WASHINGTON — The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allotting an additional $300 million to support the expansion of US food and agricultural exports in emerging global markets. This second round of Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) grants will be distributed across 67 agricultural organizations.

With this investment, total funding for the program in 2024 will top $600 million. The first round of RAPP was announced in May.

“RAPP is a critical tool for helping US producers and agribusinesses stay competitive in today’s global trading environment,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The Biden-Harris approach to trade is delivering results for US 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.”

Within the meat industry, grants have been allocated to the US Meat Export Federation ($19.5 million), the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council ($10 million), and the US Livestock Genetics Export Inc. ($4.75 million).

Awards are contingent on the completion of legal and administrative requirements relating to the grant, USDA noted.

With this second round of funding, USDA seeks to diversify export markets in regions with rising consumer demand and purchasing power, including Africa, Latin America/the Caribbean and South/Southeast Asia. For projects focused on Africa alone, the USDA has set aside $25 million.

Applications for this round of funding opened in August 2024. USDA received eligible entries requesting more than $1 billion in grants combined, far exceeding the available amount of funds.

RAPP is funded by the Commodity Credit Corp.