About
About the GAP Initiative
The Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Initiative at Virginia Tech is a public-private platform dedicated to providing the systems intelligence and coordinated action support necessary to accelerate sustainable agricultural productivity growth at all scales of production, using approaches that generate meaningful returns for producers, society, the environment, and the economy.
A cross-sectoral coalition grounded in Virginia Tech's land-grant, producer-oriented research capacity, the Initiative is operationalized through the university's expansive global network and reputation. It is housed within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as part of CALS Global.
The Challenge
Global agricultural productivity growth has slowed substantially from its pace in the 2000s. This rate is insufficient to meet rising agri-food demand while safeguarding producer livelihoods and environmental systems.
A key indicator of sustainability and innovation, productivity growth reflects how efficiently inputs and resources are converted into outputs. When it slows, agricultural systems rely more heavily on land, water, labor, and capital to maintain supply.
Policy fragmentation, misaligned investments, limited resources, and persistent data silos impede coordinated action to improve this system-wide efficiency. These challenges also limit progress on translating productivity gains into higher-order outcomes such as producer profitability, poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, climate resilience, and inclusive economic growth.
Without systemic intervention and unifying targets, agricultural systems will be increasingly unsustainable and unprofitable.
OUR VISION
The GAP Initiative advances a future where sustainable productivity growth, at all scales of production, secures producer livelihoods, strengthens rural vitality, enhances environmental integrity, improves food and nutrition security, and drives inclusive economic growth.
Our Mission
Our mission is to accelerate sustainable productivity growth to 2% annually in ways that generate meaningful returns for producers, society, the environment, and the economy—powered by systems intelligence and coordinated action at all scales of production.
From 2026 to 2028, we will transform how data, evidence, and insights drive cross-sectoral decision-making for national, regional, and global agricultural systems through:
- the engine
Build and maintain the trusted systems-intelligence foundation that equips decision-makers with coherent, high-quality evidence, advanced analytics, and user-ready tools for driving productivity-focused policy and investment. - the voice
Translate the Engine’s evidence into clear, audience-specific insights that elevate sustainable productivity growth on global agendas and shape decision-making across governments, industry, NGOs, and multilaterals. - The Catalyst
Convert systems intelligence into coordinated action by steering policy and investment shifts, embedding TFP growth as a standard outcome metric, and facilitating cross-sectoral collaboration, thus enabling partners to scale proven, high-impact tools. - Forecast Returns
Future-proof agricultural decision-making by institutionalizing systems intelligence, expanding strategic partnerships, and building the capacities needed to anticipate and act on emerging sector challenges.
why productivity growth
Agricultural productivity growth is measured through total factor productivity, or TFP, an efficiency measure that tracks how effectively agricultural inputs such as land, labor, capital, fertilizer, feed, and livestock are converted into outputs. TFP rises when producers increase output using the same amount or fewer resources.
TFP growth is widely regarded as a barometer of innovation in agriculture. It also reveals how well agricultural knowledge and innovation systems are reaching and supporting producers at all scales of production.
When productivity growth slows, agricultural output tends to grow instead through input intensification and land expansion. Both carry costs: higher expenses for farmers, greater exposure to input market volatility, and increased pressure on land and natural resources.
THE GAP REPORT™
First published in 2010, the GAP Report™ synthesizes global trends, evidence, and insights on total factor productivity growth as the heart of the Initiative's systems intelligence engine.
Each edition reinforces sustainable productivity growth as a unifying strategy for producer profitability, societal benefits, environmental integrity, and economic growth. The Report provides decision-ready analysis to inform policy design and shape investment decisions, pairing current TFP growth trends with analysis of causal drivers — policy environments, R&D investment patterns, and technology adoption barriers.
Alongside regional deep dives and original research, partner stories throughout each edition document how organizations around the world are putting productivity growth into practice. Derivative knowledge products, including policy briefs, investment briefs, and data stories, extend the Report's reach to policymakers, donors, investors, and practitioners.
OUR PARTNERS
Supporting Partners provide financial support and offer perspectives on critical issues facing the world's agricultural systems.
Technical Partners provide insights on areas essential for productivity growth: agricultural research and development and extension systems, natural resource management and conservation, human nutrition and animal health, community-led development, gender equity, trade, and climate change.
The GAP Initiative works across sectors with agribusinesses, research institutions, multilateral organizations, and nongovernmental organizations. Our partners are unified in using agricultural productivity growth as a strategy to ensure farmers around the world are profi
WHY VIRGINIA TECH
As a land-grant institution, Virginia Tech has a long-standing commitment to research, extension, and public service in agriculture. The university's public-private partnerships create a platform for motivating action and investment to ensure every farmer has access to every proven, appropriate tool to sustainably accelerate agricultural productivity growth.
No single sector can address the productivity growth challenge alone. Virginia Tech and the GAP Initiative are positioned to facilitate the collaboration required to restore sustainable agricultural productivity growth.