USAID’s Feed the Future Grant for Horticulture Innovation Lab Management

This NOFO is being posted on March 11, 2021 with a close date of May 11, 2021. This is being posted subsequent to the draft PD which was made available for comments in October 2020 at this same link.

The objective of this NOFO is to procure a Management Entity (ME) to manage the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture. The Horticulture IL’s overarching goal, in line with the GFSS, is to reduce global hunger, malnutrition and poverty through science, technology and innovation. The Horticulture IL will contribute to GFSS objectives to realize inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth, strengthened resilience among people and systems, and a well-nourished population, especially among youth, women, and young children. The Horticulture IL will build on USAID’s prior investments, including the previous Horticulture IL and its precursor Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) . The Horticulture IL will function as a five-year Leader with Associates (LWA) Cooperative Agreement, awarded to an eligible U.S. university to develop a global portfolio of horticulture research-for-development.

Any questions regarding this NOFO must be emailed to Kelly Miskowski (kmiskowski@usaid.gov) by March 25, 2021 at 4:00pm Washington, D.C. time. An Amendment with responses to questions will be posted afterward.

Update Apr 2 – Amendment 01 has been posted including: Response to Q&A and a summary of revisions to the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The full revised Notice of Funding Opportunity has been posted as well with any changes highlighted in yellow.

This NOFO is being posted on March 11, 2021 with a close date of May 11, 2021. This is being posted subsequent to the draft PD which was made available for comments in October 2020 at this same link.

The objective of this NOFO is to procure a Management Entity (ME) to manage the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture. The Horticulture IL’s overarching goal, in line with the GFSS, is to reduce global hunger, malnutrition and poverty through science, technology and innovation. The Horticulture IL will contribute to GFSS objectives to realize inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth, strengthened resilience among people and systems, and a well-nourished population, especially among youth, women, and young children. The Horticulture IL will build on USAID’s prior investments, including the previous Horticulture IL and its precursor Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) . The Horticulture IL will function as a five-year Leader with Associates (LWA) Cooperative Agreement, awarded to an eligible U.S. university to develop a global portfolio of horticulture research-for-development.

Any questions regarding this NOFO must be emailed to Kelly Miskowski (kmiskowski@usaid.gov) by March 25, 2021 at 4:00pm Washington, D.C. time. An Amendment with responses to questions will be posted afterward.

This NOFO is being posted on March 11, 2021 with a close date of May 11, 2021. This is being posted subsequent to the draft PD which was made available for comments in October 2020 at this same link.

The objective of this NOFO is to procure a Management Entity (ME) to manage the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture. The Horticulture IL’s overarching goal, in line with the GFSS, is to reduce global hunger, malnutrition and poverty through science, technology and innovation. The Horticulture IL will contribute to GFSS objectives to realize inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth, strengthened resilience among people and systems, and a well-nourished population, especially among youth, women, and young children. The Horticulture IL will build on USAID’s prior investments, including the previous Horticulture IL and its precursor Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) . The Horticulture IL will function as a five-year Leader with Associates (LWA) Cooperative Agreement, awarded to an eligible U.S. university to develop a global portfolio of horticulture research-for-development.

Any questions regarding this NOFO must be emailed to Kelly Miskowski (kmiskowski@usaid.gov) by March 24, 2021 at 4:00pm Washington, D.C. time. An Amendment with responses to questions will be posted afterward.

This NOFO is being posted on March 11, 2021 with a close date of May 11, 2021. This is being posted subsequent to the draft PD which was made available for comments in October 2020 at this same link.

The objective of this NOFO is to procure a Management Entity (ME) to manage the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture. The Horticulture IL’s overarching goal, in line with the GFSS, is to reduce global hunger, malnutrition and poverty through science, technology and innovation. The Horticulture IL will contribute to GFSS objectives to realize inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth, strengthened resilience among people and systems, and a well-nourished population, especially among youth, women, and young children. The Horticulture IL will build on USAID’s prior investments, including the previous Horticulture IL and its precursor Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP) . The Horticulture IL will function as a five-year Leader with Associates (LWA) Cooperative Agreement, awarded to an eligible U.S. university to develop a global portfolio of horticulture research-for-development.

Any questions regarding this NOFO must be emailed to Kelly Miskowski (kmiskowski@usaid.gov) by March 24, 2021 at 4:00pm Washington, D.C. time. An Amendment with responses to questions will be posted afterward.

This United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS) Draft Program Description is issued for the purpose of providing stakeholders and potential partners an opportunity to review, comment, suggest, and enhance areas for a new global Feed the Future (FTF) activity: the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture. The purpose of this award is to identify and strengthen opportunities for smallholder farmers to develop and sustainably manage horticulture-based enterprises in production systems central to the Feed the Future Initiative. The Innovation Lab will do this through research and local capacity development on 1) climate-resilient management practices for nutrient-dense foods and 2) inclusive horticultural business development and commercialization, with a particular focus on youth and gender.

The purpose of this draft PD publication is solely to solicit commentary and feedback. This posting is not a Notice of Funding Opportunity. If you are interested in applying to the eventual award, please be aware that a Notice of Funding Opportunity will be posted later and must be replied to separately in order to be considered.

Please review the attached PDF and submit all commentary via e-mail to Kelly Miskowski (kmiskowski@usaid.gov) by October 20, at 4:00pm Washington, D.C. time. Please note that USAID does not intend to publish responses to questions or comments but incorporate them in revisions to the subsequent final program description. USAID/RFS will not provide answers to any questions submitted in response to this request. While there is no limit on the length of submissions, we value concise, issue-specific comments with reference to page and section numbers in the draft design document.

The estimated timeline for this award is a posting of the final Notice of Funding Opportunity in December 2020 with an anticipated award date of June 2021. Subject to the availability of funds, the estimated ceiling of the anticipated Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement is approximately $39,500,000 with $20,000,000 in Leader Award Core Activity funding, up to $5,000,000 in potential USAID Mission Buy-ins, and $14,500,000 set aside for separate Associate Awards. Please note that these are prospective values and timelines and subject to change.