Deadline: 11 June 2020
Nuffic has announced a Call for Grant Applications to Capacity building in agricultural transformation in the Mekong River Delta.
The Orange Knowledge Programme is a 5 year global development programme, aimed at strengthening professionals and organisations through education and training. It contributes to the goals of the Netherlands’ development cooperation policy, in which education plays a significant role.
The objective of this call is to contribute to agricultural transformation in the Mekong River Delta by increasing the quality and skillset of graduates who (will) work in the agro-business sector.
The Theory of Change (ToC) of the Orange Knowledge Programme presents the expected medium and long-term impact and outcomes of the programme. Each impact and outcome is quantified by a number of indicators which are described in the Orange Knowledge Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and relates to the M&E Framework of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All projects must contribute to achieving these impact and outcomes. In addition, it is expected that projects seek alignment with existing programmes, encourage alumni involvement and stimulate and facilitate south-south cooperation as much as possible. The grant application and, if the application is selected, subsequent reporting must give insight into how the project will contribute/contributes to achieving impact and outcomes.
The proposed project must contribute to the following long-term impacts in Water Security and Safety:
- Water is used sustainably and equitably, ensuring the needs of all sectors and the environment;
- Water efficiency in agriculture is increased.
The proposed project must contribute to the following long-term impacts in Food & Nutrition Security:
- Promote agricultural growth;
- Create ecologically sustainable food systems.
The following medium-term impact will contribute to this:
- Education system (TVET/HE) is of good quality, relevant and accessible (SDG 4);
- Partnerships between persons and organisations are inclusive and sustainable (SDG 17);
- Organisations key to (sectoral) inclusive development of partner countries are strengthened by inflow of enhanced workforce.
This will be achieved by the following outcome:
TVET/HE organisations (in the selected partner countries and in NL) perform better their core tasks, firmly embedded in their environment (in line with country / regional specific labour market needs & aiming at inclusiveness).
Funding Information
- Maximum available funding for this call, excluding co-funding EUR 620,000
- Maximum funding per collaboration project, excluding co-funding EUR 620,000
The following capacity gaps have been identified in relation to the training and education needs:
- At ministerial level approximately 35% of staff are academically trained, whereas at provincial and district levels little over 2% of staff have more than a BA/BSc degree;
- Vietnam still has low quality university level education and vocational training in agriculture/food security and water & climate change related subjects, which are considered out of date and still cannot meet the demand for training and education, both in terms of quality and quantity;
- Capacity building is needed to Vietnamese higher education institutes in water management transformations (e.g. embrace floods and brackish water) linked to agricultural restructuring, professionalisation and livelihood changes;
- There is a gap between scientific knowledge and the implementation of relevant policies and governance on agricultural transformation;
- Vocational training institutes face a bigger challenge: they are not able to recruit enough students because vocational training is not considered attractive.
Given the capacity needs mentioned, the following criteria apply to this call (in addition to generic criteria and objectives of OKP):
- The proposed project will need to address capacity needs of (future) civil servants engaged at decentral level as well as staff engaged in extension services who will have a central role in improving agricultural practices and value-adding activities in the upper delta, the saline estuary zone and the peninsula area of the Mekong River Delta;
- The project will need to contribute to innovation in the agro-water sector by bringing further new ideas and concepts (i.e. through pilots, demo’s etc.);
- The project should narrow the gaps between science and policy, between policy and practice, particularly where agriculture connects with water and delta management and where government connects with the private sector;
- The project should seek close alignment with different Dutch agro / water programmes;
- The proposal may focus on key ministerial and education institutes and/or education institutes that can (potentially) play a key role in upgrading the knowledge and skills base of civil servants in the Mekong River Delta region;
- If possible, the proposal should focus on connecting vocational training and education to academic education;
- The proposal should address soft skills development, interactive teaching methodologies, curriculum improvement with a specific focus on institutional sustainability;
- If possible, the proposed strategy should align with outreach activities to (small scale) farmers;
- The proposed strategy will have to pay attention to remote areas and the position of women and female farmers.
Eligibility Criteria
Grant applications and applicants have to meet the following minimum criteria to be eligible for a grant:
- The project must be a collaboration between a Dutch knowledge institution and a country A knowledge institution, potentially on behalf of their consortia. The grant application must be submitted either by the Dutch institution for secondary vocational or higher vocational or academic education, or the knowledge institution or organisation in a Country, potentially on behalf of their consortia. All country A partners have to be based in the country/countries specified in the call. Only the Dutch lead partner has to be based in the Netherlands.
- The grant applicant is in a position to provide adequate financial management and, due to its experience and expertise in relation to activities similar to those for which the grant is being requested, can guarantee the targeted and effective performance of the activities to achieve the impact and outcomes as defined in the application; the applicant must submit data in the form of a COCA to enable its capacities to be assessed.
- The grant applicant can function and operate appropriately within the legislation passed by the government in the country or countries in question.
- The project proposal has a minimum duration of one year and a maximum duration of four years, and must be implemented and established by no later than 31 December 2021.
- The grant applied for does not exceed the maximum amount specified in the call for grant applications.
- Any required co-funding is guaranteed.
- The grant application meets any specific financial requirements set out in the call.
- The grant application must be in the compulsory format and meet all criteria and requirements stated in this document.
- The grant applicant (lead partner of a consortium, either from country A or the Netherlands) can only submit or be involved in one application for this call (‘one applicant, one application’-rule). A consortium member (Country A or Dutch consortium) can participate in various proposals for the same call. The lead partner of the consortium that is not the applicant can also be involved in various applications for the same call.
For more information, visit https://www.nuffic.nl/en/subjects/calls-for-joint-proposals-institutional-collaboration-orange-knowledge/#
