Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP) is seeking proposals for small grants to fund pilot projects and research projects that support California’s farmers, ranchers, and land stewards and/or rural, urban, and Tribal communities to plan, implement, or evaluate sustainable agriculture or food systems strategies.
Donor Name: Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program
State: California
Counties: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 02/15/2022
Size of the Grant: $20,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
Background
The UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) is a statewide program of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR). UC SAREP envisions a food and farming system that:
- supports resilience through diversified production, marketing, and distribution systems,
- values all food system workers and supports their physical, economic, and social wellbeing,
- contributes to the health and vitality of urban, rural, and Tribal communities,
- is environmentally regenerative, using resources for production and distribution in a way that protects the
- environment in trust for future generations, including under changing climate conditions, and
- is culturally responsive and reflects the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity of California.
Program Priority Areas
UC SAREP will fund projects that fall within two priority areas:
- Support California’s farmers, ranchers, and land stewards of all scales in identifying, piloting, and transitioning to:
- environmentally regenerative approaches to producing crops and livestock (including but not limited to soil health, organic and agroecological practices, integrated pest management, crop diversification);
- pathways for realizing economic return from ecologically-sound crop management practices and fair labor practices;
- marketing and distribution strategies that support diversified, decentralized, and locally self-organized supply chains;
- strategies that promote producer-to-producer networking and producer-to-supply chain networking
- Support California’s rural, urban, and Tribal communities to identify, implement, and evaluate strategies to:
- expand access to healthy, sustainably produced, culturally appropriate foods;
- ensure worker wellbeing across the food chain;
- minimize the community and environmental costs of food production and distribution;
- strengthen connections between consumers and producers;
- establish and strengthen producer-to-producer connections and producer-to-supply chain connections
They are interested in projects that build the capacity of farming and food systems businesses and organizations to become reflective, adaptive learning organizations that can respond effectively to ecological, economic, and social change and disruption.
Proposal Categories
Proposals are requested for three types of projects:
- Planning Grants
- Education and Outreach Grants
- Applied Research Grants
Funding Information
Total funding will be approximately $80,000. Individual grants will be limited to a maximum of $10,000, with one Applied Research Grant awarded up to $20,000. Grantees will be notified by March 28, 2022. Due to the limited funds available, only one-year projects will be considered. Projects may begin as soon as June 1, 2022 and must be completed by May 31, 2023.
Who May Apply
- Eligible applicants include farm or food system businesses* operating in California, non-profit, tax-exempt organizations operating in California, state and local government agencies, tribal governments, and California public and private institutions of higher education. UC SAREP staff are not eligible to participate on the team of any project.
- Applicants must demonstrate meaningful collaboration and involvement of stakeholders in the design and execution of the project. Priority is also given to projects that foster cross-collaborations between multiple types of applicants, contributing to a unified approach in addressing core areas of concern. For example, partnerships may involve farmers/ranchers or indigenous land managers working with agricultural or food system professionals. These professionals can include staff of community groups and/or non-profit organizations, public agencies, and tribal governments, as well as UC Cooperative Extension specialists and advisors, and researchers at community colleges or other institutions of higher education. Any of these partners can be the lead applicant organization.
- Previous grantees are eligible to apply after they have submitted a final report for their previously funded project.
*Please note: Business applicants must demonstrate benefit beyond the immediate recipients. Grants will not be awarded for the sole purpose of purchasing equipment or making infrastructure improvements at individual farms or businesses.
For more information, visit Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Small Grants Program.
