Life-changing programs & projects in New York and around the globe

Global Development is home to 25+ programs, institutes and grant funded projects that combine applied research, outreach and purpose-driven science to confront pressing issues such as global hunger, community resilience, climate change, gender inequity, access to education and more. Thanks to support from Cornell and private foundations, our experts and students are leaving a lasting impact.

30+

Countries

Real-world engagement with communities in New York State, across the United States, and around the world

60+

Faculty and academic staff

Confronting the most urgent and complex challenges facing people and the planet

200+

Undergraduate students

Taking interdisciplinary coursework in development scholarship and practice

Institutes

A large group of people standing outside

Catalyzing innovative research and instruction on global development.

A crowd outside

A long-term research initiative that develops and assesses innovative, food systems-based approaches to reducing poverty and improving nutrition and livelihoods in the developing world, with a specific focus on India.

Programs and Projects

Student interviews a woman in India

AWARE is built on the belief that focusing on women in agriculture as an underserved majority will improve food security, reduce poverty, and positively impact rural development in developing countries.

two women examining wheat plants in a greenhouse

The BGRI is a global community of hunger fighters committed to sharing knowledge, training the next generation of scientists and engaging with farmers for a prosperous and wheat-secure world.

Two male farmers bent over working in a rice field

To improve tropical smallholder farming systems for greater productivity and resilience to climate change through ecological approaches

A male and female speak to a room full of people, Things I've learned this fall on a poster in the background

Bringing Cornell students and employees together for mutual growth, CLASP is a participatory adult learning program designed to create and support one-on-one mutual learning partnerships of Cornell employees and Cornell students.

A male stands next to a tractor that is being driven through a field of short crops

Improving the living and working conditions of farmworkers and their families in New York State and beyond.

A woman kneels in a maize field to examine a plant

We equip National Agricultural Research Institutes with the power to define their unique goals and drive advancement in crop improvement to reduce malnutrition, hunger and provide equitable benefits to women and youth.

Bowl of freshly harvested eggplants

Accelerating the application of a proven biotechnology to enhance food and nutritional security in Bangladesh and the Philippines while protecting the health of farmers and the environment.

fields on horizon

Food Systems & Global Change advances food system solutions for the health of people and the planet. This transdisciplinary alliance tackles the environmental and nutritional challenges facing the ways people grow, eat, and share food everywhere.

Two women lead a group training session outside

GREAT delivers training to agricultural researchers from sub-Saharan Africa in the theory and practice of gender-responsive research, seeking to increase opportunities for equitable participation and the sharing of benefits from agricultural research and improve the outcomes for smallholder women farmers, entrepreneurs, and farmer organizations.

Humphrey Fellows visit Letchworth State Park

This Fulbright program provides accomplished professionals from countries with emerging economies an international enrichment opportunity in leadership and public service in one of three, often overlapping, areas of interest: agriculture, rural development, and natural resource management.

Group of students holds wooden plank with one student sitting on it

Inspiring, developing, supporting and connecting leaders for the food, agriculture and natural resource sectors of the Northeast

Muhogo Bora logo shows cartoon person holding cassava roots

Meaning “Better cassava” in Swahili, Muhogo Bora supports the development and expansion of cassava seed systems in Tanzania with targeted outreach to the Western Zone, Central and Southern Highlands regions.

A man inspects cassava while holding an iPad outside

We seek to modernize partner cassava breeding institutions in Africa and to use cutting-edge tools for efficient delivery of improved varieties of cassava in sub-Saharan Africa.

Student tours Cornell lab

A program with the World Food Prize, we engage New York State high school students on the biggest challenges facing people and the planet in the 21st century.

Two hands holding rice and a gardening tool

To advance and share knowledge about the System of Rice Intensification, to improve the technical implementation of the SRI methodology, and to support networking among interested organizations agencies, and individuals around the globe.

Eastward aerial view of Cornell campus during the Fall.

The Rural Schools Program connects Cornell knowledge to serve the small and rural school districts of New York State.

photo of group outside during the rain with bridge

Generating innovative community development strategies and solutions for addressing the opportunities and challenges unique to Upstate NY’s Rust Belt cities

Past projects

Ceres2030 evaluated the agricultural interventions that can transform the lives and incomes of the world’s poorest farmers while preserving the environment.  

Learn more about Global Development

Researchers stand around truck

Our 60+ experts pursue research with a public purpose to alleviate poverty, reduce world hunger and protect the environment.

A male works with a pen on papers at a table

We engage directly with communities, organizations, activists and policymakers to drive change on the ground.

Multiple figures silhouetted by the sun, standing next to a river

We are dedicated to developing lasting solutions that contribute to a more equitable, sustainable world.