$1M gift to keep Soybean Innovation Lab operational after USAID closure

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - A donation from an anonymous donor is keeping the Soybean Innovation Lab at the U of I operational after the USAID closure.

In February, the USAID-funded Feed the Future Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was told to stop working.

This, after 12 years of work towards developing a global soybean value chain supporting Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Australia.

SIL director Pete Goldsmith was able to find funding from the university to keep the lab operating until April 15, which was to be the last day.

Founders Pledge, the nonprofit, announced a $1.02 million gift from an anonymous donor to fund the lab and core staff for another year.

The donation will give more time for additional funding to be found and continue some of the lab's most critical work.

“We will use the gift to restart our efforts with our partners and clients bringing soybean to the Lower Shire Valley of southern Malawi — diversifying the Lower Shire economy and leveraging recent World Bank irrigation investments,” said Goldsmith.

SIL and local partners had just begun developing the soybean industry in southern Malawi.

Bruce Carruthers, who consults for Agricane in southern Malawi, said, “SIL’s efforts were strategically positioned to expedite the registration of new varieties for both rainy-season and dry-season production, an advancement that would mark a significant milestone in Malawian agriculture. The cessation of SIL’s involvement would have resulted in a slowdown of variety development and release, ultimately delaying the introduction of improved genetic material into the agricultural sector.”

Goldsmith said, although SIL’s work has direct benefits for African farmers and agribusinesses, building the African soybean value chain also represents a major boon for the U.S. and global economies.

“Africa is the last frontier for soybean. It’s one of the fastest-growing areas and has huge potential. But someone has to go in and de-risk commercial interests. That's what SIL does,” Goldsmith said. “We go in and de-risk, build the market, and reduce uncertainty so that farmers in trade can follow on. And it's not just farmers, it's traders, it's processors. We've been very effective at it. Without us, there's no plan B.”

If you want to support SIL’s work, visit the donation page, select “other” as your gift designation, and enter “Dr. Peter Goldsmith Support Fund - 11335457.”