Call for five-year proposals on gender, nutrition or postharvest

For Information Only - Deadline has Passed

Call for five-year proposals

Each project will be funded from January 1, 2015, to August 31, 2019. The Horticulture Innovation Lab will fund three projects total, one on each topic with funding limits at $1.5-$2 million over the life of each project (see details for specific limits).

Eligibility

This request for proposals is open to principal investigators (PIs) who work at U.S. public universities who have partners in Feed the Future countries. The lead PI(s) must be from a land-grant or other public U.S. college or university, as defined under Title XII. The research project must include co-PI(s) and/or collaborator(s) in Feed the Future countries. Proposals can be from a consortium of U.S. and Feed the Future country institutions, as well.

Full proposals must be submitted online to the Horticulture Innovation Lab before 4:30 p.m. PDT, Tuesday, September 30, 2014.

Three requests for full proposals

Postharvest: The Horticulture Innovation Lab calls for $1.6 million proposals to address impediments to improvements in postharvest handling systems for horticultural crops in Feed the Future countries. Specifically, this project will 1) identify the impediments to adoption of improved postharvest handling practices, 2) quantify and demonstrate the benefits of improved postharvest practices, and 3) create a database that the Horticulture Innovation Lab can use to build a model to predict the benefits of various postharvest handling interventions for horticultural crops. See the complete Postharvest Practices in Horticulture RFP for details.

Nutrition: The Horticulture Innovation Lab calls for $2 million proposals from U.S. university researchers and their in-country partners for nutrition research related to horticulture in Feed the Future countries. The program is soliciting novel, rigorous research proposals that improve the understanding of nutritious crops from production to consumption. This includes furthering understanding of horticulture interventions and their impacts on nutrition and dietary diversity. Research projects will be nutrition-sensitive and incorporate appropriate nutrition objectives and benchmarks throughout the project term. See the complete Horticulture for Improved Nutrition RFP for details.

Gender and Social Equity: The Horticulture Innovation Lab calls for $1.5 million proposals from U.S. university researchers and their in-country partners for gender and social equity research related to horticulture in Feed the Future countries. The Horticulture Innovation Lab will fund novel and rigorous research that generates knowledge about women and vulnerable people who work in horticulture value chains, and suggests research or policies that could improve their agency. An intervention could be funded as part of this research project, so long as it has been well researched prior to implementation to ensure no harm. Research can take place in one population or more than one population as long as that population is in a Feed the Future focus region of a particular country. Comparative studies are welcome, but not required. See the complete Gender and Social Equity Related to Horticulture RFP for details.

Documents

Online Q&A

The Horticulture Innovation Lab hosted an online Q&A chat to answer questions related to all proposals, 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, Sept. 2. A transcript of the questions and answers from this session is now available as a PDF.

https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=13512