UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) is pleased to announce the release of the request for proposals for our 2024-25 Small Grants Program. The program funds research projects, education and demonstration programs of research-based technologies and systems, and projects that support the development of sustainable community food systems. 

Funding Priority Areas  

Priority Area 1:  Support California’s farmers, ranchers, and land stewards of all scales in piloting and transitioning to: 

• environmentally regenerative approaches to producing crops and livestock (including but not limited to soil health, organic and agroecological practices, integrated pest management, crop diversification);
• pathways for realizing economic return from ecologically-sound crop management practices and fair labor practices;
• marketing and distribution strategies that support diversified, decentralized, and locally-based supply chains;
• strategies that promote producer-to-producer networking and/or producer-to-supply chain networking.

Priority Area 2:  Support California’s rural, urban, and Tribal communities in identifying and implementing strategies to: 

• expand access to healthy, sustainably produced, culturally appropriate foods;
• ensure worker wellbeing across the food chain;
• minimize the community and environmental costs of food production and distribution; 
• strengthen connections between consumers and producers;
• establish and strengthen producer-to-producer connections and producer-to-supply chain connections.

Who May Apply

Eligible applicants include: 

• farm or food system businesses operating in California
• non-profit, tax-exempt organizations operating in California
• state and local government agencies, tribal governments, and 
• California public and private institutions of higher education.

Funding Availability & Proposal Categories

Individual grants will be limited to a maximum of $10,000, with one Applied Research Grant awarded up to $20,000. Proposals are requested for three types of projects:  

• Planning Grants 
• Education and Outreach Grants
• Applied Research Grants

PROPOSALS DUE: Tuesday, January 9th, 2024, 12:00pm PST.

For more information and to apply: https://sarep.ucdavis.edu/grantsFY24-25 

DOWNLOAD RFP 

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