Deadline: 13-Jul-23
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is pleased to announce the applications for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative – Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) which focus on approaches that promote transformational changes in the U.S. food and agriculture system.
NIFA seeks creative and visionary applications that take a systems approach for projects are expected to significantly improve the supply of affordable, safe, nutritious, and accessible agricultural products, while fostering economic development and rural prosperity in America.
These approaches must demonstrate current needs and anticipate future social, cultural, behavioral, economic, health, and environmental impacts. Additionally, the outcomes of the work being proposed should result in societal benefits, including promotion of rural prosperity and enhancement of quality of life for all those involved in food and agricultural value chains from production to utilization and consumption.
Purpose and Priorities
- The purpose of AFRI is to invest in research, education, and extension work by awarding grants to solve key problems of local, regional, national, and global importance in sustaining conventional, organic, and urban agricultural systems.
- The projects supported by AFRI address topics such as farm/ranch production efficiency, profitability and sustainability; bioenergy and bio-based products; forestry; aquaculture; rural communities and entrepreneurship; human nutrition; biotic and abiotic constraints on food production; food safety; reducing food waste and food loss; physical and social sciences; family and consumer sciences and rural human ecology; development of circular economies, and genetic improvement of plants and animals.
- Through this support, AFRI advances knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture and forestry. Additionally, AFRI supports work in education and extension activities that deliver science-based knowledge to end users, allowing them to make informed, practical decisions. The AFRI Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) RFA provides funding for integrated research, education, and extension projects.
- Food and agricultural systems are under the constraints of a growing population, natural resource availability, climate change, and complex demands of ensuring nutritional security and food safety in a global economy.
Priorities
- This AFRI RFA will support projects that significantly advance foundational and applied sciences for the following USDA priorities:
- Addressing climate change via climate smart agriculture and forestry;
- Advancing racial justice, equity, and opportunity;
- Creating more and better market opportunities; and
- Tackling food and nutrition insecurity.
Goals
- The AFRI SAS RFA is aligned with the following USDA Strategic Plan Goals:
- Strategic Goal 1: Combat Climate Change to Support America’s Working Lands, Natural Resources and Communities;
- Strategic Goal 2: Ensure American’s Agricultural System is Equitable, Resilient, and Prosperous;
- Strategic Goal 3: Foster an Equitable and Competitive Marketplace for All Agricultural Producers;
- Strategic Goal 4: Provide All American’s Safe, Nutritious Food;
- Strategic Goal 5: Expand Opportunities for Economic Development and Improve Quality of Life in Rural and Tribal Communities.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $80,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $10,000,000.
Outcomes
- The SAS program area will fund projects that significantly advance previously established foundational and applied sciences for the following USDA priority outcomes:
- Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry (CSAF): Improve mitigation, adaptation, and resilience of agricultural and forestry production systems to climate change.
- Strengthening the Bioeconomy: Develop sources of clean energy and high-value biobased products from agricultural feedstocks to foster economic development and prosperity, with an emphasis toward generating benefits to underserved communities.
- Nutrition Security: Enhance the contributions of food and agriculture to improve the health of the nation through resilient local and regional food systems, adoption, and application of new or existing technologies, tools, education, and other resources to ensure access to adequate, safe, nutritious, and affordable food.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) RFA must meet all the requirements discussed in this RFA. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or, preclude NIFA from making an award.
- Eligible applicants for Integrated Projects include:
- colleges and universities;
- 1994 Land-Grant Institutions; and
- Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities (see NIFA’s Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities page). For item a) under Integrated Projects, the terms “college” and “university” mean an educational institution in any state which
- admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate;
- is legally authorized within such state to provide a program of education beyond secondary education;
- provides an educational program for which a bachelor’s degree or any other higher degree is awarded;
- is a public or other nonprofit institution; and
- is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association.
- A research foundation maintained by a college or university is eligible to receive an award under this program.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.