Research for Development: A Strategic Investment in America’s Security, Stability, and Prosperity
Feb 3, 2025
Data-driven international development is one of America’s best investments
Investing in practical rather than academic research to solve real world problems is essential to ensuring that every dollar, program, and policy makes America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
The International Cooperative Research Group (ICRG)1 has long been committed to delivering objective, reliable, resolution-focused, and rigorous research to improve effectiveness of the USG funded Cooperative Development Program (CDP). As the CDP R&D mechanism, the ICRG measures economic and social impacts of private enterprise and entrepreneurship using the cooperative business model through its CDP activity, Cooperative Impact and Innovation through Research, Collaboration, Learning and Evidence (CIIRCLE).
Cooperatives are private enterprises that enable smallholders to aggregate their resources through the power of self-determination. The ICRG’s documented evidence on the development impact of the cooperative business model shows that cooperatives reduce migration, expand markets, and increase opportunities for trade.
The ICRG’s research model is designed to generate actionable insights that align with USG objectives and secure local buy-in. It makes the case for data-driven international development and shows that evidence-based, innovative, and strategic research drives job creation, accelerates economic growth and partnerships, and ensures long-term stability, prosperity, and efficiency at home and in our region.
Initiated during President Trump’s first term, the ICRG’s work under the CDP shows how research advances U.S. foreign policy objectives. This approach:
- Optimizes and aligns program investments for increasing effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability
- Produces outcomes that inform decision-making, influence policy, and solve pressing global challenges
- Builds local capacity and prosperity when designed using data-based evidence
- Enables local communities and institutions to take ownership of their development
The efficiency and effectiveness of USG investment in ICRG is made clear by the high positive direct economic return on investment (ROI) on USG resources invested in use of the cooperative business model to encourage private enterprise and entrepreneurship at the local level. Returns vary from country to country and ICRG has documented ROIs of $30 to $400 dollars for every dollar invested in R&D and technical support. Through CIIRCLE, ICRG delivers data-based results to USG to assess and justify program investments aligned with USG objectives and so provide accountability to the American people.
1 The ICRG is the research and learning arm of the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) with deep ties to cooperative businesses in the U.S., many of whom conduct business with countries of concrete shared interests.
2 This includes the economic value created by the CDP and additional financial resources mobilized from local and international partners, reinforcing the link between higher investments and greater returns. Longer term capacity impact is additional and not reflected.
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