The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requests applications for the 2023 Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant Program (Indigenous Animals Grants or IAG).
Donor Name: Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/19/2023
Size of the Grant: $50,000,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
The Indigenous Animals Grants are administered by the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS), an agency within USDA Rural Development, in partnership with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and in consultation with the Office of Tribal Relations (OTR). This program is designed to support the priorities tribal nations have articulated to USDA throughout consultations in 2021 and 2022, including but not limited to support for traditional harvesting methods, indigenous animals, and community animal protein processing operations. Funding of this program will address needs for local animal protein processing capacity in tribal communities and tribal foods supply chains. The primary purpose of all projects must be to expand or enhance animal protein processing capacity in Indian Country. Applicants may also propose other related activities in their project plans.
USDA aims to fund a portfolio of projects representing geographic diversity, indigenous animal diversity, model diversity (mobile processing, multi-tribal, etc.), and scale diversity that reflects priorities tribal nations have identified as necessary to support indigenous foods, processing practices, and food systems. Outcomes of these projects will also provide valuable data to USDA on species which are uncommon in other federal meat and poultry programs.
Purpose
Indigenous Animals Grants are part of the broader Biden-Harris Administration $1 billion investment to help expand independent processing capacity while also increasing competitiveness and equity in the food system. This administration has supported investment in tribal meat processing supply chains, including through the provision of direct technical assistance to Indian Country. This grant program seeks to improve the viability of tribal nations’ food sovereignty initiatives and supply chain resiliency by developing and expanding animal protein processing activities related to indigenous animals. Additionally, this grant program is being made pursuant to the United States’ government-to government relationship with Indian tribes to further their self-governance goals of maintaining and improving food and agriculture supply chain resiliency.
Based on input from several tribal consultations, USDA identified an urgent need to support tribal animal protein processing activities, including but not limited to support for traditional harvesting methods and indigenous animals. Thus, this program intends to fund projects which invest in tribal nations’ supply chain resiliency, indigenous animals, restoring local indigenous food systems, and indigenous processing methods, and expanding local capacity for the harvesting, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution (communal or commercial) of meat, poultry, seafood, and other animals that provide culturally appropriate food and food security to tribal communities.
USDA intends to fund a variety of projects that represent geographic diversity, indigenous animal diversity, model diversity, and scale diversity to reflect and learn from a variety of targeted project types that are specifically of interest throughout Indian Country. Indigenous animals include seafood, bison, and other animals native to North America. Diverse models include mobile harvesting units, multi-tribal facilities, and projects that address food insecurity through communal distribution or commercial market channels.
Program Priorities
- USDA may prioritize applications which focus on strengthening tribal food access, incorporating indigenous animals, or using indigenous-informed design principles above those which focus primarily on market-based profitability. Those prioritized applications will not be expected to demonstrate plans for profitability but must include a viable sustainability plan to maintain the facility beyond the life of the grant award.
- During administrative review, USDA may prioritize funding for projects to maximize meat processing and indigenous animal diversity among awards based on geography, operation size, species, or operating model.
- USDA may also prioritize applications which focus predominantly on developing harvesting and processing activities around indigenous animals that are not frequently represented in other USDA grant programs.
Funding Information
- Maximum Award Amount: $50,000,000
- Maximum period of performance is 36 months
Eligibility Criteria
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
Eligible Activities
The primary purpose of all projects must be to expand or enhance indigenous animals and meat processing capacity in Indian Country. Projects can also include other activities as described in the list below. In the project narrative, applicants must describe how the proposed activities will increase animal protein processing capacity, enhance food safety and sanitation, and increase tribal food security with a focus on fair and equitable community food distribution. Additionally, the application must include the design and the plan to maintain the long-term viability of the animal processing operation. Applicants should demonstrate a connection to developing adequate animal protein processing infrastructure in a location where such infrastructure is currently inadequate for indigenous species or tribal community food security.
Eligible activities will demonstrate the ability to expand or improve harvesting and processing, capacity, packaging and distribution to create more resilient, diverse, and secure indigenous food systems. Applications may also include manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, community accessibility, or distribution of animal protein.
Applications must include indigenous animals and meat processing activities such as those listed below which clearly demonstrate the ability to expand or enhance animal protein processing capacity in Indian Country.
- Build, expand, or upgrade community indigenous meat, food-sovereignty harvesting/processing facilities (fixed or mobile)
- Purchase, renovation, and modernization of an inoperable or outdated processing facility
- Enhance infrastructure to improve humane handling and humane slaughter
- Purchase and install traditional implements and equipment necessary, with modifications as appropriate, for indigenous slaughter and processing methods
- Expand processing capacities to add species or increase volume
- Purchase or upgrade mobile harvest and/or processing units and supporting equipment
- Purchase or upgrade processing and manufacturing equipment (including cutting equipment, mixers, grinders, breaders, sausage stuffers, smokers, curing equipment, pipes, motors, pumps, and valves)
- Purchase or upgrade cold storage to support the animal protein processing facilities
- Construction of holding pens
- Construction of wastewater management structures
- Costs associated with meeting environmental review requirements and permits will be eligible for reimbursement as pre-award expenses.
Applications may also include secondary activities which relate to the expansion of animal protein processing capacity, such as those listed below.
- Initiate or upgrade waste management and wastewater solutions
- Purchase or upgrade composting or rendering equipment related to the processing of the animal protein
- Develop packaging and labeling capacities (e.g., sealing, bagging, boxing, labeling, conveying, and product moving equipment)
- Develop Hazard, Analysis, and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans
- Improve workplace safety and working conditions Develop, customize, and install climate-smart equipment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency in water use, improves air and/or water quality, and/or meets one or more of USDA’s climate action goals.
- Develop or improve workforce recruitment, training, apprenticeships, and retention to ensure expansion projects will be adequately staffed and crewed and offer opportunities for advancement to workers.
Eligible Species
Grant applications may propose activities related to:
- Amenable species, including Siluriformes, that fall within the regulatory jurisdiction of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.
- Non-amenable species, including but not limited to bison, reindeer, game meat, etc. Seafood processing, including wild-caught fish, and other ‘exotic’ species that may fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, applicants will follow applicable tribal, local, state or federal laws and regulations for harvesting, hunting and gathering of indigenous animals.
Applicants are not required to become USDA inspected, but applications should identify how they will meet tribal, state, local, or federal food safety laws and regulations based on the proposed channel(s) of food sales or distribution.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
