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The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will lead a new U.S. Department of State-funded research program on coffee and cacao, with an initial $8 million obligation for its first year. The multi-institution program will study crop resilience, farm management and processing, but its producing-country sites and individual projects have not been announced.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will lead a new federally funded research program focused on coffee and cacao, with $8 million initially obligated for its first year. Funded by the U.S. Department of State and co-directed by Clemson University, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Coffee and Cacao is a multi-institution program that could run for up to five years.
The program is expected to support research across coffee- and cacao-producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Its priorities include breeding varieties better able to withstand disease and drought, improving farm management and post-harvest processing, and building research capacity in producing countries. Economic research is also planned to help governments assess where agricultural research investment could have the greatest impact.
Partners include World Coffee Research and the Coffee Quality Institute, as well as UC Davis, Michigan State University, Ohio State University and Penn State. Mars, PlantVillage+ and the Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council are also participating. The word “lab” refers to this research network, not a newly built facility.
University officials described the program as a way to connect research with practical needs on farms. Specific project plans and research locations have not yet been announced. The initial $8 million obligation covers the first year; the agreement may last as long as five years, but the available report does not specify the full potential value of the agreement.
Research Aimed at Crop Resilience
Coffee and cacao producers face pressures from crop diseases, drought and climate change, alongside economic challenges. Research into more resilient varieties and production practices could help farmers and producing-country institutions respond to those risks. The program’s planned work on processing and farm management also reaches beyond plant breeding to other parts of production.
The investment follows calls from coffee groups for greater public funding of agricultural research. It is a new federal program, but it is modest relative to the funding gap described by World Coffee Research. A 2023 WCR report estimated that the global coffee sector would need an additional $452 million annually for a decade in agricultural research and development to help maintain production diversity and quality. That figure is an estimate of sector-wide need, not the cost of this program or a direct measure of its expected impact.
Hawaiʻi has a direct stake in the work: it is the only U.S. state that commercially produces both coffee and cacao. The state’s coffee sector has contended with coffee leaf rust and other crop threats, making research relevant to growers there as well as to producers abroad.
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Federal Research After USAID
The new initiative follows years of advocacy for dedicated federal coffee and cacao research. The Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council says its administrator, Suzanne Shriner, and World Coffee Research began engaging with members of Congress on the issue in 2020. In 2023, SHAC, WCR, the National Coffee Association and the Hawaiʻi Coffee Association were among the groups supporting legislation intended to broaden federal funding for coffee plant-health research.
The launch also comes after the dismantling of USAID in 2025, which disrupted the traditional funding structure for Feed the Future Innovation Labs. The university-based programs had historically received support through USAID. A separate five-year, $5.485 million cooperative agreement awarded by USAID to Cornell shortly before the agency’s shutdown was terminated in 2025 after $1 million had been obligated, according to federal award records cited in the report.
On October 15, the State Department announced eight Feed the Future Innovation Labs at U.S. universities. The other programs cover areas including cereals, soil fertility, animal health, peanuts and aquaculture. Hawaiʻi’s agricultural connections also include ongoing local disease research: coffee leaf rust was first detected in the state in 2020, and in 2021 the USDA awarded SHAC more than $6 million for a coordinated research effort involving universities and federal scientists in Hawaiʻi and Puerto Rico.
“The Innovation Lab is designed to transform coffee and cacao science into practical benefits for small farmers in Hawaii, the continental U.S., and around the world.”
— Parwinder Grewal, dean of the UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience and the program’s principal investigator
Projects and Sites Still Pending
The program’s specific producing-country research sites and individual projects have not been announced. The available information also does not detail how the initial $8 million will be divided among research areas or partners, or set out a complete funding schedule for the possible five-year term. The first-year obligation should not be read as the total value of the agreement.
The program’s anticipated research benefits are goals, not results already demonstrated. It is not yet clear which crop varieties will be studied, when field work will begin at particular locations, or how outcomes for farmers will be measured. Hawaiʻi’s production figures also come from SHAC’s estimates and attribution: the group estimates output at 20.7 million pounds for the 2025-26 season, down from 23.3 million pounds in 2023-24, and attributes much of the decline to leaf rust.
Project Plans to Be Announced
The innovation lab is launching in October 2026. The next details to watch for are the selection of research sites, named projects and the division of work among the participating institutions and organizations. Those announcements should clarify how the program’s priorities will be carried out in Hawaiʻi and in producing regions abroad.
As the work develops, updates on funding obligations and the agreement’s duration will help show how the initial federal commitment translates into research activity. No specific project timetable or first research findings have been reported yet.
Key Questions
What is the new Coffee and Cacao Innovation Lab?
It is a federally funded, multi-institution research program led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and co-directed by Clemson University. It is not a single new laboratory building.
How much funding has been committed?
The program has an initial $8 million obligation for its first year. The agreement could run for up to five years, but the full potential value and year-by-year funding schedule have not been reported.
What will researchers study?
Planned priorities include coffee and cacao varieties with greater resistance to disease and drought, farm management, post-harvest processing, research capacity in producing countries and economic analysis of agricultural investment.
Where will the research take place?
The program is expected to work across coffee- and cacao-producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Specific country sites have not yet been announced.
Who is participating?
Partners include Clemson University, World Coffee Research, the Coffee Quality Institute, UC Davis, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State, along with Mars, PlantVillage+ and the Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council.
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