The Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program is to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain; to provide more and better markets to small farms and food businesses; and to support the development of value-added products for consumers, fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities.
Donor Name: South Carolina Department of Agriculture
State: South Carolina
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/09/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The overall goal of RFSI is to create more and better processing options for local and regional producers across the specialty crops, dairy, grain (for food), and other sectors by targeting gaps and opportunities in the pandemic assistance, Food Systems 2 Transformation (FST) programs, and existing USDA grant programs that support the agricultural supply chain.
The primary focus of RFSI is to support food system crops and products meant for human consumption (excluding meat and poultry products, which are funded through other USDA programs). Ineligible products include meat and poultry, wild-caught seafood, exclusively animal feed and forage products, fiber, landscaping products, tobacco, or dietary supplements.
The program also aims to:
- Support development of value-added products available to consumers;
- Support proposals that provide fair prices, fair wages and new and safe job opportunities that keep profits in rural communities; and
- Increase diversity in processing options in terms of business model approaches, geography, and availability to underserved communities.
South Carolina RFSI Funding Opportunities
SCDA conducted statewide outreach through a listening call, priority identification survey, in person outreach meetings, and a month-long comment period to identify funding priorities for the RFSI program in South Carolina. Based on the collected data from surveys and input from outreach meetings, funding priorities for South Carolina RFSI subawards will include:
- Projects that increase local producers’ abilities to process, aggregate, and distribute product through the construction, expansion, or modernization of cold and dry storage facilities.
- Projects that increase local producers’ abilities to process, aggregate, and distribute product through the creation of additional transportation to move product, and that increase distribution channels through the construction, expansion, or modernization of distribution facilities.
- Projects that increase processing capacity, creating new distribution channels and markets for value-added products.
- Projects that purchase and/or modernize middle-of-the-food-supply-chain equipment, packaging, and food safety and labor needs; and increase local producers’ abilities to process, aggregate, and distribute agricultural products.
Funding Information
Infrastructure Grants will be funded at a minimum amount federal funding of $100,000 and a maximum amount of federal funding of approximately $2.4 million per USDA AMS guidelines stated in the RFSI Program Scope and Requirements. The minimum amount of federal funding for Simplified Equipment-Only Grant applications is $10,000 and a maximum amount of $100,000. The total federal funding awarded to South Carolina is $4,983,549. Of that amount, $4,190,176 is allocated for the Infrastructure and Equipment-Only Grants.
Grant Period
- RFSI Funding Period Begins: July 25, 2024
- RFSI Funding Period Closes: May 24, 2027
Eligible Activities
- Expanding processing capacities, including adding product types, increasing production volumes, and supporting new wholesale/retail product lines;
- Modernizing equipment or facilities through upgrades, repairs, or retooling; (e.g., adapting product lines for institutional procurement or adding parallel processing capacity);
- Purchase and installation of specialized equipment, such as processing components, sorting equipment, packing and labeling equipment, or delivery vehicles;
- Modernizing manufacturing, tracking, storage, and information technology systems;
- Enhancing worker safety through adoption of new technologies or investment in equipment or facility improvements;
- Construction of a new facility;
- Increasing packaging and labeling capacities that meet compliance requirements under applicable laws (e.g. sealing, bagging, boxing, labeling, conveying, and product moving equipment);
- Increasing storage space, including cold storage;
- Develop, customize or 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;
- Modernize equipment or facilities to ensure food safety, including associated Hazard, Analysis, and Critical Control Points (HACCP) consultation, plan development and employee training; and
- Training on the use of all equipment purchased under the grant and associated new processes;
Eligible Entities
Entities eligible for Infrastructure Grants will be:
- Agricultural producers or processors, or groups of agricultural producers and processors
- Nonprofit organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products
- For-profit entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, or distribution of targeted agricultural products, whose activities are primarily focused for the benefit of local and regional producers, and that meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards are eligible.
- For-profit entities must meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards matched to industries described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on these size standards, please visit SBA’s Size Standards webpage.
- Local government entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products
- Tribal governments operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products.
- Institutions such as schools, universities, or hospitals bringing producers together to establish cooperative or shared infrastructure or invest in equipment that will benefit multiple producers middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural product.
Deadlines
- Infrastructure Grant Application Period: December 20, 2023 – March 1, 2024
- Simplified Equipment-Only Grant Application Period: December 20, 2023 – February 9, 2024
For more information, visit SCDA.
