Urban Agriculture and Innovation Production (UAIP) Competitive Grants Program (Part A): Planning Activities - FY 2024
| Agency: | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
|---|---|
| CFDA: | 10.935 |
| Federal FON: | USDA-NRCS-NHQ-UAIP-24-NOFO0001336 |
| Office: | Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovation Production (OUAIP) |
| Multipart Grant: | Yes |
| Next Due: | 04/09/2024 (Application) |
|---|---|
| Solicitation Date: | 02/09/2024 |
| Match Required: | No |
| Actual Funds: | $6,100,000 (Estimated) |
| Award Range: | $75,000 (Min) / $350,000 (Max) |
Summary:
The purpose of this program is to improve access to local foods in areas where access to fresh, healthy food is limited or unavailable through urban and/or innovative agricultural practices. Funding will support planning and implementation activities, and both types of activities must be designed to support multiple farmers or gardeners; target historically underserved areas lacking access to fresh, healthy foods; and promote urban and/or innovative agricultural practices.
Eligible urban and/or innovative agricultural practices may include:
- Community gardens
- Urban farms
- Rooftop farms
- Urban agroforests
- Food forests
- Orchards
- Outdoor vertical production
- Green walls
- Indoor farms
- Controlled environment agricultural production
- Greenhouses
- High-tech vertical technology farms
- Hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic farm facilities
Eligible costs may include:
- Purchase, lease, or rental of special equipment, vehicles, land, and building space
- Construction
- Contractual costs
- Personnel costs
Funding will be provided for the following program components:
- (Part A): Planning Activities
- (Part B): Implementation Activities
The purpose of the Planning Activities component is to support activities that will initiate, develop, or support the efforts of farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools, members of tribal communities, and other stakeholders in areas where access to fresh foods is limited or unavailable.
Planning activities must support one or more of the following:
- Assessments of underserved community needs within the local food system to identify how food is grown, distributed, or marketed and what existing needs related to food access, nutrition education, conservation, and economic development can be addressed by urban and/or innovative agriculture
- Planning activities and community partnerships to improve how food is grown, distributed, or marketed in the target area using urban and/or innovative agriculture
- Business planning, feasibility studies, and other strategies, such as community resource development
- Policy development to make municipal policies and zoning laws in the target area more supportive of the needs of urban and/or innovative agriculture
- Creating educational materials and programs that will increase knowledge about food and agriculture and encourage careers in agriculture and innovative production in the impacted community, including efforts focusing on the topics of nutrition, crop and biology science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
- Ensuring safe growing conditions, such as soil tests and environmental assessments
Program Office Notes:
The program officer confirmed the email address to which applicants should send a copy of their questions.
Last Updated: February 13, 2024
Eligibility Notes:
Eligible applicants are:
- City or township governments
- County governments
- Independent school districts
- Federally recognized Native American tribal governments
- Native American tribal organizations
- Nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Special district governments
Project activities must take place within the 50 states; the District of Columbia; the Caribbean area, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the Pacific Islands area, including American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For projects that will be operating in a city or state other than where the applicant is headquartered, at least one partner should be located where the project will be served.
Applicants that apply as partnerships or other similar groupings must clearly describe the relationship between the applicant and the partner parties. In general, the partnerships must reflect an awardee/subawardee relationship. Applicants that partner with two or more organizations working in the project target area(s) will be given higher consideration during the application evaluation process.
Priority will be given to applicants with proven capacity to carry out meaningful community-focused work in urban agriculture or innovative production. This capacity is measured by criteria factors including:
- Experience in agriculture or innovation production for three years or more in serving underserved communities or where access to fresh foods is limited or unavailable
- Demonstrated ability to implement a project, provide fiscal accountability, collect data, and prepare reports and other necessary documentation
- Demonstrated willingness to share information with researchers, evaluators, practitioners, and other interested parties, including a plan for dissemination of results
- Collaboration with two or more partner organizations, including smaller farms or operations, working in the same project target area to carry out the innovative or urban agricultural work described in the application
Both new applications and applications for supplementing existing projects will be accepted.
Applicants may submit more than one application for different projects or proposing different approaches.
Ineligible entities include:
- For-profit organizations
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
- Foreign entities
- Small businesses
- State governments
Previous award recipients for this component include:
- Austin Youth and Community Farm, Inc. (TX)
- Living Well Kent (WA)
- City of Lorain (OH)
- Tampa Family Health Centers (FL)
Refer to the Award file for additional information regarding previous award recipients.
Eligible Applicants:
Local GovernmentConsortia
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
Schools/School Districts
Tribal Organizations/Institutions
Application Notes:
Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on April 9, 2024.
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.
Applications must include:
- SF 424
- Project abstract (1 page max)
- Project narrative (15 pages max)
- SF 424A
- Budget narrative
- Grants.gov lobbying form
- Applicant contact information
- SF LLL
- Negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (if applicable)
- Disclosure of potential conflict of interest
- Summary of progress to date on current project (if applicable)
The project narrative must be formatted on single-spaced, numbered pages with one-inch margins using a standard font, such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier, no smaller than 12-point.
The following are required in order to submit an application:
- Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
- SAM (System for Award Management) registration
Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.
A pre-recorded webinar held for this program can be found online at www.youtube.com.
Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Consistency with program purpose and priorities (30 points)
- Internal organization support and partnerships (20 points)
- Project workplan (20 points)
- Budget (25 points)
- Data and information sharing (5 points)
Applications competing for a supplemental request will be evaluated against additional criteria, as detailed on page 29 of the NOFA file.
Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.
| Match Required: | No |
|---|---|
| Actual Funds: | $6,100,000 (Estimated) |
| Award Range: | $75,000 (Min) / $350,000 (Max) |
|---|
Match Notes:
Matching funds are not required for this program, and there is no competitive advantage to applicants that voluntarily provide matching funds.
Funding Notes:
Approximately $6.1 million is expected to be available for this program overall, with an unspecified amount of funding available to support awards estimated to range from $75,000 to $350,000 through this component.
Award selections are expected to be made by June 30, 2024, and awards are expected to be executed by September 30, 2024.
The project period is 36 months and is expected to begin on September 30, 2024, and end on September 30, 2027. Supplemental applications may only be requested one time during the project period of the initial award and are limited to two years in duration, not to exceed a total of five years for any single award.
Applicants are encouraged to build in costs within their application for travel funds for conferences, educational events, networking, and/or partnership opportunities that could support their project's capacity or advance shared technical knowledge and skills.
Funds may not be used for:
- Research
- Lobbying
- Profit and management fees
- Pre-award costs, including time spent applying for this program
- Entertainment costs, regardless of their apparent relationship to project objectives
- Compensation for injuries to persons, or damage to property arising out of project activities
- Consulting services performed by a federal employee during official duty hours when such consulting services result in the payment of additional compensation to the employee
- Capital expenditures for general purpose equipment, buildings, and land and for improvement to land, buildings, or equipment which materially increase their value or useful life
- Animal breeding activities
- Project activities that take place at homes
Refer to pages 24-25 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding unallowable costs.
For FY 2023, a total of $7.4 million was distributed via 25 awards through this program overall. For FY 2022, a total of $14.2 million was distributed through this program overall, with 18 awards distributed through this component. For FY 2021, a total of $4.75 million was distributed through this program overall, with ten awards distributed through this component. Refer to the Award file for details.
Contacts:
Jose Berna
Grants Management Specialist
Jose.Berna@usda.gov
Agency Address
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20250
Contact Notes:
Questions should be emailed to Jose Berna, with a copy to NFO.FPAC@USDA.GOV, using a subject line that includes "USDA-NRCS-NHQ-UAIP-24-NOFO0001336."
The program officer confirmed the email address to which applicants should send a copy of their questions.
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.
The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.
Files:
NOFA File: US15540A_NOFA_FY2024.pdf (751.0 Kb)Other Pre-Award File: US15540A_FAQ_FY2024.pdf (264.1 Kb)
Award File: US15540A_Award_FY2024.pdf (825.3 Kb)
File Notes:
The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The FAQ file contains a list of answers to frequently asked questions regarding this program. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients.
February 13, 2024
The program officer confirmed the email address to which applicants should send a copy of their questions. The Contact section has been updated accordingly.
Grant Keywords
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AgricultureHealth, Prevention/Treatment
Human Services
Science/Technology