences will be available from Illinois-based classrooms.

The longstanding College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) International Seed Grants program, facilitated by the Office of International Programs, continues to prove itself successful, as recent impact reporting shows. The program allows faculty to apply for $4,000 grants to create or support international research or extension activities.  

URBANA, Ill. ­– In today’s global economy, production of goods depends on inputs from many trade partners around the world. Companies and governments need a deeper understanding of the global value chain to reduce costs, maintain a profitable production system, and anticipate ripple effects of disruptions in the supply chain.

URBANA, Ill.  – Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa use fertilizer well below recommended rates, contributing to consistently low agricultural productivity. Farmers in Tanzania and Kenya, for example, apply just 13 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare, compared with 165 to 175 kilograms in India and Brazil. Low use directly affects cereal yields, which average 1.2 to 1.7 metric tons per hectare, compared to 4 to 4.5 metric tons in South America and Asia.

While students wait eagerly for study abroad programs to open back up, the ACES Global Service Learning course is proving to be a fulfilling alternative.