The National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal partner for Cooperative Extension and Experiment Stations (research) across the nation. It was founded in 2008, replacing the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).
NIFA is one of four USDA agencies that make up its Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area. The other three agencies are:
- Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
- Economics Research Service (ERS)
- National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
“NIFA's mission is to lead food and agricultural sciences to create a better future for the Nation and the world by supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System and other partner organizations. NIFA doesn't perform actual research, education, and extension but rather helps fund it at the state and local level and provides program leadership in these areas. The broad expectation is that NIFA will enhance the stature and impact of food, agricultural, and natural resource sciences and ultimately grow support for agricultural research, education, and extension.”