Deadline: 2-Aug-22
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), under the OUAIP, is inviting applications from eligible entities to host the Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) Competitive Grants pilot project.
The primary goal of the UAIP pilot project is to support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production.
UAIP grants support projects designed to improve access to local foods in areas where access to fresh, healthy food is limited or unavailable through urban and/or innovative agricultural practices, including, but not limited to, community gardens, urban farms, rooftop farms, urban agroforest, food forests, orchards, outdoor vertical production, green walls, indoor farms, greenhouses, high-tech vertical technology farms, and hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic farm facilities.
Types of Projects
The two types of UAIP grants being made available for application under this NFO are:
- Planning Projects are for supporting the development of projects that will either initiate, build upon, or expand the efforts of farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools, members of tribal communities, and other stakeholders in areas where access to fresh foods are limited or unavailable.
- Implementation Projects are for accelerating existing and emerging models of urban and/or innovative agricultural practices that serve multiple farmers or gardeners. Innovation may include new and emerging, as well as traditional or indigenous, agricultural practices.
Funding Information
- The federal funding agency expects to award approximately $14,200,000 through this opportunity.
- Planning Projects (PP): The funding floor for PP is $50,000 and the funding ceiling is $300,000.
- Implementation Projects (IP): The funding floor for IP is $50,000 and the funding ceiling is $300,000.
- Applicants should plan their projects based on an estimated project start date of January 30, 2023.
- All projects are expected to be completed within 12 to 36 months (1 to 3 years).
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.
- Eligibility for this opportunity is limited to the following entity types:
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
- A unit of local government, including:
- City, township, or county governments
- School districts
- Soil and Water Conservation districts
- A Tribal Government, including
- Native American Tribal Governments (federally recognized)
- Native American Tribal organizations (other than Federally-recognized tribal governments)
- A school serving grades Kindergarten through grade 12
- State-designated Indian tribes should select “Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)” when completing the SF-424 block 9. Applicants located within the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), the Pacific Islands Area (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) are eligible.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=340885