FY 2022 FFPr Limited Merit Based NOFO | USDA FAS 0700 10606 22 M

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS 0700 10606 22 M

The FY 2022 FFPr Limited Merit Based NOFO is a discretionary funding opportunity issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), under the Food for Progress Program (FFPr). FFPr is designed to help developing and emerging countries strengthen their agricultural sectors by providing U.S. agricultural commodities to eligible partners through cooperative agreements. A central feature of the program is that the commodities provided under an award are typically monetized, meaning they are sold in local and/or regional markets, and the proceeds from those sales are then used to finance on-the-ground activities. Those activities are aimed at agricultural and broader economic development outcomes, rather than being a simple commodity donation program.

The program is driven by two core objectives. First, it seeks to improve agricultural productivity, which generally means helping partner countries produce more, more reliably, and often with better quality by strengthening farming practices, input supply systems, extension services, post-harvest handling, and related value chain functions. Second, it aims to expand trade of agricultural products, which can involve improving market systems, standards, logistics, value addition, and the overall enabling environment so that producers and agribusinesses can access markets more competitively domestically, regionally, and potentially internationally.

What makes this particular Notice of Funding Opportunity different from a broad open competition is its limited, merit-based focus and its specific funding priority: it is intended to support active FFPr agreements through a limited competitive process using current-year commodity funds. In practical terms, this NOFO is not primarily about launching entirely new standalone projects with full new freight and commodity budgets; it is structured to add support to existing, active FFPr awards for organizations that already have implementation underway. The emphasis on a "limited competitive process" signals that competition is constrained to a narrower pool than typical open solicitations, and that applicants are expected to be current FFPr partners seeking additional commodity resources to advance or expand approved work.

A key restriction in the FY 2022 Limited Merit Based NOFO is that freight funds are not available. That means this funding stream does not provide new money for shipping/transport of the commodities. Applicants can only use any remaining freight funds that are already in their existing award budgets. As a result, proposals under this NOFO would need to be designed in a way that is feasible without adding new freight funding, either by relying on already-obligated freight balances, adjusting the commodity strategy, or otherwise ensuring that the commodity component can be delivered and monetized without requesting new freight resources from this NOFO.

Administratively, the opportunity is identified as "FY 2022 FFPr Limited Merit Based NOFO" with Funding Opportunity Number USDA FAS 0700-10606-22-M. The assistance mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically implies substantial involvement by the federal agency in the funded activities compared with a standard grant. The activity category is Agriculture and the CFDA/Assistance Listing number is 10.606, which corresponds to Food for Progress. The agency is USDA FAS. The opportunity was created on July 19, 2022, and the original closing date was August 17, 2022. The award ceiling listed is $3,500,000, and USDA anticipated making about 8 awards, indicating a relatively small set of incremental awards sized to complement ongoing agreements rather than a single large program award.

Eligibility is listed as "Others" with clarification referenced in an additional eligibility text field (not included in the excerpt). That phrasing typically indicates eligibility is limited to specific types of organizations or entities defined in the full NOFO, and in this case it is also strongly implied by the "limited" nature of the solicitation and its stated priority of supporting active FFPr agreements. In short, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted, competitive add-on funding mechanism for current FFPr implementers, using commodity resources (not new freight funding) to further the program's overarching goals of boosting agricultural productivity and expanding agricultural trade in partner countries.

• The Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2022 FFPr Limited Merit Based NOFO" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.606.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 19, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 17, 2022. (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 $3,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA FAS 0700 10606 22 M

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