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Agri Food Systems
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The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity Agribusiness Challenge Fund
Grant size: $500,000 - $2,500,000
Donor: Mastercard Foundation
The Agribusiness Challenge Fund will provide SMEs with innovative and commercially viable agribusinesses across 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa the opportunity to receive support to upscale their businesses in a bid to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people, with particular focus on young women.
Selected SMEs will receive support from the Fund, including grants ranging from US$ 500,000 to US$ 2,500,000, disbursed over a 3-year period, based on the applicants’ development stage, scalability and business model, in accordance with agreed periodic milestone targets. The funding structure will be determined on a case-by-case basis after evaluating proposals and organizations. Additional support to successful applicants will include tailored technical assistance in alignment with FRP objectives over the 3-year period.
https://mastercardfdn.org/all/the-mastercard-foundation-fund-for-resilience-and-prosperity-launches-agribusiness-challenge-fund/
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By: Tony Milanzi
Due Date: Nov, 24, 2024
Agri-food systems
+2
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Research-Practice Partnership Grants Program
Grant Size: $100,000 to $500,000
Donor: Spencer Foundation
The Spencer Foundation is pleased to announce the Research-Practice Partnership Grants Program to support education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships. They view partnerships as an important approach to knowledge generation and the improvement of education, broadly construed. Rigorous partnership work is intentionally organized to engage diverse forms of expertise and perspectives, across practitioners, scholars, and organizations, as well as disciplines and methods, in knowledge generation around pressing problems of practice and/or policy. This grant program is open to existing partnerships between researchers and a broad array of practitioners. For example, practitioners might work in school districts, county offices of education, state educational organizations, universities, community-based organizations, and other social sectors that significantly impact learners’ lives.
https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/research-practice-partnerships
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By: Tony Milanzi
Due Date: Sep, 13, 2024
Agri-food systems
+4
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Call for Funding: BMEL Agroecological Innovations for Territorial Markets
Grant Size: Not Available
German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)
The German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) has launched applications for the Agroecological Innovations for Territorial Markets initiative to support joint research projects between German research institutions and similar institutions in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia that are strongly affected by hunger and malnutrition.
The funding aims to promote needs-oriented insights and solutions to improve food security, giving particular consideration to quality aspects and drawing on approaches to research that are participatory, practice- and application-oriented, as well as inter- and transdisciplinary. In addition, the aim is to establish and promote long-term scientific networks and partnerships via interregional cooperation and transnational exchange of knowledge. A contribution to local capacity development is a further objective.
https://www.ble.de/EN/Project-Funding/Funding-Contracts/International-Research-Cooperation/Research-Cooperation-Global-Food-Security/Innovation_markets.html
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By: Tony Milanzi
Due Date: Sep, 30, 2024
Agri-food systems
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CFAs: Supporting African Science and Tertiary Education (SASTE) Grant
Grant Size: $1000-10,000
Donor: Agency for Education and Internationalisation
The Supporting African Science and Tertiary Education (SASTE) Grant support post-docs from Sub Sahara Africa working in the field of Agriculture, Forestry, Water Management, Renewable Energies, Nutritional Science, Human and Veterinary Medicine for a research stay in Austria.
https://oead.at/de/aktuelles/artikel/2024/07/call-for-application-supporting-african-science-and-tertiary-education-saste-grant-3rd-call
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By: Tony Milanzi
Due Date: Nov, 30, 2024
Agri-food systems
+1

African Futures Cohort 5 - Call for Scholars
The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) is seeking applicants for the fifth cohort of the AAP African Futures Research Leadership Program. This competitive visiting scholar program supports early career researchers from the AAP consortium to work for one year under the mentorship of faculty members from MSU and their home institution, focusing on building skills in research for impact, writing scholarly and/or policy publications, disseminating of research results, and developing grant proposals for external support. Scholars will also participate in a structured professional development program while building bridges and lasting connections with MSU contacts and across their cohort.
The main objective of the African Futures program is to strengthen the capacity of a cadre of African researchers to return to their home institutions and become scientific leaders in their community, establish long-term partnerships with MSU faculty, co-create innovative solutions to Africa’s challenges, and in turn become trainers of the next generation of researchers. This program aims to address the gender gap in Africa, where only 30% of researchers are women, so scholars selected for the program will be women, or men who can demonstrate they are committed to support efforts towards gender equity in higher education institutions in Africa. The research areas that the scholars will engage in during the program should be aligned to AAP's research priority areas.
The AAP Management Team requests applications from early career researchers to participate in the next cohort, with work to begin virtually in February 2025. Scholars will spend September – December 2025 at MSU for the in-person portion of the program, followed by another period of virtual collaboration, ending in early 2026. The scholar and mentor team will receive a small grant for research and professional development activities including conference attendance and publication. Scholars will also receive a stipend during their time at MSU, visa application support, and round-trip travel from their home institution.
Potential Research Areas
Selected scholars will work in one of AAP’s seven priority areas:
Agri-food systems
Water, Energy, and Environment
Culture and Society
Youth Empowerment
Education
Health and Nutrition
Science, Technology, and Innovation
Selected scholars will be paired with an MSU mentor and commit to working with the MSU mentor and the home institution mentor for the duration of the program.
Program Benefits
Professional development activities – AAP will offer structured professional development workshops centered on topics such as building equitable partnerships, academic time management, proposal development and budgeting, research communication, etc. to establish professional trajectories, to build research, writing, and publishing skills, and to support scholars to move through various stages of review, promotion, and growth.
Leadership activities – this will center on a research leadership retreat to expose scholars to the key competencies of research leaders, the work that research leaders engage in, personal reflection on their characteristics and career goals to help determine the pathway to advancement to research leadership.
Collaboration networks – the early career researcher will be co-mentored by an MSU faculty member and a faculty member from their home institution. Mentors will have the opportunity to visit their counterpart for one week during the duration of the program. The scholar will also gain access to AAP’s broad network of researchers at MSU, across Africa, and beyond. Proposed activities should ultimately lead to potential long-term collaborations between MSU and the partner institution.
Expected Outcomes
Each scholar and mentors are expected to produce the following outputs, at minimum, by the end of the program:
Submission or evidence of publication of one to three joint manuscripts
At least one grant proposal application
At least one conference presentation
Collaborations with mentors are meant to be long-term and continue after the end of the program. Scholars are encouraged to network with MSU faculty beyond their mentor while at MSU. Scholars are expected to submit regular progress reports to AAP and their home institution focal point. Failure to meet program and mentor expectations can result in early dismissal.
Eligibility
Citizen of an African country
Completion of a PhD degree within the last 10 years
Employed as an Academic Staff member at one of the AAP African consortium universities including Egerton University, Makerere University, University of Dar es Salaam, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Botswana, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University Cheikh Anta Diop, University of Arts and Humanities, Bamako, United States International University-Africa, and University of Pretoria
Have documented approval of leave or sabbatical to participate in the program for the in-person period
Have a mentor at their home institution that will serve as a collaborator and mentor
Research must be in one of the AAP priority areas
Applicants may only submit one proposal to AAP in this round of funding. Prior scholars are not eligible to apply.
Application Requirements
Applicants should provide the following documents as part of their application package:
An up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) that provides a chronological review of their professional accomplishments
A letter of interest that demonstrates how their research interest and experience is aligned to the AAP research priority area and how they plan to implement long-term sustainable partnership (1 pages)
(for male applicants) include how they have supported efforts towards gender equity in higher education institutions in Africa
Names of potential mentors at MSU (applicants should browse relevant MSU department’s website to identify up to three faculty that are aligned with their research interests. Applicants should not contact MSU faculty directly - AAP will reach out on the applicant’s behalf)
Two publications in refereed journals related to their research area
Two professional references that detail the relationship to the applicant and provide specific examples of their assessment of the expertise of the applicant’s research area
A letter from the mentor at their home institution indicating willingness to serve as a collaborator during the program, travel to MSU for one week of collaboration discussions, and mentor the early career researcher when they return to their home institution (1 page)
A written endorsement from the applicants’ Head of Department approving leave (1 page)
A letter of support from the AAP Focal Point for the scholar’s application (1 page)
Selection Criteria:
Professional merit, scientific ability, potential career impact and future collaboration goals with MSU faculty (based on CV, letter of interest, publications, Head of dept and home mentor letters, and two reference letters)
Assurance and availability of resources from the home institution for a designated, funded position for the early career researcher upon completion of their fellowship (expressed in letter from head of Dept at the home institution)
Commitment to return to their home country following completion of training (expressed in a letter of interest)
The selection committee will ensure the best match of outstanding candidates and MSU mentors
Additional selection factors may include diversity in scientific research areas and geographic origin
Applications are due on August 18, 2024
Apply: https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a60s40TOPXGO5sq
Additional program dates:
Program start date (virtual): February 2025
In-person program: Sept - Dec 2025
Program end date: February 2026
Questions
Please contact José Jackson-Malete at jacks184@msu.edu or +1 517-884-8587 with any questions.
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By: Justin Rabineau
Due Date: Aug, 18, 2024
Agri-food systems
+6

Join the Agribusiness Deal Room 2024
Are you a MSME interested in championing food systems in Africa?
Are you an African Agri food business with a game-changing approach to revolutionize food systems on the continent?
Are you looking for investment opportunities ?
Is your Agri food business ready to scale ?Are you driving innovation in Africa's agribusiness sector?Is your Agri food business poised for growth and scale?
Are you driving innovation in Africa's agribusiness sector?Is your Agri food business poised for growth and scale?
Is your Agri food business poised for growth and scale?
The AFS Forum is looking for innovative youth and women led MSMEs that promote food systems transformation in Africa. Whether you're empowering smallholder farmers to increase their production, processing and marketing, advancing nutrition, health and diets, or streamlining market access, managing food waste …. we're looking for MSMEs like yours.
Agribusiness will be selected based on the following critera:
Sector: Agrifood businesses with a clear link to smallholder farmers. This could include, but is not limited to, companies involved in the provision of inputs, primary production, enabling (e.g., agriculture logistics, aggregation platforms, irrigation, cold storage, financial services), value addition, digital platforms, market access, nutrition, post-harvest management, renewable energy etc.
Country: The enterprise must be directly active within the African continent or be planning to expand into the region in the next 12-18 months.
Stage of business: Post-revenue/proof of concept with a product in the market and an existing customer base. The enterprise must have plans to scale operations in the next 12-24 months. Enterprises must have a clear business model and must also be looking for financing (e.g., debt, equity financing, etc.)
Ticket size:
Investment under 100,000 USD
100,000 USD to 500,000 USD,
500,000 USD to 1 million USD
Above 1 million USD
Financial instruments such as loan, grant, equity, guarantee, reimbursable grant.
Innovation in agri-food systems: The proposal should demonstrate innovation, impact, and scalability it can brings to address low production, digital gap, environment and climate challenges, nutrition challenges.
Application RequirementsIf you meet the above criteria, please click here to fill the template to submit your profile. Given the limited number of slots available, applications will be on a first-come, first-served basis and only SMEs that submit fully completed profiles will be considered for participation.
HOW TO APPLY:
If your business meets the above criteria, we invite you to fill out the profile submission template here
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By: Jayden Hewitt
Due Date: Jun, 21, 2024
Agri-food systems
No Preview Available
USADF Call for Proposals (Youth-led Agricultural Cooperatives)
USADF invites applications from registered African agricultural cooperatives, producer groups, processors, and enterprises for grant financing. Grants will support solutions that extend your organizations’ own capabilities to increase your revenues, create jobs, improve farmer incomes, and achieve sustainable market-based growth. USADF is accepting applications in the following countries:
Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia
Click your country (above) to access the full request for applications including eligible value chains.
Application instructions
Your submission must include the following information from your organization:
financial statements for the last 2 years
registration document
completed grant application form, in English, or French
Applications must be in the sectors identified above for each country.
Applications can be no more than US $250,000.
Submit all documents to the e-mail address found in your country’s call for proposal by the specified deadline. Only complete applications will be considered.
Download a copy of the grant application form here:
ENGLISH APPLICATIONFRENCH APPLICATION
We look forward to reviewing your proposals!
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By: Tony Milanzi
Due Date: Jan, 1, 0001
Agri-food systems
+1

No Preview Available
GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition 2024
Welcome to the sixth annual GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition. This is where agrifood innovation meets impact.
Africa’s food sector faces mounting challenges in climate resilience, food security, and nutrition. The need for groundbreaking solutions has never been greater.
Are you an agripreneur leading the charge against these pressing issues? Do you have a transformative venture that’s making waves in the agrifood landscape? We want to hear from you.
Before you dive in, take a moment to review our important eligibility criteria and terms. Remember that you do not have to complete your application in one session. You can start today and save your progress to continue later. A high-quality application is how you will get your business noticed.
Here’s what you need to do to get started:
Join the GoGettaz Community when you enter the competition and you’ll get access to education, mentorship, and investment networks to help you launch, grow, or scale your agrifood venture.
Review the eligibility criteria and terms below.
Create your VC4A profile and begin your application! You can save your progress to continue later.
Are you ready to make your mark on Africa’s agrifood landscape?
Join us for the sixth annual GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition and be part of the solution.
Apply now and let’s grow together. For more information, see our brochure or check out our terms and conditions.
https://vc4a.com/gogettaz/2024/
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By: Tony Milanzi
Due Date: Oct, 6, 2024
Agri-food systems
+1

Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa (PIRA) Strategic Funding
Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa
2024 Call for ProposalsInfo session and Q&A slides
The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), a consortium of ten leading African universities, a distinguished research network for African research institute, and Michigan State University, is inviting proposals for its Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa (PIRA) strategic funding program. As a consortium-wide initiative, PIRA is a tiered funding opportunity designed to cultivate and support multidirectional, collaborative research partnerships at any stage of their development, whether they are initiatives to explore and create new relationships or scale existing ones. One of the unique aspects to these grants is the expectation that organizations will establish and develop fair and equitable partnerships from conception to closeout of the project, involving local stakeholders throughout the project, respecting their knowledge and expertise, and taking an adaptive approach that is responsive to the local context. Proposals should outline processes to establish such partnerships. Fair and equitable partnerships must also be established among members of the consortium if multiple organizations are working on the implementation of the project. Proposed partnership activities may entail cooperative research, capacity building initiatives, outreach and/or other activities that align with AAP’s pillars of building bridges, transforming institutions, and transforming lives. Proposals must address at least one of AAP’s priority areas: agri-food systems; water, energy and environment; culture and society; youth empowerment; education; health and nutrition; and, science, technology, and innovation.
Proposals are encouraged from diverse disciplinary perspectives. Submitted proposals must include principal investigators from both MSU and at least one African AAP member university. The project implementation timeframe will be 18 months.
FUNDING TIERS
The tiered funding structure is designed to support partnerships at different stages of maturity to create and strengthen relationships among institutions and act as a catalyst for research teams in securing external funding that will allow for long-term engagement. Applicants should submit proposals for the funding tier that best fits the level of engagement established among the PIs on the research team. However, AAP management reserves the right to relegate proposals to a different tier if deemed more appropriate during review. To ensure broad impact, more awards will be given at the planning grant level than the scaling grant level. Proposed activities for each tier may include, but are not limited to:
Planning Grants (up to $50,000), inception and early-stage partnership research activities, travel support for co-developing joint proposals (in accordance with all MSU travel guidelines), short-term capacity building trainings, network development, research symposia, or other activities that align with AAP’s priority themes and strategic objectives.
Scaling Grants (up to $100,000), continuation of ongoing partnerships that have the potential to significantly scale their research, capacity building, or outreach activities, broader institutional linkages, or other activities that align with AAP’s priority themes and strategic objectives.
ELIGIBILITY
The lead investigators for proposals must come from MSU and AAP African member universities. Proposals may also include partners from other institutions globally. Teams are encouraged to include partners from the private sector, governments, civil society organizations, and pan-African/global institutions.
Individuals who were PIs or co-PIs on grants from the previous round of PIRA grants or AAP’s strategic partnership grants are not eligible to lead proposals under this call but may participate as team members.
MSU ISP staff are not eligible to lead proposals.
GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS
All submissions must have a cover sheet and proposal narrative that includes the information listed below, a budget and budget narrative using the provided template, and letters of support. Please submit all application material via the application portal by Wednesday, August 14 at 11:59 PM EST.
Application with the project's title as well as names, institutional affiliations, titles of all principal investigators, and a brief (about 100 words) project summary
A proposal narrative, not to exceed 5,000 words with one appendix for references cited, that includes:
A description of the partnership, containing:
Capacity statements from each partner institution that outlines their respective strengths in relation to their proposed roles and responsibilities in the partnership
A brief description of the past or ongoing partnership, if applicable
The rationale for partnership and evidence that it will create or cultivate equitable, sustainable, and mutually beneficial partnerships
A problem statement that identifies the shared challenges to be addressed by the program activities, the theory of change, their relevance to AAP’s themes and pillars
Clearly defined objectives of the proposed partnership
A description of program activities as well as a logical framework that connects the proposed activities with their intended outputs, outcomes, and programmatic objectives
A timeline of activities
A monitoring, evaluating, and learning plan that outlines proposed indicators and collection methods
Identification of potential sources of additional funding that the partnership will pursue during the program’s period of performance
A line-item budget and budget narrative using the template provided. Templates and more information on budgetary considerations are below in BUDGET. A letter of support from each partner’s department, institution, or organization; and A CV or resume of each principal investigator (1-page max).
A letter of support for each PI from their dean or head of department that signifies buy-in from each partner at the institutional level. Please use the provided template
SELECTION CRITERIA
Program goals should align with at least one of AAP’s pillars:
Building bridges: Bringing people and organizations together to work toward common goals. Illustrative activities under this objective include: sponsoring thematic symposia or workshops that bring people together across sectors and disciplines or travel for preparation of proposals for larger grant applications. This also includes network development, communications among research groups or networks (e.g. digital innovations and digital forums), dissemination of knowledge through online journals and/or sharing of best practices among partners
Transforming institutions: Promoting sustainable and effective partnerships among institutions, enhancing resources, and increasing institutional capacity. Illustrative activities under this objective include: institutional capacity development at universities, NGOs, or in the public sector such as building financial management capacity, improving teaching and learning at universities, and/or increasing proposal development skills, among others.
Transforming lives: Supporting research with real-world impact that improves African lives and livelihoods. Illustrative activities under this objective include: putting research into action through evidence-based outreach and engagement, conducting early-stage research that has obvious potential to impact lives and livelihoods, improving dissemination of research outputs to practitioners and policy-makers, and/or designing innovative research-into-practice methodologies.
Submitted proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Evidence of a collaborative and equitable partnership that strengthens personal, professional, and/or institutional networks in a mutually beneficial and sustainable way. Other AAP principles that need to be demonstrated in the proposal and later in the implementation are mutual trust and respect, sustainability, innovativeness, co-creation, accountability, transparency, flexibility as well as multi-disciplinarity and trans-disciplinarity.
Alignment of proposed activities and program goal(s) to AAP’s 3 strategic objectives and 7 priority areas.
Potential for program deliverables to significantly contribute to their respective academic, technical, or technological fields.
Potential to create innovative models of community engagement and development that positively impact people’s lives.
Potential for principal investigators to attract and or leverage additional external funding to sustain program’s impact.
A thorough monitoring, evaluating, and learning plan that links program activities to their intended outputs and outcomes and includes a clear description of the MEL tools that will be used, what indicators will be measured, and a timeline for evaluation and reporting.
Gender equality, equity and inclusion are core values of AAP and are thus central to this call. All projects funded must demonstrate how they follow principles of gender and inclusion and should explain how applicants will integrate gender, equity, and inclusion issues in all stages of the project, including rationale, design, intended results, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and knowledge mobilization processes.
BUDGET
PIRA BUDGET TEMPLATE [.XLSX]
Using the template provided, applicants must submit a line-item budget and budget narrative for the life of the program that details each institution’s requested budget as well as an overall budget summary. Suggested line items are provided as guidelines but are not comprehensive or required. Proposed budgets should be co-created by the partnership teams and reflect an equitable distribution of funds, with each institution completing a separate tab within the budget template to show the anticipated disbursement of resources and cost sharing broken down by yearly expenditures. The budget narrative should clearly explain how the line items are calculated and for what purpose they will be used in achieving the program’s objectives. Please note that the MSU PI and their home department will be responsible for the financial administration of the award. As such, it is required that the MSU PI involve their department’s fiscal officer in the development of the proposed budget to ensure all financial guidelines and reporting requirements are met. Please submit budgets as an Excel file or similar formatted version that allows the reviewers to view the formulas used in the calculations.
Communications and Engagement10% of the total requested funds must be earmarked for communication and engagement efforts. For example, if a team is requesting a scaling grant for $100,000, at least $10,000 of that must be budgeted for communication and engagement efforts, such as developing creative projects that translate the research, engagement workshops and developing and utilizing dissemination tools such as video production, creation of digital resources, community engagement activities, etc.
Cost Share
10% of the total requested funds must be matched with contributions (monetary and/or in-kind) from all partners. The Co-PIs’ colleges, faculties. and/or departments will be expected to contribute to the costs of the proposed activities to ensure that the commitment to long-term partnering is shared by these units.
Ineligible Expenses
While funding may be used for a variety of activities, the following expenses are not eligible to be covered with the PIRA grants:
Regular salary of MSU faculty (summer salary is allowable)
Indirect costs (IDC)
Equipment exceeding $5,000
Construction-related costs
Total project salary & fringe cannot exceed 30% of total combined project budget.
SELECTION PROCESS
Proposals will initially be reviewed by the AAP management team according to the guidelines and criteria above. Short-listed applications will be assessed by external peer reviewers for quality of technical content. Final selections will be made by the AAP management team in consultation with its internal partners and consortium members.
SUBMISSION AND AWARD TIMELINE
APPLICATION PORTAL
Full proposal packages are due on Wednesday, August 14 at 11:59 PM EST and awards will be announced by early October. AAP management will work with awardees to finalize the plan and budget by November 20, 2024. Programs may begin according to their timeline but not before a final work plan and budget has been approved by AAP management. Programs must begin no later than January 22, 2025 and all program activities must be completed within 18 months of the start date. Progress will be due to AAP management at regular intervals throughout implementation. In addition, AAP will be conducting intermittent surveys of the awardees to evaluate the PIRA grant-making process and how successfully it embodies the AAP’s values of equity, transparency, and accountability.
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By: Justin Rabineau
Due Date: Aug, 14, 2024
Agri-food systems
+6

Transforming Institutions Strategic Funding
AAP seeks proposals from consortium members and their partners for projects that directly address AAP's Transforming Institutions pillar - transforming institutions to be better able to participate in sustainable, equitable, and research-driven partnerships that make a broader impact on transforming lives. Successful applicants will receive up to $20,000 USD in seed funding to develop international strategic partnerships with universities, institutions of higher education and research, and/or organizations in the public and/or NGO sectors.
Proposed projects should focus specifically on institutional and capacity strengthening. This could include projects that: aim to reinforce institutional strengths; contribute to individuals’ capacity strengthening, which will lead to institutional strengthening; plan for the creation of new units or institution-wide initiatives; and/or pilot new approaches to support research, teaching, or outreach that can be scaled up across the institution(s).Some specific examples of the types of programs that could fall under this funding initiative: developing plans or programs to improve institutional financial management structures, building capacity of administrative units or leaders, improving structures for outreach and research dissemination, creating new and innovative curricula or pedagogical approaches in priority areas, strengthening student service units focused on various aspects of student success, or institutional programs to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (for faculty staff, and/or students). Proposals that solely focus on research topics unrelated to institutional capacity strengthening and do not directly address how the work contributes to institutional strengthening will not be considered.
I. Guidelines
Proposals may be submitted in one of the following three project categories in support of institutional strengthening and capacity development:
Exploratory Projects to support initial-stage partnership development. This funding is meant for new partnerships that have not previously worked together
Proposal Development Projects to support partners to develop a proposal in response to a specific funding opportunity
Pilot Workshop Projects to support short-term training activities or workshops
We highly encourage projects that incorporate South-South collaboration. This has been identified as an AAP priority and will be factored into the selection process. We also encourage collaboration across Francophone and Anglophone countries/consortium members.
Proposals that address at least one of the following focus areas will receive priority in review:
student success
financial management systems
diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
science communication
Details on funding and development of applicants’ project budget:
Applicants can request a maximum of $20,000 USD.
Funding can cover travel and/or associated meeting or workshop costs. The budget may also cover salary/fringe expenses up to a total of $5,000 USD.
Travel can include any of the following—within Africa, to Africa from external locations, from Africa to the US, or to other locations outside of Africa. Virtual engagement is highly encouraged as it can be cost effective.
Applicants are required to contribute 20% in cost share for the project, in addition to the amount that AAP awards. For example, if an applicant requests $20,000 from AAP, the applicants will need to contribute a total of an additional $4,000 in cost share to the project, so that the total budget for the project would be $24,000.
Cost share refers to the resources a recipient contributes to the total cost of an agreement. Cost share can be cash, in-kind contributions (such as donated time of a faculty member) or a combination of the two.
The cost share required is a combined 20% contribution across all the partner institutions, with each institution contributing some amount. It must be verified in a letter of endorsement from the applicant partner institution leadership (e.g., Dean). Please see the link to the template that AAP has provided under Section IV. Proposal Requirements.
MSU PI’s should identify the relevant fiscal officer within their department and verify within the budget template
Indirect costs are not allowed. This is because AAP is an entity directly funded by Michigan State University. Projects funded by AAP do not allow for indirect, administrative, or contingent costs. AAP policy allows funding only for those activities that can be directly attributed to the funded project. Applicants are responsible for communicating with and receiving approvals from appropriate administrative, research, or finance offices at their institutions and to verify that they understand that indirect costs are not allowed under this grant program.
II. Eligibility
Proposals should include co-PIs (project leads) from each of the partner institutions included in the proposal. Proposals must include PI(s) from MSU and PI(s) from at least one other AAP consortium member (Egerton University, Makerere University, University of Dar es Salaam, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Botswana, University of Nigeria-Nsukka, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Université des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Bamako, University of Pretoria, United States International University – Africa, and ANAPRI). As mentioned above, AAP highly encourages South-South collaboration and proposals with multiple consortium members and/or additional partners are welcomed.
Priority will be given to PIs who have not received funding from AAP previously through any AAP-funded program.
Faculty members may only be listed (as PI or as team member) on one proposal submitted to AAP for each round of funding.
AAP will work with successful applicants to verify a timeline for when activities will be completed. (Partnership teams should carry out projects between June 3, 2024 and August 29, 2025). Awarded funds must be transferred to the MSU PI's department by June 30, 2024.
III. Evaluation Criteria
Criteria that will be used to evaluate the proposals includes:
Evidence of a shared vision and mutually beneficial interests among the partners, and a joint commitment to the success of the proposed partnership
Clarity of the connection of proposed activities to AAP’s Transforming Institutions pillar
Demonstrated integration of gender, equity, and inclusion principles
Quality of short-term outputs/outcomes of proposed activities
Potential for a sustained, productive partnership; quality of long-term impacts of proposed activities
Potential for leveraging significant external funding
Indicators used to evaluate the outputs/outcomes of completed projects include:
Evidence of continued productive collaboration among partner institutions around transforming all organizations involved in the partnership
The number and quality of institutional improvements that stem from partnership activities
Symposia or conferences held to disseminate work stemming from partnership activities
Collaborative grant applications submitted and awarded
Collaborative research publications completed
Other measures of institutional transformation as proposed by the implementing teams
Reporting: A follow-up report including data on these criteria will be required 30 days after the project end date.
IV. Partnership Activities
Proposed partnerships should center on capacity strengthening activities, including external funding proposal development and dissemination of outputs, which contribute to transformation at all partnering institutions. Proposed activities should ultimately lead to potential long-term collaborations among the partner institutions. Follow-on funding may be allocated for continued support to develop these partnerships depending on the outcomes of the initial budget and availability of funds.
V. Partnership Funding
Transforming Institutions partnership funds will provide partial support of travel, meeting, and workshop costs for AAP consortium faculty members and their partners. The Co-PIs’ colleges, faculties. and/or departments will be expected to contribute to the costs of the proposed activities to ensure that the commitment to long-term partnering is shared by these units. A total of 20% match (monetary and/or in-kind) is required with contributions from all partners. These awards should ultimately result in the development and submission of a collaborative funding proposal (including partner institution faculty) for external funding, as well as having positive impacts on other indicators of institutional transformation.
VI. Proposal Requirements
Proposals must be submitted in English via the online submission form linked below and should include the following documents:
Narrative (maximum of five pages), which addresses the specific areas below. Please use these as section headings in the proposal, which will help applicants organize their proposals and help the reviewers score the proposals.
The proposed topics or issues that the activities will address
The activities being proposed for this funding. Please include a description of the activities, the role of each partner, and the timeline.
A general description of the partners and individuals who will take part in the project
The history of partnership among those involved and the potential for sustained future engagement
A description of the partners’ shared vision and how each partner will benefit from the proposed activities
Considerations taken for gender, equity, and inclusion (in terms of the team members and the project activities)
How the activities will contribute to transforming all the institutions included in the partnership. Please describe the objectives of the activities, the anticipated short-term outcomes of the project, and their relation to the institutions’ needs
The anticipated longer-term outcomes and impact of the proposed activities
Identification of external funding opportunities that could support the proposed research/activities in the future
Short project summary (200 words maximum) giving an overview of the work proposed including expected impacts, project outputs, etc.
Letters of endorsement from each applicants’ deans, department chairpersons, or supervisors committing to a total minimum of 20% matching funds, providing a description of any monetary or in-kind contributions from each partner institution, and acknowledging that indirect costs are not allowed. Please use the provided letter of endorsement template.
Proposed itemized budget. Please use the provided budget template.
VII. Submitting a Proposal
Please submit proposals via our online submission form. In addition to the information required on the submission form, be sure to include all required documents listed above in (narrative, letters of endorsement, proposed budget using the provided template).
Submission deadline: March 1, 2024 (11:59pm EST)
Questions
Please contact AAP Program Manager Justin Rabineau (rabinea1@msu.edu) or AAP Co-Director Amy Jamison at (jamisona@msu.edu) with any questions.
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By: Justin Rabineau
Due Date: Mar, 1, 2024
Agri-food systems
+6

Apply Now: VALUE4HER WOMEN AGRIPRENEURS OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Applications are now open!
#VALUE4HER Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards - WAYA 2023 The VALUE4HER Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (WAY) recognizes African female agripreneurs who have excelled in the agricultural value chains and have demonstrated remarkable innovation by contributing positively towards food security, climate resilience, women and youth empowerment.The awards aim to create visibility for successful women and promote them as positive role models, trigge innovation, ana spur ambition among women agripreneurs
Award Categories
1. Young Female Agripreneur (Rising Star)
recognizes high potential young females <35 years demonstrating innovation and leadership in agribusiness
2. Female Ag-Tech Innovator
ReRecognizesemale agripreneurs championing technological advancement in agrousiness.
3. Outstanding Value-Adding Enterprise
Recognizes female-owned agribusinesses that are increasing the economic value and/or consumer appeal to agricultural products.
The winners will each receive a cash prize of
USD 20,000 at the AGRF Summit in September 2023.
The DEADLINE for Application is
Wednesdav 31. Mav 2023.
Begin Application: Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (awardsplatform.com)
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By: Raquel Acosta
Due Date: May, 31, 2023
Agri-food systems
+1
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Apply for Sustainable Agriculture Challenge
Deadline: Jun 30, 2023
Donor: 100+ Accelerator
Grant Type: Awards, Prizes and Challenges
Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000
Countries/Regions: All Countries
Area: Agriculture Food & Nutrition, Farming
100+ Accelerator is excited to launch the Sustainable Agriculture Challenge to Help farmers produce sustainable and regenerative high yielding, high quality crops by leveraging science, technology and financing.
For more information, visit https://www.100accelerator.com/index.php/en/challenge/smart-agriculture
Premium Link: https://grants.fundsforngospremium.com/opportunity/op/Apply-for-Sustainable-Agriculture-Challenge
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By: Raquel Acosta
Due Date: Jun, 30, 2023
Agri-food systems
+2