Deputy Agriculture Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced USDA is now accepting applications for a second round of Regional Agriculture Promotion Program grants. Approximately $300 million is available for efforts to expand export markets for U.S. farm and food producers.

“Access to international markets supports U.S. farmers at home and food security throughout the world,” Torres Small says. “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.”

Last October, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA was allocating $1.2 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation Funding to establish RAPP. The program is intended to expand the ag exporter customer base beyond its largest customers.

Currently, China, Mexico and Canada account for nearly half of all American agriculture exports.

In May, USDA allocated the first $300 million round of RAPP funding to projects overseen by 66 U.S. organizations. Funded projects included a joint initiative by the American Soybean Association and the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health to bolster U.S. soy product demand through poultry and aquaculture value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The awards were not limited to the major commodities. Specialty crop groups receiving RAPP funding included the National Watermelon Promotion Board, the Almond Board of California, the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, the USDA Dry Pea & Lentil Council and the American Pea Council among others.

Torres Small says the overwhelming interest in the program prompted USDA to start accepting applications for the second set of grants sooner than originally planned.

Around $25 million of the new grant funding will support projects to expand exports in Africa. The Deputy Secretary says there are strong opportunities due to rising populations, urbanization and higher gross domestic products across the continent. Africa now boasts some of the fastest growing economies in the world. Still the U.S. ag market share has declined from 14% in 2008 to only 7% in 2022.

“We are hoping that these investments will help expand our opportunities because right now, the U.S. has fallen from being Africa’s second-largest supplier to if fourth largest,” Torres Small says. “We’re trailing behind the European Union, Brazil and India.”

U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Dan Halstrom says the first round of RAPP funding is already at work identifying and developing new opportunities globally for American producers. He’s excited to see the program’s implementation continue.

“RAPP’s emphasis on market diversification is especially critical, as it allows for dedication of resources in markets where demand has only scratched the surface,” Halstrom says. “In this respect, RAPP is an excellent complement to USDA’s Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program, as well as the checkoff investments of our industry partners, which allow USMEF to expand and defend market share in both emerging and well-developed destinations.

The deadline for RAPP funding grant applications is Oct. 4. USDA officials say grant awardees will be announced before year’s end.