Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA ), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is seeking applications for “Agriculture and Food Research Initiative – Education and Workforce Development”.

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.In 2022, 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;
• special workforce development topics.

Purpose

The purpose of AFRI is to supportresearch, education, and extension projects that address key problems of local, regional, national, and global importance in sustaining conventional, organic, urban food, and agricultural and natural systems. These include farm and ranch production efficiency, profitability, and sustainability; bioenergy and bio-based products; forestry; aquaculture; rural communities and entrepreneurship; human nutrition; mitigating impacts of biotic and abiotic constraints on food production; food safety; mitigating food waste and food loss; physical and social sciences; rural human ecology; development of circular/regenerative economies, and genetic improvement of plant and animals.Through this support, AFRI advances knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. It also allows AFRI to support education and extension activities that deliver science-based knowledge to end users, allowing them to make informed, practical decisions.

Goals

The AFRI Education and Workforce Development RFA is aligned with the following USDA Strategic Goals:

• Strategic Goal 2: Maximize the Ability of American Agricultural Producers to Prosper by
• Feeding and Clothing the World;
• Strategic Goal 3: Promote American Agricultural Products and Exports;
• Strategic Goal 4: Facilitate Rural Prosperity and Economic Development;
• Strategic Goal 5: Strengthen the Stewardship of Private Lands Through Technology and Research;
• Strategic Goal 6: Ensure Productive and Sustainable Use of the National Forest System Lands; and
• Strategic Goal 7: Provide All Americans Access to a Safe, Nutritious, and Secure Food Supply

Piority Areas

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), a competitive grant program to provide funding for fundamental and applied research,education, and extension to address food and agricultural sciences in the following six priority areas:

• Plant health and production and plant products;
• Animal health and production and animal products;
• Food safety, nutrition, and health;
• Bioenergy, natural resources, and environment;
• Agriculture systems and technology;
• Agriculture economics and rural communities.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding: $68,000,000

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility is linked to the project type as specified below.

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.
• Eligible institutions do not include foreign and international organizations.

Integrated Projects

• Eligible applicants for Integrated Projects include:
• colleges and universities;
• 1994 Land-Grant Institutions; and
• Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities

Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement Grants

Source:https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=338835