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Cultivate Africa’s Future (CultiAF)
Call for Concept Notes
July 2013
Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR)
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Table of contents
Background ................................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Objectives and Focus of the Fund ......................................................................................................... 7
2. Eligibility for the Fund ........................................................................................................................... 8
A. Applicant Organisations and Research Location ............................................................................... 8
B. Management ..................................................................................................................................... 9
C. Type of Research ............................................................................................................................. 10
3. Budget and Duration ............................................................................................................................... 12
4. Selection Process .................................................................................................................................... 12
5. Selection Criteria .................................................................................................................................... 13
6. Target Timelines ...................................................................................................................................... 15
7. Concept Note Format and Requirements ............................................................................................... 16
8. Submission Deadline .............................................................................................................................. 16
9. Permission to Share Information ............................................................................................................ 17
10. IDRC Standard Grant Conditions ........................................................................................................... 17
11. Country Clearance Requirements ......................................................................................................... 18
Appendix A: CultiAF eligible countries .................................................................................................... 19
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Background In 2012, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada announced a four year CAD 15
million “Cultivate Africa’s Future” (CultiAF) partnership. The main objective of this competitive
research fund (the Fund) is to support applied research in areas vital to achieving long-term food
security with a focus on post-harvest losses, nutrition and water use in Eastern and Southern
Africa.
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is part of the Australian
Government’s Official Development Assistance Program. ACIAR was established in 1982 to
commission expert Australian and international agricultural research centres to carry out research
projects in partnership with their counterparts in developing countries. ACIAR shares knowledge
and technology with developing countries, to help poor farmers grow more food for their
families on their small land holdings.
The Australian International Food Security Centre (AIFSC) was established within ACIAR to
accelerate the delivery of research innovations for food security. AIFSC will lead and fund
ACIAR’s involvement in the CultiAF partnership. The AIFSC works through partnerships to
achieve its goal of helping smallholder farmers and other poor households access sufficient,
accessible and nutritious food, by providing a bridge between agricultural research innovations
(technologies, policies and practices) and implementation.
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is a Crown corporation created in 1970
by the Parliament of Canada. IDRC builds the capacity of people and institutions in developing
countries to undertake the research they identify as most urgent. It works with researchers as they
confront contemporary challenges within their own countries and contribute to global advances
in their field.
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The Agriculture and Food Security program of IDRC supports research that generates new
options for more equitable and productive agriculture, to improve food and income security
among poor women and men in developing countries. It works with other organisations to
develop and test innovations – technological improvements, and better agri-food policies – that
promote sustainability so as to be truly effective, for current and future generations.
IDRC will be responsible for the management and administration of the Fund, and establishing
funding agreements with recipients according to IDRC rules, policies and procedures. IDRC
will also monitor and liaise with the recipients receiving funding. Strategic decisions and
governance of the partnership will be a collaborative effort between senior managers at ACIAR
and IDRC.
Rationale of the Fund
Estimates of food insecurity and malnutrition indicate that Africa still has the highest proportion
of undernourished people in the world. Research has considerable potential to improve the food
security situation by identifying ways in which effective interventions can be undertaken.
Investing in small-scale agriculture is one of the most effective ways to meet the food security
needs of vulnerable populations – especially women and children – while building economic
livelihoods. Three key factors to ensuring food security in Africa are: the need to improve post-
harvest systems, deepening understanding of linkages between agricultural production and
human nutrition, and improving water usage and management practices.
Farmers throughout Sub-Saharan Africa have long suffered serious losses of their harvested
crops and livestock. Recent estimates by the World Bank put the annual value of post-harvest
losses in Sub-Saharan Africa at US$ 4 billion per year for grains alone. Research recently
supported by IDRC demonstrates that: the magnitude of post-harvest losses varies considerably
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across commodities and throughout the value chain; rigorous documentation of losses is
extremely limited and most studies use ad hoc methods; post-harvest losses are almost
completely unstudied in some countries; and there is some confusion between physical and
economic losses and the implications for food security. There is, therefore, considerable scope
for additional research to find effective ways of reducing post-harvest losses while increasing
returns through product quality control, market segmentation, processing, and other forms of
value addition.
Systematic approaches linking food production and the nutritional and health needs of farmers
and consumers are also under-researched. Most of the current interventions are focused on the
quantitative and calorific dimensions of food security. Multi-dimensional nutritional approaches
are largely under-addressed. The links between agriculture, nutrition and health, and the socio-
economic dimensions that affect food supply and demand, require rigorous primary research
along with system-wide approaches, as they hold the potential to accelerate positive health
outcomes.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural productivity is the lowest in the world, with poor water
availability, access, and management being key factors that constrain output. Irrigation is under-
developed in this region, but could, if well harnessed, potentially make a significant impact on
food security. Agricultural production is high on the agenda of national governments, yet the
existing irrigation schemes in the region have performed below expectations due to technical and
governance problems, and water scarcity in key river basins. A recent study commissioned by
the AIFSC indicated that irrigation development is thought to have reached just 20 per cent of its
potential across the region and is considered a major strategy for adapting to climate change.
Research to find more effective ways to utilize and sustainably manage rainwater and small scale
irrigation programmes could dramatically raise agricultural productivity.
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National and regional agricultural research organisations in Africa are conducting research aimed
at the generation and uptake of demand-driven innovations. Some large national research
systems (e.g. in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania) and sub-regional research
organisations are demonstrating considerable capacity to lead collaborative research. The recent
development of an African Agriculture Science Agenda should facilitate coordinated priority
setting. New initiatives (i.e. Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa; the East African
Agriculture Productivity Programme, Feed the Future, Grow Africa, etc.) are encouraging, but
tend to focus more on the high potential breadbasket regions. This is understandable, but there is
an urgent need to improve production, income, markets and nutrition in other areas with medium
or even low potential because millions of food insecure people reside in those areas. This may
require different technologies and solutions. Many initiatives also focus on staple crops, with
fewer research resources directed at crops that diversify incomes and diet and provide vital
micro-nutrients and proteins. They also could focus more on livestock that have products high in
micro-nutrients and protein, and provide financial returns to tens of millions of Africans while
also providing a host of other livelihood services (wealth storage, value addition, insurance,
liquidity).
The demographic transition underway in Africa coupled with rapid urbanization will require
improved farm-to-consumer marketing systems. Product loss, quality deterioration, and food
safety will increasingly become key research issues as more consumers are separated by distance
from food production. Employment issues, job creation, migration patterns differentiated by
gender and age, labour-saving and work improvement technology, and other similar factors will
increasingly be inter-related to agricultural production research.
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1. Objectives and Focus of the Fund
The principle objective of the Fund is to improve food security in Eastern and Southern Africa
by funding applied research in agricultural development. An expected outcome is an increase in
high-quality scientific research with a focus on the adoption of existing and new research results
to tackle persistent problems of food insecurity.
The specific objectives are to:
1. Support innovative and complementary applied research on post-harvest systems,
nutrition and sustainable water use.
2. Identify innovations and mechanisms for scaling-up in use of the most promising
research results.
3. Support and underpin national and regional agriculture and food security policies and
programmes.
By “scale up in use” it is intended that research will identify adoption pathways and actively
involve the research end-users who are crucial in taking research findings to scale. Proposals
that address under-researched and under-utilized agricultural activities will be given preference,
as will those that exhibit a high potential for being scaled up. Given the crowded agenda in some
areas of agricultural research in Africa, the Fund will seek to support complementary exploration
and study where there is a solid research base, good absorptive capacity by national and regional
African agricultural research systems, a favourable policy environment, and expressed need.
Research will build on existing findings, gaps in research, and attention will be paid to the long-
term sustainability and the potential uptake of the research beyond the life of the Fund.
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2. Eligibility for the Fund
A. Applicant Organisations and Research Location This Call is open to applicant organisations that will work individually or in partnership with
others to carry out research in one (or more) of the eligible countries: Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Applicant
organisations must be based in one of the eligible countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. They
may work in partnership with Canadian or Australian organisations but this is not a requirement.
Eligible organisations are considered to be those that have legal corporate registration in an
eligible country. Applications must include an official letter of endorsement, signed by an
authorised officer from each applicant organisation (more details about this letter can be found in
the instructions document). Applicant organisations and teams will require considerable
experience in both research for development and project management. The Fund actively
encourages applications from a wide variety of research for development partnerships that are
end-user driven, including public-private partnerships. Potential research users include a wide
variety of private sector and non-academic entities such as small and medium enterprises,
producer groups, and business associations. (See Section B and C for more information).
International organisations (except United Nations organisations and members of the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research [CGIAR centres]) are eligible to
apply as applicant organisations provided that they have regional chapters or offices with
appropriate legal status to operate and manage funds in the eligible countries where the research
will take place. United Nations organisations and CGIAR centers receive significant Canadian
and Australian funds via other funding windows and shall not apply to this Fund as applicant
organisations. They may, however, be included in applications by other research teams, as third-
party organisations.
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IDRC will contract directly with successful applicant organisations. Successful applicant
organisations will be permitted to develop contracts with third-party organisations for specific
services. IDRC will not contract directly with third-party organisations. Applications that involve
third-party organisations must clearly justify their involvement and explain their role(s).
Note that third-party organisations are not required to be located in the eligible countries. The
guideline for total third-party participation in a project is a maximum of 20% of the budget.
In case of partnerships between organisations (including those with Canadian and/or Australian
organisations), applications must be prepared and submitted jointly; must clearly demonstrate the
value-added to the project by each organisation; and must demonstrate that they will be jointly
managed. Effective partnerships are also reflected by equitable sharing of the budget and shared
accountability for research processes and results.
B. Management Projects should normally be led by research teams in eligible Eastern and Southern Africa
countries, with the potential for collaboration with Canadian and Australian organisations where
specific expertise and technology can add value to the research.
Each organisation (other than a third party) that will be receiving funds must be listed as an
applicant organisation, and each applicant organisation must have a principal investigator (PI).
Principal investigators are defined as those responsible for both the intellectual direction and the
administration of the project. The percentage of time that each PI dedicates to the project should
be sufficient for leading a project of this scale.
The projects should also ensure that they have the necessary team in place to effectively manage
a research project of this size, including, but not limited to project coordination (e.g., project
managers, thematic leads in each organization, language capabilities, etc.), monitoring and
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evaluation, gender and social analysis, and communication activities. The Fund values teams that
consist of an appropriate range of research experience and encourage active participation and
mentoring of young scientists in the projects.
Project selection will be based on an open competitive call modality where applicants are invited
to first submit a concept note, with a select number subsequently invited to submit a full
proposal. Projects with a value ranging from CAD 1 – 3 million will be funded in this call and
the grant duration is a maximum of 30 months (time frame needed to allow for the call process
and project closures).
Please note: Individual researchers are eligible to be included on a maximum of two concept
notes – a researcher can apply as a PI on one project and be on the research team of one
additional project. Or, a researcher can be on the research team of two projects. Researchers are
not eligible to apply to be the PI on two projects. Researchers applying as PIs must demonstrate
that they are prepared to dedicate sufficient time to project management and be committed to
seeing the project through to conclusion.
C. Type of Research This Call will support cutting edge, applied field and/or laboratory research projects with the
potential to generate high impact and innovative results with particular impact on the poor
(including women and vulnerable groups) in eligible Eastern and Southern Africa countries. All
projects require a sound environmental impact assessment, the consideration of social and gender
issues, and an applicability to small holder farmers.
The projects should address real practical development challenges and research needs of the
developing countries. The Fund will focus on cross-cutting issues of under-utilised and under-
researched agricultural activities (crops, livestock and fisheries) under the following research
areas:
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Sustainable water use:
• Sustainable and efficient water use for improving agricultural productivity, nutrition, and
strengthening value chains with a focus on water use institutions, technologies and
policies that can be scaled up.
Agriculture-nutrition nexus:
• Research that embraces multidimensional approaches for linking agriculture, nutrition,
livelihoods, food supply and consumption/utilisation.
Post-harvest systems:
• Post-harvest system innovations that improve the quality, quantity, use, and value of agri-
food activities.
Research should be designed to be completed within 30 months. Longer-term research (e.g.,
animal and crop breeding, farming systems, etc.), weather-dependant research, and intensive
participatory research will need to be clearly justified to ensure that work can be completed and
results demonstrated within 30 months. Pure theoretical and pure policy research will not be
considered. However, activities that support or develop policy implications from the research are
encouraged.
The Fund is especially interested in supporting innovative research with the potential for
breakthrough results that could be effectively scaled-up and easily adopted by small-holder
farmers, food processors, post-harvest handlers, and other value chain actors to improve food
security in eligible Eastern and Southern Africa countries.
Concept notes must demonstrate that research will have clear impact pathways and be user
driven, with potential research-users identified and engaged in project development and
implementation. Potential research-users include a wide variety of private sector and non-
academic entities (e.g., large and small businesses, producer groups, business associations,
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country governments, international organisations, private foundations and institutes, non-
government organisations, and scientific professional bodies, etc.), all of whom can adopt, adapt,
and bring to scale the research results or innovations.
3. Budget and Duration Project budgets under this call must be in the range of CAD 1,000,000 - 3,000,000 (please see
the instructions document for more detail on budgets). Project duration must not exceed 30
months, including all research activities and final reporting. It is anticipated that projects
selected in this call will begin no later than September 2014. Please plan activities accordingly.
4. Selection Process This Call will consist of a two-stage selection process to fund research projects. The first stage
review will commence with an initial screening of concept notes conducted by Fund staff in
collaboration with other senior staff from ACIAR and IDRC. This screening will eliminate
incomplete and/or low-quality submissions. Following this review, eligible concept notes will be
reviewed in detail by the Scientific Advisory Committee, which will recommend to the
Governance Committee a short-list of concept notes for the development of full proposals. The
Governance Committee will make the decision on which concept notes will be invited for
development into full proposals.
Applicants who are invited to submit full proposals will be eligible to receive a small travel grant
(must be fully justified) of up to CAD 5,000 to permit representatives from the applicant
organisations and other stakeholders to meet and develop the full proposal. Note that provision
of such a travel grant does not guarantee funding of any future full proposal, but if such a grant is
awarded, a proposal must be submitted, and attendance at the meeting between applicant
organisations is considered a prerequisite for submission of a full proposal.
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The second stage review will follow a similar process. The review of full proposals will begin
with an initial screening by Fund staff for basic eligibility, followed by a detailed review by the
Scientific Advisory Committee. Technical reviews will also be completed by ACIAR and IDRC
program staff and institutional assessments conducted by the IDRC Regional Controller.
Reviews and assessments will be shared with the Scientific Advisory Committee, which will
make recommendations to the Governance Committee, based on all information received. The
Governance Committee will make a final decision on successful proposals.
5. Selection Criteria The Fund is seeking good quality science that is well targeted. Applications must include a
budget estimate, which should be commensurate with the proposed work. Value for money is
inherent in the overall assessment. Concept notes will be assessed on the following five criteria:
1. Validity of the concept / scientific idea (25%)
Demonstrate relevance of the research to food security and development challenges and in
particular to the most food insecure in eligible Eastern and Southern Africa countries. The
project should demonstrate a clear and specific alignment with national and/or regional
development plans and strategies (e.g., Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development
Plan, National poverty reduction plans, national agricultural development strategies, etc.).
It should explain if there is good absorptive capacity by national and regional African
agricultural research systems, a favourable policy environment, and expressed need. A
clear demonstration of how the research is new and innovative and will add value to
existing knowledge, identifying past and on-going work done on the theme and in the
country/region –both by the applicant organisations and by other researchers (solid
research base).
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2. Quality of proposal (research and methods) and strength of project team (20%)
Show evidence of innovation, clarity of research questions, objectives and expected
outputs and outcomes, conceptual soundness, robustness of methodology and research
design (including performance measurement and statistical analysis). The roles and
responsibilities of each of the partners should be identified – including the value-addition
of knowledge, technology, and ideas of the different research partners. Please describe
briefly the expertise, track-record and planned contribution of natural and social scientists,
the involvement of strategic research-users who will use and/or distribute the innovations
resulting from the research, and the level of collaboration in project implementation to
ensure effective partnerships. The role, contribution, and activities of the third parties
(including their level of collaborations), if applicable, should also be briefly described.
3. Alignment with Fund priority objectives and identified gaps in research (15%)
Research should address at least one of the priority objectives and be consistent with the
areas of research as identified in the types of research in part 3C above: post-harvest
systems, agriculture-nutrition nexus, and sustainable water management.
4. Potential contribution to food security solutions in Eastern and Southern Africa (20%)
Projects should demonstrate the impact pathway to household income, food availability and
nutrition with a high potential for being scaled up. Impact-oriented research is more likely
when it involves the private sector or cooperative sectors, farm producers and their
associations, as well as appropriate local and national authorities.
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5. Environmental, economic and social sustainability (20%)
Research should assess the economic implications of technological or social innovations.
Environmental impacts have an important role in determining the long-term success and
sustainability of the research. Applicants should carefully consider the environmental risks
and benefits (both positive and negative), and be clear about how environmental impacts
will be measured and reported on. Applicants should also consider the potential impact of
their research on the social cohesion of local communities and risk of creating new
conflicts on use of resources and suggest measures for mitigating or managing them.
Gender equity is a fundamental component of social sustainability and concept notes
should integrate gender analysis throughout the document, explicitly outlining how gender
considerations will be incorporated into the research objectives, methodology, and
implementation.
6. Target Timelines July 16, 2013: Launch of Call
September 20, 2013: Deadline for submission of concept notes
Mid-January, 2014: Successful applicants invited to develop full proposals
March 28, 2014: Deadline for submission of full proposals
June, 2014: Applicants informed of full proposals recommended for funding
September 15, 2014: Projects begin
Please note, due to the large number of concept notes anticipated in this Call, only those
applicants that are selected (in the first stage of the process) to develop full proposals will be
contacted by the Fund.
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IDRC reserves the right to cancel the process at any time without prior notice and/or at its
discretion to grant all or none of the awards under this process.
7. Concept Note Format and Requirements In order to be considered, concept notes must:
a) Be completed using the application form provided;
b) Be submitted in either English or French;
c) Provide summaries of the proposed research project, applicant organisations and
principal investigators, team composition, and third-party organisations (if applicable);
d) Contain a description of the research project, plus references;
e) Provide an overview of project activities;
f) Include a tentative consolidated budget, indicating expected and reasonable expenses for
the duration of the project;
g) Include a CV of the principal investigator;
h) Include a signed official letter of endorsement from each applicant organisation.
8. Submission Deadline Concept notes must be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] by the deadline of 17:00 East
Africa Time, on Friday September 20, 2013.
Concept notes received by the deadline and deemed by the Fund to be compliant with the
requirements set out in this Call will be evaluated in accordance with the process outlined herein.
Concept notes received after the deadline WILL NOT be considered. Any enquiries should be directed to [email protected] on or before 17:00 hours, East African
Time on Friday September 06, 2013 in order to receive a response prior to the deadline date.
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Any enquiries which affect all applicants received on or before the above-mentioned deadline
will be posted as FAQs on the CultiAF website (www.idrc.ca/CultiAF) with the Fund’s
responses to those enquiries, without revealing the sources of the enquiries. Applicants are,
therefore, strongly encouraged to monitor this website for any information updates regarding this
Call.
9. Permission to Share Information By way of submitting an application under this Call, the applicant consents to the disclosure of
the documents submitted by the applicant to the reviewers within IDRC, ACIAR, and external
personalities who are involved in the selection process of both concept notes and full proposals.
If selected for funding, the applicant further consents to the disclosure of the name of the
applicant, the name of the principal investigator and the title of the proposed project in any
announcement of selected projects.
Unsuccessful concept notes will be destroyed within 180 days after the close of the application
period.
10. IDRC Standard Grant Conditions Each applicant organisation selected for funding shall be required to sign IDRC's standard grant
agreement, as amended by IDRC from time to time. A sample of IDRC’s standard grant
agreement terms and conditions is available here:
http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Funding/Guides_and_Forms/Documents/MGC-Att-A-e.pdf IDRC’s obligations herein are subject to sufficient funds being made available to IDRC by the
Parliament of Canada and under the donor partnership agreement with ACIAR.
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IDRC will conclude a separate grant agreement with each applicant organisation. There may be
intellectual property rights considerations that flow from a patentable invention created in the
course of a project funded by CultiAF. The intellectual property guidelines followed by CultiAF
recognise rights to patents and copyright. Specific guidelines on intellectual property rights will
be made available to research teams selected to develop full proposals.
11. Country Clearance Requirements IDRC has conducted general agreements for scientific and technical cooperation with a number
of governments. These agreements establish the framework for IDRC cooperation with that
country by defining the rights and obligations of both IDRC and the government. As such, any
applicant institution selected to receive funding may be required to obtain country approval in
accordance with these agreements prior to receiving funding from IDRC.
Please note that each concept note and/or proposal will be subject to a risk management process
which assesses the ability of CultiAF to support programming in proposed countries or territories
according to Canadian law, knowledge of the research setting, and ability to monitor research
activities. The risk management process at IDRC draws on the Government of Canada’s Travel
Advice and Advisories website and identifies countries (or areas within countries) where travel
is unacceptably dangerous, or requires case-by-case approval. Even if travel is approved, certain
conditions may be attached to it (see Appendix A for more information). IDRC reserves the
right to update this information as needed and reject applications proposing research in the
eligible countries, if the research location is deemed by IDRC and/or ACIAR to pose an
unacceptable risk. Applicants are encouraged to visit the CultiAF website for more information
and for any updates.
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Appendix A: CultiAF eligible countries Any applicant organisation must be based in one of the following eligible countries. The research
work carried out must also take place in one (or more) of these countries.
Burundi
Ethiopia†
Kenya†
Malawi
Mozambique
Rwanda†
Tanzania
Uganda†
Zambia
Zimbabwe
†Due to local security conditions, at the time of this CultiAF Call, IDRC has partial travel bans for IDRC staff in these countries which would limit the ability to effectively monitor projects and may negatively influence funding decisions. Please note that it is acceptable to propose research in these countries with elevated risks in specific regions, but it is highly recommended that high-risk regions be voided. Please monitor the Government of Canada’s Country Travel Advice and Advisories site (http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories) for more information about risks in countries or specific regions of countries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
