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USDA will make an additional $300 million available through the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) to help grow export markets for American farm and food products around the world, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced today.

“Access to international markets supports U.S. farmers at home and food security throughout the world,” said Deputy Secretary Torres Small. “USDA launched RAPP last year as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to create more, new and better markets for U.S. producers and agribusinesses, and we’ve seen tremendous interest, culminating in more than a billion dollars in proposals for the first $300 million round of RAPP funding earlier this year. Given the importance of exports in supporting farm income and rural economic development, we’re delighted to be able to make an additional $300 million available this year.”

USDA published a Notice of Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov on August 5, 2024, and interested organizations must apply by October 4, 2024. USDA anticipates that allocations will be announced before the end of the calendar year. As with the first round of RAPP funding, USDA is again setting aside $25 million specifically for activities in Africa, which has the some of the fastest-growing economies – but the lowest levels of U.S. export market investment – of any region in the world.

For more information about RAPP, visit: fas.usda.gov/programs/regional-agricultural-promotion-program

Source: USDA (Press Release No. 0154.24, Aug. 5, 2024)

USLGE is excited to announce that it will be receiving $4,752,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) in the first round of 5 tranches of Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) funding. Of the total RAPP funds allocated to USLGE, $1,116,000 will be spent specifically on projects for marketing U.S. livestock genetics in Africa.

“I would like to express USLGE’s appreciation to USDA-FAS, especially the Office of Global Programs, for allocating this RAPP funding to us,” says Dr. Martin Sieber, President and CEO of USLGE. “It is an important addition to our regular FAS program funding.”

U.S. genetics can play a crucial role in enhancing livestock herd development and promoting sustainable agricultural practices globally. USLGE’s efforts in RAPP emphasized regions will contribute to improved animal breeding, reduced environmental impact, and increased productivity.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA is allocating $300 million to 66 U.S. organizations, under the new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP), to build demand for American food and farm exports in high-potential markets around the globe. RAPP was launched in October 2023 with $1.2 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funding authorized to help U.S. exporters expand their customer base beyond traditional and established markets, focusing on regions such as Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South and Southeast Asia, where consumer demand and purchasing power are growing. The initial round of RAPP funding will help recipient organizations carry out hundreds of projects encompassing a wide variety of products and markets.

Click here to view the complete list of organizations that received RAPP funding.

Source: USDA (Press Release No. 0092.24, May 21, 2024)

USDA is expanding its footprint in Mexico with the opening of the Foreign Agricultural Service’s newest foreign office in Guadalajara. “We’re proud to expand our services in support of U.S. agriculture as we work to tap new export opportunities in Mexico, our second-largest market,” said FAS Administrator Daniel Whitley, who presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 11 with Consul General Amy Scanlon from the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara. “The decision to establish this new office reflects the importance of our agriculture and trade relationship with Mexico, as does the fact that Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture Victor Villalobos honored us with his presence at the office opening ceremony,” Whitley said.

U.S.-Mexico bilateral trade in agricultural and related products topped $76 billion in 2023, setting a new record and benefiting the entire supply chain -- from producers to processors to shippers to consumers — on both sides of the border.

Source: USDA-FAS (Feature, Mar. 15, 2024)

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the first tranche of funding under USDA's new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP), which was designed to help U.S. producers maintain and develop markets for their commodities. USDA is providing up to $300 million in funding in its first year to support eligible projects that enable exporters to break into new markets and increase market share in growth markets. Future tranches of funds will be released in future years to ensure that the focus of funding can be adapted to changing trade environments and market conditions.

RAPP funds are available to nonprofit U.S. agricultural trade organizations, nonprofit State Regional Trade Groups (SRTGs), U.S. agricultural cooperatives, and State agencies that conduct approved market development activities to foster expanded exports and market diversification by encouraging the development, maintenance, and expansion of diverse commercial export markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and products. RAPP awards will be generally granted for a performance period of 5 years, with an expected start of June 1, 2024, and end on September 30, 2029. 

Applications are due by 5 pm ET on February 2, 2024. Additional information on RAPP is available at grants.gov.

 For more information about RAPP and agribusiness trade missions, visit fas.usda.gov.

Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (News Release 0243.23, Nov. 30, 2023)

Looking to increase U.S. exporter presence in Southeast Asian markets, a USDA delegation led by Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor expanded existing trade ties in Malaysia and Singapore. More than 300 business-to-business meetings took place during the weeklong agribusiness trade mission in November 2023. At the same time, Taylor met with the Ministry of Agriculture of Food Security in Malaysia to discuss key topics, including biotechnology cooperation, live cattle imports into Malaysia, and the ongoing issue of HPAI, or avian flu. By the end of the Southeast Asia Trade Mission, it was evident that U.S. agricultural products have a strong and bright future in the region. Local consumers are eager to accept the high-quality products U.S. companies have to offer, and local businesses are looking at U.S. agricultural practices to bolster their domestic production, strengthening the demand for U.S. animal feed, genetics, and climate-smart agriculture practices. 

Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (News Release feature, Nov. 16, 2023)