Central America Regional RFA – Deadline to apply: February 20th 2023

Central America Regional Request for Applications

Please refer to attached PDF of the Request for Applications for details on submission

Title: Technologies for climate smart agriculture for small-sized farms in Honduras and Guatemala

Background

The Feed the Future Horticulture Innovation Lab program advances bio-physical and social knowledge and innovation within the horticulture sector, specifically in Africa, South Asia, and Central America.  Our global research network works with and promotes local leadership to advance horticulture and social innovations, empowering smallholder farmers to earn more income while better nourishing their communities.

The Horticulture Innovation Lab is currently soliciting full technical applications from regionally- based organizations to research appropriate technologies for climate smart agriculture for small-sized farms in Honduras and Guatemala. The selected research projects will be funded at $250,000 up to $750,000 depending on the scope of work, over a period of approximately 3 and 1/4 years. A total of approximately $1.2 million will be awarded, through which we aim to fund 2-4 projects. We encourage applications for a single subtheme, and collaborative projects that cover multiple sub-themes. 

The Horticulture Innovation Lab is looking for research applications led by local organizations that are relevant to, and appropriate for smallholder farmers and disadvantaged populations in focus countries, Honduras and Guatemala. The research should result in useful recommendations and key takeaways for future Horticulture Innovation Lab research and development. Successful teams will include multiple disciplines, including agribusiness and nutrition experts, as well as horticulturists, agronomists, sociologists and economists.

Eligibility Criteria

The lead applicant organization and lead principal investigator must be from a USAID Feed the Future country from within the Central America region - specifically Honduras and/or Guatemala. Applicants can be from academic institutions, government sectors (including national agriculture research services), private entities, or other community-based organizations. While international collaboration is allowable, intellectual lead and management should remain in the region. This includes but is not limited to leading efforts in determining research methodology, implementation, and information dissemination, such as publications and conference participation. Priority will be given to research projects with budgets that include a majority of funds to regionally based partners.

Some key information

  1. Questions and answers relevant to all possible applicants will be posted here, Central America RFA Question and Answer Document, Deadline for questions is January 28, 2023, and questions and answers will be posted on a rolling basis.
  2. Two webinars will be provided to present information on the RFA and answer any questions about the RFA:
    1. First Webinar is January 24th at 2:30pm to 3:30pm CST. Link for Webinar: Central America Webinar One Link
    2. The Second Webinar is January 27th at 2:30pm to 3:30pm CST. Link for Webinar: Central America Webinar Two Link
  3. Contact information: For questions about budgets or contracts, please contact Katie Schroeder at kschroeder@ucdavis.edu or +1-530-752-3522. For programmatic questions and questions about RFA please email Dr. Julio López Montes at jlopez@zamorano.edu or Patricia Arce at parce@zamorano.edu
  4. Lead Principal Investigators (PI) are required to complete short LASER PULSE video  training sessions on research for and with disadvantaged groups, and locally-led research.
  5. RFA Timeline:
    1. Request for applications: January 15, 2023 - February 20, 2023.
    2. Deadline for application questions: January 28, 2023
    3. Applications due February 20, 2023, 6:00 pm CST to the Horticulture Innovation Lab via PiestarRFx (RFA Piestar Submission Link)
    4. ONLY if you are not able to access Piestar, then 1) technical application can be submitted as a PDF document, 2)  budget justification as a PDF document 3) documentation of cost-share, and Supporting Budget Letters combined as a separate PDF document, and 4) an excel document for the budget with annual and cumulative totals for the prescribed categories. These documents should be emailed to horticulture@ucdavis.edu
    5. Review of applications:  February 21– 28, 2023
    6. Notification of funding:  March 06, 2023
    7. Projects begin: May 1, 2023

Helpful Links for drafting RFA Submissions

Cost share information: Cost-sharing is required at 25% of the total federal funds requested from the Horticulture Innovation Lab. This requirement may be waived for local organizations within the region of focus. Please contact the Horticulture Innovation Lab for further information. Please see attached RFA for further information. Cost-sharing documentation from the contributing entity must be provided at the time of application submission. Please see attached RFA for further information. The required cost-share may come from any combination of the main institution and subaward(s) as appropriate.  Provide a detailed cost-sharing narrative listing institution(s), dollar amounts, and descriptions. If you are requesting a waiver of the cost share requirement, please include an explanation or justification for the waiver in your application in a separate letter or within the budget justification document. Requesting and potentially receiving a waiver of the cost share requirement will not be considered during the review process of applications in determining awarding funds. If a waiver has been requested and the application chosen for funding, a discussion will take place to determine if a waiver will be granted and the terms of the of the waiver.

 

Central America Regional RFA Piestar RFx Link