TL;DR
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will lead a new U.S. Department of State-funded Feed the Future Innovation Lab focused on coffee and cacao, with $8 million initially obligated for its first year. The multi-institution program will study issues including crop disease, drought, farm management and processing, but its specific research sites and projects have not been announced.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will lead a new federal research program on coffee and cacao, backed by an initial $8 million obligation for its first year, according to the program announcement. Funded by the U.S. Department of State and co-directed by Clemson University, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab is a multi-institution research program, not a new standalone laboratory building.
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The agreement could run for up to five years. Research is expected to cover coffee- and cacao-producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. The program’s priorities include breeding varieties with stronger resistance to disease and drought, as well as farm management, post-harvest processing and research capacity in producing countries.
Participants include coffee organizations World Coffee Research and the Coffee Quality Institute, along with UC Davis, Michigan State University, Ohio State University and Penn State. Mars, PlantVillage+ and the Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council are also named as partners. The program is expected to use economic research to help governments judge where agricultural research spending could have the greatest effect.
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience Dean Parwinder Grewal is the principal investigator. The U.S. State Department announced eight Feed the Future Innovation Labs at U.S. universities on Oct. 15; the other programs address areas including cereals, soil fertility, animal health, peanuts and aquaculture.
Research for Disease and Drought Risks
The program directs federal support toward crop challenges that affect farmers’ ability to sustain production. Coffee and cacao growers face disease, drought and climate-related pressures, while research into varieties, cultivation and processing could inform practical responses. The program’s intended reach across producing countries means its work is not limited to Hawaiʻi, although its local agricultural links give the state a direct stake.
The investment is a new source of support, but it is modest against a larger funding need identified by the sector. A 2023 World Coffee Research report estimated that the global coffee sector would need an additional $452 million per year in agricultural research and development for a decade to maintain production diversity and quality. That estimate concerns coffee research broadly and is not a budget target for this new lab.
In Hawaiʻi, crop health is an immediate concern. Coffee leaf rust, first detected in the state in 2020, has since spread across it. The Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council estimates state coffee output at 20.7 million pounds for the 2025–26 season, down from 23.3 million pounds in 2023–24. The group says production has declined each year since 2022 and attributes much of the fall to leaf rust.
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Federal Research Funding Shifts
The launch follows years of advocacy for greater U.S. public investment in coffee and cacao research. The Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council says its administrator, Suzanne Shriner, and World Coffee Research began discussing dedicated federal research with members of Congress in 2020. In 2023, the council, World Coffee Research, the National Coffee Association and the Hawaiʻi Coffee Association supported federal legislation intended to broaden funding for coffee plant-health research.
The new program also comes after disruption to the Feed the Future university research system. Its Innovation Labs had historically received funding through USAID, which was dismantled in 2025 under the Trump administration, according to the source report. Cornell had received a five-year, $5.485 million cooperative agreement for a Coffee Improvement Program with World Coffee Research shortly before USAID’s shutdown; federal award records show $1 million was obligated before the award was terminated in 2025.
Hawaiʻi has a direct connection to the work: it is the only U.S. state that commercially produces both coffee and cacao. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council more than $6 million for a coordinated coffee leaf-rust research program involving university 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, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience dean and program principal investigator
Projects and Sites Still Pending
The program’s broad research priorities and partner institutions have been announced, but specific producing-country research sites and individual projects have not. The announcement also does not provide a detailed breakdown of how the initial $8 million will be allocated, or clarify future-year funding amounts under the possible five-year agreement.
The stated research goals describe what the program plans to address; they do not establish that particular varieties or farming methods will be developed, adopted or produce measurable results. The scale and timing of those outcomes remain unknown.
Program Work Begins This Month
The Coffee and Cacao Innovation Lab is launching in October 2026. Its university, industry and research partners are expected to develop and carry out work under the announced priorities. Details about country locations, project selection and the division of work among partners have not yet been released, leaving those announcements as the next points to watch.
Further information on funding beyond the first-year obligation and on how findings will reach farmers will also help show how the program develops. For now, the confirmed commitment is an initial $8 million for the first year within an agreement that could last up to five years.
Key Questions
What is the new University of Hawaiʻi coffee and cacao lab?
It is the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Coffee and Cacao, 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 facility.
How much funding has been announced?
The program has an initial $8 million obligation for its first year. The agreement could run for up to five years, but the announcement does not specify funding amounts for later years.
What will researchers study?
Planned areas include breeding 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 research investment.
Where will the research take place?
The program is expected to work across producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Specific countries and research sites have not yet been announced.
Why is Hawaiʻi leading the program?
Hawaiʻi has a direct agricultural connection to the subject: it is the only U.S. state that commercially produces both coffee and cacao. The state is also dealing with coffee leaf rust, detected there in 2020 and later reported across the state.
Source: rss
