Urban Agriculture and Innovation Production (UAIP) Competitive Grants Program | USDA NRCS NHQ UAIP 20 NOFO0001013

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS NHQ UAIP 20 NOFO0001013

The Urban Agriculture and Innovation Production (UAIP) Competitive Grants Program is a fiscal year 2020 funding opportunity run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Its core goal is to strengthen and expand urban agriculture and innovative production in places where access to fresh, healthy food is limited or missing. UAIP is designed to help communities plan and carry out practical, locally grounded projects in cities, suburbs, and urban clusters, including efforts that use indoor and emerging production approaches. For FY 2020, USDA anticipated about $3,000,000 total available for awards through this competitive program.

UAIP accepts applications from eligible entities located anywhere in the 50 states, Washington, DC, and U.S. territories covered by the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the Pacific Islands Area (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), as long as they are not institutions of higher education), local governments (such as county, city/township, and special district governments), Tribal governments and certain Tribal organizations, and K-12 schools (any school serving any grades kindergarten through 12). Applications were required to be submitted through Grants.gov, with a hard deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on July 6, 2020, and late submissions were not considered.

The program funds two main project types: Planning Projects (PP) and Implementation Projects (IP). Both project types are expected to focus on one or more defined target areas where fresh food access is constrained, and both are expected to involve at least one partner organization to help meet project goals. In practice, this means UAIP favors collaborative, community-connected proposals that show how local stakeholders will work together to improve food access, build skills, and support sustainable urban production systems.

Planning Projects are intended to help communities develop, organize, and strengthen the groundwork needed to launch or expand urban agriculture efforts. These projects can support activities like community assessments, strategic planning, feasibility work, and policy or zoning planning that makes urban growing more realistic and scalable. A Planning Project award could support recommendations for establishing or improving community gardens and farms in ways that reflect local needs for how food is grown, distributed, and marketed. It can also fund urban agriculture assessments that map opportunities and link community needs to benefits such as improved food access, nutrition education, conservation outcomes, innovation, and local economic development. Planning Projects may also support business planning and feasibility studies, including strategies meant to reduce start-up barriers for new and beginning farmers in urban and suburban settings. Another common planning track is municipal planning and zoning work that addresses newer production models, including rooftop farms, outdoor vertical production, green walls, indoor farms and greenhouses, and controlled-environment systems like hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic facilities. Planning Projects can also be used by schools to build educational programming tied to food and agriculture, connecting topics like nutrition and STEM learning while helping cultivate future farmers, gardeners, and agriculture entrepreneurs. Funding limits for Planning Projects were set at no more than $200,000 in any single year and no more than $500,000 total over a three-year period.

Implementation Projects are meant to put existing plans into action or scale up working models, with an emphasis on approaches that serve multiple farmers or gardeners and measurably improve local food access in the target area. These projects can include hands-on, operational work such as launching or expanding training and business support for beginning producers, increasing production using small-space and indoor technologies, and operating community growing sites that provide education and direct experience. Implementation Projects may support entrepreneurial development by supplying resources like job training, land access, equipment, mentoring, and other business assistance that helps new and beginning farmers become viable. They can also focus on increasing food production through innovations like vertical farming, hydroponics, aquaponics, and rooftop growing. Another eligible direction is operating community gardens or nonprofit farms that teach residents about food systems, nutrition, environmental impacts, and agricultural production, while also offering practical training in gardening or farming. Implementation awards may also help municipalities, producers, community organizations, and schools address local agricultural and food needs through policies and practices tied to food access, soil health, emerging technologies, and urban agriculture business development. Schools can use Implementation Projects to obtain resources that help students learn the value of growing and eating nutritious food and explore career pathways connected to agriculture. Funding limits for Implementation Projects were lower than planning awards: no more than $100,000 in any single year and no more than $300,000 total over three years.

Administratively, the opportunity was published under Funding Opportunity Number USDA NRCS NHQ UAIP 20 NOFO0001013, categorized as a discretionary grant in the broad areas of agriculture, environment, and natural resources (CFDA 10.935). NRCS also offered applicant support resources, including a program overview webinar held on June 3, 2020 (with a recording posted online) and a Frequently Asked Questions document hosted through Farmers.gov that was scheduled for updates by June 12, 2020. Overall, UAIP is structured to help communities move from early-stage planning into real, on-the-ground urban food production and education, especially in neighborhoods and localities where fresh food availability is a persistent challenge.

• The Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Urban Agriculture and Innovation Production (UAIP) Competitive Grants Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.935.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-05-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-07-06. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for USDA NRCS NHQ UAIP 20 NOFO0001013

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