The Food & Business Applied Research Fund: EUR50,000 to EUR300,000 for Sustainable Food Security

Deadline: 12 January 2015

The Food & Business Applied Research Fund (ARF) is accepting grant proposals from consortia of at least one public or private practitioners organizations in the partner countries of Dutch development cooperation and one research or higher education organization for applied research contributing to innovation for food security and private sector development.

The grant aims to promote research supported applicable innovations that contribute to the enhancement of sustainable food security for the most vulnerable populations in the partner countries. Projects that  identify bottlenecks at the systemic level that hamper scaling, application or innovation potential and reflect on possible solutions are highly preferred.

Grant request can be made for minimum EUR50,000 (for six months) and maximum EUR300,000 (for 36 months). A maximum budget of 4 million euro is available under this call. The number of grantees will depend on the applications submitted and their weight.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applications must be forwarded by a consortium consisting of- at least one private or public practitioner organization registered in one of the 15 partner countries of Dutch development cooperation and one research organization from a partner country or from the Netherlands. If the public/private practitioner from partner country is not a branch of a Dutch partner and the research organization is not from the Netherlands, a third co-applicant is required, that is from the Netherlands.
• Research projects should evolve through co-creation- a concerted effort of practitioners and research and/or higher education organizations.
• Projects should contribute to improving sustainable and inclusive access to sufficient and healthy food and an inclusive business climate for the most vulnerable people in the Dutch partner countries.
• Projects must show applicability of the newly developed or adjusted knowledge, insights, technologies, tools, products, services or policies.
• At least 20% of the project budget (in cash and/or in kind) should be the contribution of private partners and/or local and international research organizations of the consortium. Co-funding is not required if there is no private practitioner partner and local or international research organization involved in the consortium.
• Applications will be assessed on the basis of contribution to development, innovation, and project feasibility.
• List of 15 Dutch development Cooperation Partner Countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Yemen.

Note: Applications must be submitted using IRIS system. Please read the call for proposal and frequently asked questions before proceeding with the application.

For more information, please visit Food & Business ARF.