United States: Risk Management Education Partnership Program

Deadline: 4-Mar-24

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), operating through the Risk Management Agency (RMA), announces its intent to award up to $3 million to fund the Risk Management Education Partnership Program.

The Risk Management Agency (RMA) promotes and regulates sound risk management solutions to improve the stability of American agriculture. On behalf of FCIC, RMA does this by offering Federal crop insurance products through private partners, creating new risk management products, enhancing existing products, ensuring the integrity of programs, ensuring equal access for underserved communities, and providing training and information.

Project Goal

• The goal of this program is to ensure that “producers will be better able to use financial management, farm financial benchmarking, crop insurance, marketing contracts, and other existing and emerging risk management tools.” One of RMA’s strategic goals is to ensure producers are well informed of the risk management solutions available.

Purpose

• The purpose of this competitive program is to deliver risk management training to U.S. agricultural producers to assist them in managing production, marketing, legal, financial, and human risk. The program gives priority to:
  • educating producers of crops currently not insured under Federal crop insurance, specialty crops, and underserved commodities, including livestock and forage and
  • providing collaborative partnerships to develop and deliver crop insurance education and risk management training. Education activities developed under the Risk Management Education Partnership Program provide farmers and ranchers, including limited resource and other traditionally under-served farmers and ranchers with training opportunities to understand:
    • The kinds of risks addressed by existing and emerging risk management tools;
    • The features and appropriate use of existing and emerging risk management tools; and
    • How to make sound risk management decisions.

Priorities

• Top Priorities include:
  • Climate Smart Agriculture
    • Hurricane Insurance Protection -Wind Index Endorsement (HIP-WI)
    • Tropical Storm Endorsement
  • Equity and Opportunity for Historically Underserved Producers
    • Local Foods and Urban Agriculture
  • Organic and Specialty Crops
  • Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and Micro Farm Training
• Other Agency Priorities:
  • All Livestock Products
  • Crop Insurance 101
  • Double Cropping
  • Rainfall Index Insurance: Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF)/Annual Forage/Apiculture

Funding Information

• Estimated Funding
  • The total amount of Federal funding the agency expects to award through this opportunity is up to $3 million. However, the agency retains the discretion to award a larger or lesser amount.
  • Award Ceiling: $500,000
  • Award Floor: $5,000
• Start Dates and Performance Periods
  • Projects will be 18 months in duration. Applicants should plan their projects based on an estimated project start date no later than September 30, 2024.
• Number of Awards
  • The agency expects to make approximately 20 award(s).

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants and applications must meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline to be considered for award. Eligible applicant type is determined by the implementing program statute. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program (2 CFR 200.206(d)).
• Eligibility for this opportunity is limited to the following entity types:
  • City or township governments
  • County governments
  • For profit organizations other than small businesses
  • Independent school districts
  • Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
  • Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
  • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
  • Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
  • Nonprofits registered as 501(c)4 or 501(c)5
  • Private institutions of higher education
  • Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education
  • Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
  • Small businesses
  • Special district governments
  • State governments

For more information, visit Grants.gov.