Deadline: 14-Sep-23
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) requests applications for the AFRI’s Education and Workforce Development program areas to support:
- professional development opportunities for K-14 educational professionals;
- non-formal education that cultivates food and agricultural interest in youth;
- workforce training at community, junior, and technical colleges;
- training of undergraduate students in research and extension;
- fellowships for predoctoral candidates and postdoctoral scholars.
The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative – Education and Workforce Development (EWD) focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences.
Goals
- The AFRI EWD program area has four overarching goals:
- Growing Agricultural Literacy and Workforce Development for the Future offers institutional grants to provide K-14 teachers and administrators with increased knowledge of the food and agricultural sciences and help them develop improved curricula to train the agricultural workforce for the future. See Part I C.1 “Professional Development for Agricultural Literacy”.
- Training or Retraining of Agricultural Workers provides institutional training grants to develop a technology- and data-savvy workforce ready for the field and industrial jobs. See Part I C.2 for “Agricultural Workforce Training Grants at Community Colleges”.
- Developing Pathways provides formal or non-formal education experiential learning for students to enter or gain skills applicable to the food and agriculture fields. This RFA seeks to support the development of non-formal education activities that cultivate interest and build public confidence in the safe and enhanced use of technology in food and agricultural sciences. See Part I C.3 for “Food and Agricultural Non-formal Education” (Program Code A7801). This RFA also offers institutional grants that propose experiential learning for undergraduates in food, agriculture, or allied disciplines and helps them learn the technical and leadership skills required for employment in the food and agricultural sectors or in graduate programs.
- Advancing Science supports graduate and post-graduate education in food and agriculture disciplines.
Program Area Priority:
- The AWT program area priority seeks to develop a workforce ready for the field as well as industry jobs in the food and agricultural sector. Through the development of new workforce training programs, or the expansion, improvement, or renewal of existing workforce training programs at community, junior, and technical colleges/institutes, this program will expand jobbased experiential learning opportunities, acquisition of industry-accepted credentials and occupational competencies for students to enable a work-ready labor force for the 21st century. Proposals aimed towards developing baccalaureate or graduate degree programs or pathways towards these degrees are not supported under this program area priority.
- In order to strengthen the capacity of Community Colleges, the AWT program is offering two focus areas: Design and Implementation, with distinct requirements, goals, timelines, and budget maximums. Design projects seek to support faculty and staff to design and develop new credentialed workforce training programs that will train the workforce once the credential is recognized by the cognizant institution. Design projects do not support nor require student activities or training, but the standing up of training programs. On the other hand, Implementation projects seek to train students to acquire the skills and tools necessary to secure an industry-accepted credential and join the workforce. Implementations projects may update or expand existing workforce training programs, but these activities are restricted to the first year of the grant; the remaining project time must be allocated to student training. AWT applicants must design their proposal based on the focus area that best fits their project’s goals, objectives, and timeline. Applicants need not have applied or received a Design or Implementation project grant to be eligible to apply or receive the other project type award.
Funding Information
- The amount available for the AFRI Education and Workforce Development RFA in FY 2023 is approximately $49,000,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or, preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s
- Grants Overview provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process.
- Eligibility is linked to the project type as specified.
- Research, Education, or Extension Projects
- Eligible applicants for single-function Research, Education or Extension Projects include:
- State Agricultural Experiment Station;
- colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher);
- university research foundations;
- other research institutions and organizations;
- Federal agencies;
- national laboratories;
- private organizations or corporations;
- individuals who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents; and
- any group consisting of two or more entities identified in a) through h).
For more information, visit Grants.gov.