In 1991, the U.S. Congress through the Agency for International Development (USAID), requested the National Research Council to outline a strategy to initiate a program for U.S. universities to carry out research to support the needs of sustainable agriculture and natural resource management in developing countries. As a result, in 1992, the University of Georgia was awarded a grant to begin Phase I of the SANREM CRSP. In 1997, USAID renewed the contract and research continued into Phase II, with the University of Georgia still serving as the Managing Entity.

In 2004, the Managing Entity moved to its current location in Blacksburg when Virginia Tech was awarded the grant to begin Phase III. The Phase I and II Archives website is still available as a historical reference, but is no longer maintained by the current Managing Entity.