Deadline: 8 January 2020

Applicants are invited to submit applications for Agri-tech Catalyst Round 9: agriculture and food systems innovation, late stage.

Up to £5 million of funding is available from the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). This is for projects working on agri-tech and food chain innovations with partners in eligible African countries.

The aim of this competition is to increase the pace of innovation in the development of agricultural and food systems in Africa. Applicants project must result in more use of innovations by farmers and food systems organisations such as manufacturers, processors, retailers, distributors and wholesalers.

Themes

Applicants project can focus on one or more of the following:

• integrating smallholders into global and local supply chains
• increasing the value of production to smallholders
• control of crop pests, weeds and diseases
• meeting quality standards and improving productivity
• reducing food losses ‘post-farm gate’ and through the value chain
• addressing food safety issues through the value chain
• new food technologies and data-driven food systems, including for urban areas
• addressing challenges in downstream food processing, distribution, or storage and value addition
• innovation that supports food systems to deliver nutritious, healthy and safe food

Focus Areas

Applicants can choose from one or more of the following areas:

• primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture
• non-food uses of crops, excluding ornamentals
• challenges in food processing, distribution or storage, and value addition (such as through a change in the physical state or form of the product)
• improving the availability and accessibility of safe, healthy and nutritious foods

Innovation

Project’s innovations must:

• be sustainable in the context of environmental challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity
• minimize negative effects such as pollution, food loss and waste
• promote safe, healthy and nutritious diets

Funding Information

Total eligible project costs must be between £150,000 and £800,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• All projects must:
  • include a UK registered administrative lead
  • include a technical lead from any country
  • include at least one business from the UK
  • be collaborative
  • include at least one business from an eligible African country from the list below
    implement significant activity in the eligible African country
• Lead organisation
  • The administrative lead:
    • will be the recipient of the award
    • will manage and be accountable for the project’s finances in accordance with the terms and conditions of the award
    • must be a UK registered business of any size
    • must claim funding through this competition
    • can partner in up to 2 other applications where they are neither the administrative lead nor the technical lead
  • The technical lead:
    • will lead on the development of the scope, work packages within the project and other work from a technical perspective
    • can be a business of any size from any country
    • must claim funding through this competition
    • can also be the administrative lead if a UK organisation
  • UK businesses can be both the administrative and technical lead.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can apply online via given website.

Eligible African Countries: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo, Democratic Republic of, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, The Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

For more information, please visit https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/449/overview#summary