The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Global Programs Office connects students and faculty to the world. Meaningful international engagement opportunities allow faculty and students to serve globally, enrich communities at home and abroad, and develop partnerships to address the most-challenging issues faced by society.





CALS in the World

Thompson (right) recently led a group of faculty on a trip to Kenya, where CALS Global is building partnerships to improve food security.

GAP Report
Thompson (right) recently led a group of faculty on a trip to Kenya, where CALS Global is building partnerships to improve food security.

The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences — which has long been a leader in empowering people around the world to produce sustainable food while increasing productivity — will become an even larger knowledge platform when it presents the Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report® in 2019.

The GAP Report is a call to action, urging world leaders to invest in proven strategies to produce food, feed, fiber, and biofuel in a sustainable manner to meet the demands and needs of a growing world. The report’s findings are presented each year to an international audience in Des Moines, Iowa, at the World Food Prize/Borlaug Dialogue. In previous years, the report was produced by the Global Harvest Initiative.

“The college is well positioned to serve as a host for the report given the breadth of its programs in food, agriculture, and nutrition and its emphasis on addressing global food security issues,” said Tim Sands, president of Virginia Tech. “The college’s initiative to grow public-private partnerships, its investment in international programs, and the new Innovation Campus in Alexandria, Virginia, all benefit the GAP Report and its stakeholders.”

CESAAM and Egerton University leadership collaborated with faculty from Virginia Tech on a two-week-long trip to Kenya that was the capstone of the year-long CALS Global Opportunity Initiative.

Kenya 2
CESAAM and Egerton University leadership collaborated with faculty from Virginia Tech on a two-week-long trip to Kenya that was the capstone of the year-long CALS Global Opportunity Initiative.

CALS Global launched a new partnership in 2017 with the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Management (CESAAM) at Egerton University. CESAAM is a World Bank-funded African Center of Excellence with the mission to improve food security along the agricultural value chain.

George Owuor (left), director of the World Bank’s Center of Excellence for Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Management (CESAAM) at Kenya’s Egerton University, and Thomas Thompson (right), associate dean and director of Global Programs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), highlight the strengths of the universities’ partnership during RUFORUM.

RUFORUM Photo
George Owuor (left) and Thomas Thompson (right) highlight the strengths of the universities’ partnership during RUFORUM.

Thomas Thompson, associate dean and director of Global Programs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), presented during the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). He spoke about the successful model of Virginia Tech’s partnership with Kenya’s Egerton University through the World Bank’s Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Management (CESAAM)program.

CALS in Service

Virginia Tech President Tim Sands explains how the university works inside the commonwealth and across the globe to help increase crop yields while reducing the use of toxic chemicals.

About CALS Global

  • The mission of CALS Global is to create partnerships, discover opportunities, and empower success — to serve globally.
  • The vision of CALS Global is to ensure that CALS is recognized worldwide as a premier destination for agriculture and life sciences.
  • Who We Are
  • Where We Work
  • Our Strengths

CALS Global News