USDA NRCS Grant for Minnesota Native American Tribal Governments to Advance Food Sovereignty and Conservation

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO) is being released prior to appropriation and/or apportionment of funds for fiscal year 2022. Enactment of additional continuing resolutions or an appropriations act may affect the availability or level of funding for this program.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States

Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing potential availability of Grant Agreements for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources, addressing local natural resource

issues, encouraging collaboration and developing Tribal and community-level conservation

leadership in Minnesota. Proposals are requested for competitive consideration for the following initiatives:

Tribal Food Sovereignty and Food Production Grants:

MN NRCS supports Tribal food sovereignty through the production of traditional foods for Native Americans to sustain themselves, their families, and their communities. The overall objectives of these grants are to increase Tribal food sovereignty in Minnesota by supporting best practices that enhance the following:

• Production of food, fiber, wildlife and forestry products using conservation systems to support American Indian culture and Sovereignty.
• Creation or enhancement of sustainably produced and processed food markets.
• Conservation Education, stewardship and natural resource management

Reaching Out to Historically Underserved Clients and providing Technical and Financial Assistance. 

The overall objective of this category is to provide outreach to historically underserved clients to increase technical and programmatic conservation delivery by:

• Identifying cultural and program barriers that limit NRCS assistance
• Provide outreach and education to underserved clients on NRCS programs and technical materials
• Assist underserved clients in seeking and obtaining NRCS assistance
• Provide planning assistance to underserved clients

NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2022 will be $500,000. Minimum/Maximum individual award amounts are anticipated to be $50,000/$200,000. Proposals are requested from Federally recognized tribal governments for competitive consideration of grant agreement awards for projects between 2 and 3 years in duration. This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions for projects. Proposals will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this notice. Incomplete and/or noncompliant proposals will be eliminated from competition, and notification of elimination will be sent to the applicant.

For new users of Grants.gov, see Section D. for information about steps required before submitting an application via Grants.gov.

Key Dates

Applicants must submit their applications via Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time (ET) on March 21, 2022. For technical issues with Grants.gov, contact Grants.gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov. Awarding agency staff cannot support applicants regarding Grants.gov accounts.

Please limit questions to those regarding specific information contained in this NFO (such as dates, page numbers, clarification of discrepancies, etc.). Questions related to eligibility or the merits of a specific proposal will not be addressed. 

The agency will conduct a Teams conference call with MN Tribal community liaisons on January 31st from 1 p.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET. The purpose of this Teams conference call will be to introduce, promote and encourage potential applicants to participate in the Tribal Food Sovereignty and Food Production grant program. The Teams conference call connection instructions will be sent to all MN Tribal community liaisons and printable program information materials will be available following the conference call.

The agency anticipates making selections by April 15, 2022, and expects to execute awards by June 1, 2022. These dates are estimates and are subject to change.

Federal Funding Floor and Ceiling Amounts

The estimated funding floor for this opportunity is $50,000.00, and the estimated funding ceiling is $200,000.00. The funding floor means the minimum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded. The ceiling is the maximum agreement funding amount for the Federal share per agreement awarded. These numbers refer to the total agreement amount, not any specific budget period.

Federal Financial Assistance Training

The funding available through this NFO is Federal financial assistance. Grants 101 Training is highly recommended for those seeking knowledge about Federal financial assistance. The training is free and available to the public via https://www.cfo.gov/grants-training/. It consists of five modules covering each of the following topics: 1) laws, regulations, and guidance; 2) financial assistance mechanisms; 3) uniform guidance administrative requirements; 4) cost principles; and 5) risk management and single audit. FPAC agencies also apply Federal financial assistance regulations to certain non-assistance awards (e.g., non-assistance cooperative agreements).