Grants focus on regions with rising consumer demand and purchasing power that offer key opportunities for U.S. producers, including Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
December 19, 2024
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the second round of Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) grants, which is intended to allocate $300 million to 67 partners once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied, expanding American food and agricultural exports in emerging global markets. This latest investment brings total RAPP funding to $600 million in 2024.
The new grants aim to diversify export markets in regions with rising consumer demand and purchasing power, including Africa, Latin America/the Caribbean and South/Southeast Asia. These regions offer significant opportunities for U.S. producers seeking to establish a stronger foothold in dynamic and growing markets.
“RAPP is a critical tool for helping U.S. producers and agribusinesses stay competitive in today’s global trading environment,” Vilsack said. “The Biden-Harris approach to trade is delivering results for U.S. agriculture through record exports and improved relationships with current and future trading partners, and this investment supports actions that build on the global demand for American agriculture’s high-quality products.”
Under the Biden-Harris administration, U.S. agricultural exports have grown significantly, posting the three highest years in history in 2021, 2022 and 2023 – including a record of nearly $196 billion in 2022 and nearly $175 billion in 2023. USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative have helped to secure over $26.7 billion in agricultural market access since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration.
In fiscal year 2024, the actions of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) helped preserve $8.8 billion in total U.S. agricultural exports. Since 2022, USDA has issued $9.4 billion in loan payment guarantees to facilitate the diversification of U.S. agricultural export markets.
USDA also leveraged $2.3 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds in 2024 to help U.S. agriculture export market development efforts and combat global food insecurity. Separately, USDA is using $1 billion of the CCC funds to support international food assistance programs and strengthen global food security, which benefits U.S. agricultural producers.
In addition to RAPP, $100 million was targeted for aid to address the unique challenges for specialty crop producers seeking to enhance market growth opportunities by exporting.
This second round of funding reinforces USDA’s commitment to diversification, with a $25 million set-aside for projects focused on Africa. Proposals for this round exceeded the available funding, with eligible entities submitting more than $1 billion in project requests. The first $300 million in RAPP funds, announced in May 2024, has already helped U.S. producers tap into new overseas opportunities. RAPP builds on the success of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program, launched in 2018 to mitigate the risks of overreliance on a few large markets.
Applications for the second round of funding opened in August 2024, and USDA received proposals from agricultural trade organizations, state regional trade groups, agricultural cooperatives and state agencies. These projects will play a critical role in establishing new market opportunities and sustaining existing ones for U.S. producers. Awards are contingent on completion of legal and administrative requirements relating to the grant.
Vilsack originally announced in October 2023 that USDA would use $1.2 billion from the CCC to establish RAPP, with a focus on diversifying international demand for U.S. agricultural exports beyond established markets such as China, Mexico and Canada, which collectively account for nearly 50% of current export sales. RAPP focuses on parts of the world where the middle class is growing and the desire for high-quality food and farm products is on the rise, but where U.S. exporters may not yet have an established presence or firm foothold.
In a follow-up statement following the USDA news, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) said it is pleased to receive $1 million in federal funding through RAPP. This is the second time the organization has been awarded this funding.
AFIA is the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to representing the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the U.S. animal food industry and its suppliers.
In 2023, the overall export value for feed, feed ingredients and pet food stood at $13.4 billion, and the total volume of exports of these products amounted to 19.8 million metric tons, demonstrating the significant role the animal food industry plays in overall U.S. agriculture exports, AFIA noted.
“We appreciate the USDA’s continued recognition of AFIA’s pivotal role in advancing the U.S. feed ingredient and pet food industries on the global stage,” stated AFIA president and chief executive officer Constance Cullman. “This funding underscores our shared commitment to a strong U.S. agricultural economy by building strong relationships with foreign buyers, expanding opportunities for American agricultural exports and boosting the competitiveness of U.S. animal food manufacturers in emerging markets."
Also issuing a statement after the USDA announcement was the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), a nonprofit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders.
USDEC noted that it received $9.7 million in the second round of RAPP funding, adding to the $10 million granted in the first round of multiyear funding issued last May.
“Once again, we would like to thank Secretary Tom Vilsack, the FAS administrator and staff and congressional leaders for their critical decision to make significant investments in developing international markets for America’s dairy farmers and processors,” said USDEC president and CEO Krysta Harden. “During a time of limited budgets and increased demands, this additional funding will enable us to expand on the work we’ve started with the first RAPP tranche and will enhance our abilities to strengthen U.S. dairy’s presence in existing and new markets.”
USDEC is using the funds from the first tranche for a variety of programs, from market intelligence and dairy landscape assessments in Africa and Latin America to ingredient training workshops in Central America to new market expansion activities in Taiwan.
RAPP funding enabled a USDEC delegation to begin researching opportunities for U.S. dairy in Kenya and the broader sub-Saharan region this past summer. It also supported USDEC cheese marketing initiatives in Southeast Asia and seminars in Indonesia and the Philippines.
“The benefits of the program are wide-ranging,” Harden said. “These are sound investments that will ensure U.S. dairy will thrive in the future.”
In addition, the U.S. Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC) stated it is thrilled to see the allocation of $300 million in grants to dozens of farmers, producers and agribusinesses. This new second round brings the total funds allocated in 2024 to $600 million for these programs.
USAEDC is comprised of U.S. agricultural trade associations, farmer cooperatives and state regional trade groups that represent the export promotion interests of growers, processors and shippers of U.S. agricultural products.
USAEDC chair Greg Tyler, who is also president and CEO of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, said, “These new grants will help pave the way for progress in food security, sustainability, innovation and economic growth around the world through American agriculture.”
He added that “this program builds on the growth of the last few years, which saw record-high exports for U.S. agriculture. It will help first-class U.S. products reach new consumers and increase competitiveness globally. It's a great holiday present to our hardworking American farmers."
USAEDC executive director Steve Sothmann expressed enthusiastic support for the new funding, adding, “We are extremely grateful to USDA and Congressional leaders for their steadfast support of U.S. agricultural exporters. This essential funding recognizes the sustained investment it takes to overcome trade barriers and develop new markets. Diversifying into growing markets will help buttress the U.S. agricultural sector in the face of global shocks and ongoing conflicts and will boost its competitiveness in the midst of a changing global landscape.”
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