Open Call: Agro-ecological Approaches in African Agriculture Systems

Deadline: 15-Feb-22

The European Commission (EC) is currently accepeting proposals for the Agro-ecological Approaches in African Agriculture Systems Grant Program.

The implementation of agro-ecological approaches will alleviate the pressure that agri-food production places on natural ecosystems, contributing to resilience of agri-food systems and facilitating nature-based responses to current and future agri-food risks and threats. Agro-ecological transitions of food systems requires strong food governance with interventions at different level (local, territorial, and value chain) and coherent public policies.

• Identify and evaluate the most suitable agro-ecological strategies for various farming systems in different agro-ecological zones, in Africa.
• Deliver a method to identify the best combination of agro-ecological practices for different farming systems, identifying barriers to and drivers of (socioeconomic and ecological) its wide implementation and the conditions, means and tools to support agro-ecological transitions at individual, territorial and systems levels, and including prospective related to access to local and international markets.
• Develop indicators to monitor and measure the qualitative and quantitative impacts of these strategies for different farming systems, the climate neutrality potential and trade-offs, nutrients flows, biodiversity and improvement of in farm socio-economic resilience.
• Support farmers, advisory services and actors in value chains in implementing agro-ecological practices by stablishing communities to support capacity building, knowledge exchange, and share best practices across different human communities in relation to agro-ecological practices that contribute to mitigating climate change and other environmental impacts.
• Identify approaches and methods to enhance the demand for food products resulting from agro-ecological practices, from local, national, regional and international markets.

Funding Information

• public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
• cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).

Expected Outcomes

Projects results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

• EU – Africa jointly tackle climate change and environmental-related challenges (e.g., biodiversity loss, natural habitats alteration, landscape degradation) and meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change, and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular ensuring food and nutrition security and decent livelihoods.
• Identification of optimal combinations of agro-ecological practices that increase the climate change mitigation and adaptation of different farming systems in different agro-ecological zones in Africa while ensuring the financial viability of businesses.
• Quantification and assessment of socio-economic and environmental performance of agro-ecological strategies contributing to sustainable agriculture practices, supporting small farmers and access to local and international markets.
• Increased end-user adoption and implementation of agro-ecological practices by farmers supporting rural communities, ensuring farm resilience and viability at individual and system levels.
• Strengthened transdisciplinary research and integrated scientific support for relevant EU policies and priorities (EU strategy for Africa, Green Deal objectives, etc.).

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• eligible non-EU countries:
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe
  • low- and middle-income countries.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3n8aDT9