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The University of Hawaii at Manoa will lead a new U.S. State Department-funded Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Coffee and Cacao, with an initial $8 million obligation for its first year. The multi-institution program will study crop resilience, farming and processing, but its specific research sites and projects have not been announced.
The University of Hawaii at Manoa will lead a new federally funded research program on coffee and cacao, with the U.S. Department of State initially obligating $8 million for its first year. The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Coffee and Cacao is a multi-institution program, co-directed by Clemson University, intended to support research across producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The agreement could run for up to five years, according to Daily Coffee News. Research priorities include breeding coffee and cacao varieties with greater resistance to disease and drought, improving farm management and post-harvest processing, and building research capacity in producing countries. Economic research is also expected to help governments evaluate where agricultural research investment could have the greatest impact.
The program brings together universities, research organizations and industry participants. Coffee-focused partners include World Coffee Research and the Coffee Quality Institute. University partners include UC Davis, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. Mars, PlantVillage+ and the Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council are also participating.
UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience Dean Parwinder Grewal is the program’s principal investigator. The State Department announced eight Feed the Future Innovation Labs at U.S. universities on October 15; the Hawaii-led coffee and cacao program is one of them.
Research for Coffee’s Crop Threats
The program directs federal research support toward two globally traded crops facing disease, drought and climate pressures. Breeding work and research into farm practices could help growers and producing-country institutions respond to those threats, although the program has not yet published individual projects or expected outcomes.
The investment also has a direct connection to Hawaii, where coffee growers have faced coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust. The rust was first detected in the state in 2020 and later spread across Hawaii. SHAC estimates state coffee production at 20.7 million pounds for the 2025-26 season, down from 23.3 million pounds in 2023-24. SHAC says production has declined each year since 2022 and attributes much of that decrease to leaf rust.
The funding is a new federal commitment, but it is modest relative to a broader research need identified by the sector. World Coffee Research estimated in a 2023 report that the global coffee industry would need an additional $452 million annually in agricultural research and development for a decade to help maintain production diversity and quality. That estimate concerns coffee research broadly; it is not a budget figure for this new program.
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From Advocacy to Federal Funding
Coffee organizations had pressed for greater U.S. public investment in coffee agricultural research for several years. SHAC says its administrator, Suzanne Shriner, and World Coffee Research began working with members of Congress in 2020 to make the case for dedicated coffee and cacao research funding. In 2023, SHAC, World Coffee Research, the National Coffee Association and the Hawaii Coffee Association supported federal legislation intended to broaden funding for coffee plant-health research.
The new lab also follows disruption to the Feed the Future university research system after the dismantling of USAID in 2025. The innovation labs had historically received funding through the agency. 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 that award was terminated in 2025.
The State Department is now funding the newly announced set of Feed the Future labs. In addition to coffee and cacao, the other programs cover areas including cereals, soil fertility, animal health, peanuts and aquaculture. The new program is not described as a single laboratory building: it is a distributed research partnership involving institutions and partners in multiple regions.
“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, UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience dean and principal investigator
Projects and Sites Still Pending
The program is launching in October, but specific producing-country research sites and individual projects have not been announced. The initial $8 million is an obligation for the first year; the available report does not detail how that amount will be divided among partners, crops or research activities.
The agreement could last up to five years, but further year-by-year funding amounts and the precise schedule are not specified. Nor are there published targets for new crop varieties, farm adoption or production gains. Those outcomes will depend on the projects selected and their results, which are not yet available.
Watch for Project and Site Details
As the lab begins work, the next public details to watch for are its research locations, project selections and partner responsibilities. Those announcements should clarify which producing communities and crop challenges will be covered first, and how the program will connect research with farmers and local institutions.
Further information on funding beyond the first-year obligation will also show how the possible five-year agreement is expected to proceed. Until those details are released, the confirmed development is the launch of the State Department-funded partnership and its initial $8 million obligation—not a specific research result or promised production increase.
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 Hawaii at Manoa and co-directed by Clemson University. It is not described as a single new laboratory facility.
How much federal 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 further funding details have not been reported.
What will the research focus on?
Priorities include developing coffee and cacao varieties with greater resistance to disease and drought, along with 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 span producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Specific countries, sites and projects have not yet been announced.
Why is Hawaii involved?
Hawaii is the only U.S. state that commercially produces both coffee and cacao. Its coffee industry has also faced crop threats including coffee leaf rust, detected in the state in 2020.
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