Funding Opportunity: Fish Innovation Lab Request for Applications

a woman from Bangladesh harvesting small fish

Photo by M. Gulam Hussain

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish, managed by the Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Security, requests concept notes due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time on May 15, 2024, showcasing proposed research to alleviate poverty and improve nutrition, especially for marginalized populations, through the reliable and inclusive provision of nutrient-rich fish and other aquatic foods. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Fish Innovation Lab supports Feed the Future's mission to break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger in partner countries.

This Request for Applications (RFA) requests proposals focusing on the Fish Innovation Lab's primary focus countries of Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia. Other high-priority geographies included in the scope of this RFA are Ghana, Madagascar, Nepal, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The Fish Innovation Lab intends to fund approximately 14 activities for a period of up to three years with anticipated start dates of December 1, 2024, through March 1, 2025. Budgets for funded activities will be between $200,000–$500,000 U.S. dollars (USD) for the period of performance. The expected average award size will be $400,000-$500,000 USD. Funded research-for-development activities will commonly involve multiple U.S., host country, and other institutions and employ an integrated, interdisciplinary research approach with strong capacity development components. At least one of the three Areas of Inquiry must be addressed in the proposal, and all three cross-cutting themes must be clearly and convincingly integrated into the core research design and approach. Activities will be selected through a two-step process involving a concept note and a proposal.

This competition is open to any qualified research, educational, governmental, private sector, or nonprofit institution globally that has a Unique Entity ID and is registered in the System for Award Management (SAM; http://sam.gov/). Unique Entity ID and SAM registration are not required for concept note submission. However, Unique Entity ID registration will be required for full proposal submission. The lab strongly encourages qualified U.S. Minority-Serving Institutions to respond to this competitive RFA.

Concept papers are due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time on May 15, 2024. If invited to submit a full proposal, the deadline is July 24, 2024. The anticipated selection date is September 3, 2024. More information about the funding opportunity and complete application instructions are available on the Current Opportunities page of the Fish Innovation Lab website. Questions regarding this RFA should be emailed to fishlab@gcahfs.msstate.edu by 5:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time on April 24, 2024. Answers will be posted on the Current Opportunities page under the RFA document on May 3, 2024.

To apply, send your concept paper to https://fish.piestar-rfx.com/opportunities.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY