What Agriculture & Food Systems Institute does

Agriculture & Food Systems Institute (AFSI) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit scientific organization that originated from the Center for Environmental Risk Assessment (CERA) of the ILSI Research Foundation and was established under its current name in 2015. It operates with approximately 11 staff across five program areas: Biosafety Capacity Building (anchored by the South Asia Biosafety Program), Environmental Risk Assessment (including gene drive ERA and data transportability), Sustainable Nutrition Security, Food and Feed Safety Assessment (notably for genetically engineered food), and Biologicals for Sustainable Agriculture. Its primary customers are government regulators, biosafety committees, and public-sector scientists in more than 40 countries who use AFSI as a neutral, science-based convening platform and source of reference data.

AFSI's core technology is a portfolio of three proprietary, curated databases — the Crop Composition Database (CCDB, 17 countries, 17 crops), the World Nutrient Databases for Dietary Studies (WNDDS, 92 countries), and the Global Environmental Zones (GEnZ) Explorer (20 crops) — combined with a multilingual E-learning platform (English, Spanish, Mandarin), Communities of Practice, and a continuous calendar of in-person and virtual workshops. It does not sell software or subscriptions; instead, it makes these resources available to qualified regulators and researchers through grant-funded programs. AFSI holds recognized observer status at OECD working parties on novel food/feed safety and biotechnology harmonization, and serves as a key technical convener of the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB).

AFSI's revenue model is grant-funded rather than commercial. Primary funding comes from USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (New Technologies and Production Methods Division) for APEC HLPDAB activities, USAID via the Pakistan Strategy Support Program for the Biosafety Research in Pakistan Grants Program, and additional support from national governments (e.g., Bangladesh Department of Environment, MoST Bangladesh) and partner organizations such as the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Biotech Consortium India Limited, and ILSI regional branches. Go-to-market is community-led: AFSI builds long-duration relationships with national regulatory agencies and research institutions, delivers capacity-building workshops (some by invitation only), publishes peer-reviewed scientific documents, and participates in OECD and APEC working groups to shape regulatory harmonization rather than to compete for market share.

Name

Agriculture & Food Systems Institute

Legal name

Agriculture & Food Systems Institute

Website

https://foodsystems.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AFSI is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit scientific institute that provides biosafety capacity building, environmental risk assessment, and food/feed safety assessment databases, e-learning, and workshops to government regulators and public-sector scientists across more than 40 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Research and Biosafety Capacity Building

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) Design & Regulatory Verification (AFALADAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Regulatory Affairs & Submissions FSP (HLAGAOAD)

Keywords

• Agricultural biotechnology research
• Biosafety capacity building
• Food safety assessment
• Environmental risk assessment
• Scientific databases

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Donor Funding: AFSI is a non-profit organization that advances and disseminates science for public benefit. The organization is supported by grants, including a grant from the USDA FAS New Technologies and Production Methods Division, as well as funding from various government agencies, foundations, and international organizations for specific programs such as the South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP) and the Biosafety Research in Bangladesh Grants Program (BRBGP).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AFSI is a non-profit scientific organization that delivers biosafety capacity building, environmental risk assessment, food and feed safety assessment, and sustainable nutrition security programs to government regulators and scientists globally. Its core offerings include three curated reference databases (Crop Composition Database, World Nutrient Databases for Dietary Studies, and Global Environmental Zones Explorer), e-learning courses on biosafety and food safety, and in-person capacity-building workshops delivered in partnership with national regulatory agencies, APEC, and OECD.

Product overview

The Agriculture & Food Systems Institute (AFSI) operates as a non-profit organization offering a portfolio of databases, e-learning tools, and capacity building programs focused on agricultural biotechnology, biosafety, and food systems. The core product suite includes three major databases: the Global Environmental Zones (GEnZ) Explorer for visualizing agroclimatic data, the World Nutrient Databases for Dietary Studies (WNDDS) covering 92 countries, and the Crop Composition Database (CCDB) with data on 17 crops from 17 countries. These are complemented by e-learning courses on biosafety and food safety. AFSI also operates five interconnected program areas: Biosafety Capacity Building (including the South Asia Biosafety Program), Environmental Risk Assessment, Sustainable Nutrition Security, Food and Feed Safety Assessment, and Biologicals for Sustainable Agriculture—all focused on advancing science-based approaches to agricultural biotechnology regulation and sustainable food systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP): Program providing training and resources to promote science-based risk assessments of biotechnology products in South Asia.
• Center for Environmental Risk Assessment (CERA)
• Center for Integrated Modeling of Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Security (CIMSANS)
• Global Environmental Zones (GEnZ) Explorer
• World Nutrient Databases for Dietary Studies (WNDDS)
• Crop Composition Database (CCDB)

Products and services

• Global Environmental Zones (GEnZ) Explorer An interactive online tool that visualizes agroclimatic zonations and their relationships to Confined Field Trial (CFT) locations for 20 crops, helping regulators and researchers determine optimal locations for CFTs in environmental risk assessment of GE crops.
• World Nutrient Databases for Dietary Studies (WNDDS) An online database tool that enables users to explore, analyze, and filter Food Composition Databases and Tables for 92 countries and regions via an interactive map interface for dietary studies research.
• Crop Composition Database (CCDB) An online database providing access to data from 17 countries on nutrients, anti-nutrients, and secondary metabolites of 17 agriculturally important, conventionally bred crops, used as a reference for safety assessment of genetically engineered crops.
• E-Learning Courses Online courses including Genetic Variability in Crops, Environmental Risk Assessment of Non-Target Organisms for GE Crops, and Concepts in the Safety Assessment of Novel Food and Feed, delivered in English, Spanish, and Mandarin to expand access to biosafety and food safety training globally.
• Biosafety Capacity Building Program Capacity-building program providing training, workshops, and technical resources to promote science-based risk assessments of biotechnology products for government regulators, scientists, and biosafety officers, including the South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP) and the IBO Training Program.
• Environmental Risk Assessment Services Program improving systematic approaches for assessing potential environmental impacts of modern biotechnology products, including data transportability for field trial research and gene drive environmental risk assessment methodologies.
• Food and Feed Safety Assessment Program Program conducting research and capacity building on food and feed safety assessment methodologies for genetically engineered food, including workshops for regulators on safety assessment of GE plants in partnership with national food safety agencies.
• Biologicals for Sustainable Agriculture Program Program focused on increasing sustainability of crop production systems through research and application of plant biologicals, including the Global Regulatory Compendium for Agricultural Biological Products.

Quantifiable outcome

• 89% of workshop participants who responded to the survey have been able to apply what they learned during the workshop to their work.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2023AIT co-hosted the GM Food and Feed Safety Assessment Workshop in Taipei, Taiwan on July 19, 2023. The workshop brought together government officials from Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration and Council of Agriculture to exchange regulatory perspectives on GM crop safety assessment.
• Food Industry Research & Development Institute (FIRDI) – TaiwanminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2023FIRDI co-hosted the GM Food and Feed Safety Assessment Workshop in Taipei alongside AFSI and AIT. FIRDI provided local organizational support and hosted the workshop at the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei.
• U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2023USSEC co-hosted the GM Food and Feed Safety Assessment Workshop in Taipei, contributing to the exchange of regulatory perspectives on GM crops for food and feed between the US and Taiwan.
• U.S. Grains Council (USGC)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2023USGC co-hosted the GM Food and Feed Safety Assessment Workshop in Taipei, supporting science-based regulatory dialogue on GM crop safety assessment.
• Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh (MoST)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2023MoST Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AFSI on February 26, 2023, formalizing a framework for collaboration on agricultural biotechnology research, biosafety, and regulatory capacity building in Bangladesh.
• USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) – New Technologies and Production Methods DivisioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSDA FAS is a primary funder and strategic partner, providing grant support for AFSI's APEC HLPDAB activities, including the Agricultural Biotechnology Seminar Series. The partnership enables AFSI to advance science-based regulatory cooperation on agricultural biotechnology across APEC member economies.
• ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute) – Multiple BranchescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFSI was originally affiliated with the ILSI Research Foundation. It collaborates with ILSI Brasil, ILSI Mexico, ILSI India, and other regional ILSI branches on conferences, workshops, and publications related to food safety, environmental risk assessment, and nutrition security. AFSI's Center for Integrated Modeling of Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Security (CIMSANS) grew out of this relationship.
• South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP) PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFSI manages the South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP) in collaboration with national governments, the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, and Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL). The program conducts annual conferences, workshops, and training on biosafety in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and other South Asian countries.
• Bangladesh Academy of SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the South Asia Biosafety Program (SABP) and co-host of the International Conference on Environmental Risk Assessment of Genetically Engineered Plants (2012) in Dhaka. The Bangladesh Academy of Sciences provides institutional support and credibility for AFSI's biosafety capacity building programs in Bangladesh.
• Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBCIL is a key Indian partner in the South Asia Biosafety Program, assisting with workshop organization, participant coordination, and technical program delivery. BCIL has co-hosted multiple South Asia Biosafety Conferences and food safety assessment workshops with AFSI.
• OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFSI is a recognized observer organization to the OECD Task Force on the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds and the Working Party on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology (WP-HROB). AFSI contributes to and helps organize OECD-aligned workshops and consensus documents, and hosts OECD working group annual meetings.
• APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFSI serves as a key organizing and technical partner for the APEC HLPDAB, running the Agricultural Biotechnology Seminar Series, regulatory cooperation workshops, and Early Career and Innovative Start-ups Symposium as official activities under the HLPDAB framework across APEC member economies.
• Bangladesh Department of EnvironmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA key national government partner in the South Asia Biosafety Program. The Department of Environment has co-hosted multiple workshops on biosafety guidelines, environmental risk assessment of GE plants, and the IBO Training Program in Bangladesh. Supported the BRBGP (Biosafety Research in Bangladesh Grants Program) managed by AFSI.
• Agricultural Model Inter-comparison and Improvement Program (AgMIP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFSI's CIMSANS partnered with AgMIP for the Joint GEOSHARE Workshop and Improved Modeling Summit (2014). Both organizations share the goal of improving integrated modeling approaches for characterizing food and nutrition security under climate change.
• DuPont Pioneer (now Corteva Agriscience)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDuPont Pioneer collaborated with AFSI on workshops including the Non-Target Organism Testing Workshop (2014) hosted at Iowa State University and the two-phased food/feed safety assessment workshop (2014). Pioneer provided research facilities (Stine Haskell Research Center) and technical expertise.
• CropLife AsiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCropLife Asia participated as a presenter on herbicide resistance management at AFSI-organized conferences, contributing industry perspective on stewardship practices for GE crops in the Asia-Pacific region.
• International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIRRI participated in AFSI events including the South Asia Biosafety Conference, presenting on the deployment of Golden Rice in South Asia and genome editing for biofortification of rice.
• ISBR (International Society for Biosafety Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFSI participates in and helps organize ISBR's biennial International Symposium on the Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO). AFSI staff presented at ISBGMO13 (Cape Town, 2014) and AFSI helped coordinate ISBR2023 in St. Louis, MO.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• CropLife International: CropLife International is the global industry association for the plant science sector, representing developers of crop protection and biotechnology products. Comparable to AFSI as a stakeholder in agricultural biotechnology regulation and stewardship, though operating from an industry-promotion perspective.
• Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO): BIO is the largest trade association representing the biotechnology industry, including agricultural biotechnology. It overlaps with AFSI's regulatory advocacy and capacity building around biotech products, though with a much broader industry-focused mandate.
• CGIAR: CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership operating across dozens of countries with significantly more funding and reach than AFSI. It overlaps in food systems research, sustainable agriculture, and crop science capacity building.
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): IFPRI is a CGIAR research center providing policy research on food security and nutrition. Overlaps with AFSI's food systems and nutrition security work, though operates as a much larger research institution with policy focus.

Emerging players

• Good Food Institute (GFI): GFI is a non-profit focused on alternative proteins and sustainable food systems. Comparable to AFSI as a science-focused non-profit influencing food system sustainability, though focused on a different technology segment.
• Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN): GAIN is a global non-profit focused on improving nutrition through food systems transformation. Comparable to AFSI's Sustainable Nutrition Security program but with a broader mandate and larger scale.

Direct peers

• International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR): ISBR is the scientific society that organizes the ISBGMO symposium on biosafety of GMOs, which AFSI actively participates in and helps coordinate. Directly comparable as a peer organization in the biosafety research community.
• International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI): ILSI is a global non-profit that provides scientific research and convening on food safety, nutrition, and sustainability. AFSI was originally affiliated with ILSI Research Foundation and continues collaboration with ILSI regional branches, making it a directly comparable scientific non-profit.
• Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR): FFAR is a U.S.-based non-profit that funds agricultural research through public-private partnerships. It is comparable to AFSI as a similarly structured research-focused non-profit supporting science-based agricultural innovation and sustainability.
• ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications): ISAAA is a non-profit international organization that shares knowledge and applications of agricultural biotechnology, particularly crop biotechnology, with similar capacity-building and resource-sharing missions targeting developing countries — directly comparable to AFSI's biosafety and knowledge dissemination work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foodsystems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Agriculture & Food Systems Institute