How to Apply

Yes, CRFS communities of practice and projects funded by McKnight have made connections between smallholder farmers and climate change. For example, the Andes community of practice focused on climate change on a regional and conceptual level from 2008-2015. A 2010 article written by several members of the Andes community of practice is called Climate Change in the High Andes. A more recent article that connects agroecology and climate change issues also comes from a project funded in the Andes, called Soil fertility management ameliorates climate change impacts on traditional Andean crops within smallholder farming systems. These are only two examples, and similar processes and publications have come out of CRFS’ two African communities of practice, as well.

Still, many projects funded by CRFS do not contextualize their work within existing climate conditions or explicitly evaluate the performance of agroecology systems in relation to climate challenges. This thematic open call attempts to bridge the gap to communicate agroecology as a bold climate solution. As the How to Apply website describes, this open call focuses on agroecology’s performance in meeting interconnected global crises, including climate change. For this reason, it is important that proposals clearly articulate both the climate and agroecology components, as conveyed by email to all inquiries with medium and high relevance:

• The climate component: What climate challenges will this project aim to address that are relevant to the region?
• The agroecological component: How will you evaluate the potential for agroecological approaches to make a difference in adapting to, reducing risks, or mitigating climate change for smallholder farmers and regional food systems? How will agroecological performance be evaluated in a holistic way?

CRFS’ cross-cutting innovation portfolio manages this thematic open call. This means it aims to complement rather than duplicate grantmaking priorities for CRFS’ three communities of practice. Articulating agroecology and climate challenges to and with smallholder farmers is already present in all three of CRFS’ communities of practice. For example, the research and implementation of agroecological practices (sometimes called “options by context”) is well-represented by a large portion of CRFS-funded projects.

This thematic open call seeks not to duplicate these efforts but rather to improve society’s understanding of agroecology as a bold climate solution by evaluating the potential for agroecological approaches to make a difference in adapting to, reducing risks, or mitigating climate change. Communicating agroecology as a bold climate solution more broadly than to or with specific farming communities will be favored, such as communicating to climate scientists and policymakers. For projects interested in policy articulation, engagement at multiple levels is welcome, but preference will be given to national, regional, or higher levels of engagement. Diverse forms of evidence for communicating to and with such communities are also welcome. They may be quantitative or qualitative, and they may be derived from research or lived experience.

Both kinds of projects are welcome. It depends on the goals of the project. In some instances, it may be compelling to include multiple countries, whereas in other cases, it would weaken a proposal. When we review applications, we will evaluate projects based on their thematic relevance and potential for impact.

As an open call process, we will not be selecting which project ideas to invite to apply. However, we have provided feedback on each inquiry’s apparent relevance. This initial feedback and your subsequent conversation with Paul Rogé should give you a sense of the chances your project would be funded through this thematic open call. Teams with some or all of the following attributes will be better positioned:

• A strong foundation of agroecological research or lived experience
• Established agroecological networks
• A holistic understanding of agroecology
• Capacity for climate-related analysis

While the open call process intends to make CRFS grantmaking more equitable and inclusive, we also recognize that it requires more time and energy on the part of the applicant with less confidence in receiving funding. These are the tradeoffs of different kinds of grantmaking. There will be future thematic open calls, so please gauge if the theme of this open call matches your team’s priorities. CRFS also continues to do relationship-based grantmaking, facilitated in each region by CRFS’ regional team members.

As described on the How to Apply website, “The estimated level of funding for this open call will be $400,000. We anticipate making at most 4 awards ranging from $100,000-$400,000 each, with project durations of 1-3 years.” This means that $400,000 overall has been earmarked to be granted through this open call. Each project funded through this open call can expect to receive between $100,000 and $400,000. If we fund one project, we can award $400,000 toward it. If we fund four projects, we can fund each project at the $100,000 level.

Decisions on the funding level per project will be made after reviewing all the applications submitted. For some teams, $100,000 will be sufficient to fund their project idea fully, whereas in other cases, it will not be sufficient. Suppose teams would benefit from higher levels of funding. In that case, we recommend that they convey their entire vision and identify the highest priority areas or first steps to fund in case CRFS can only partially fund the project. In the application, it is also possible to describe funding from other donors to support the larger project.

While preference will be given to organizations in the Global South, organizations headquartered in the Global North are still eligible. When we review applications, if two projects have similar thematic relevance and potential for impact, preference will be given to lead organizations headquartered in the Global South or to those projects that demonstrate co-leadership with organizations in the Global South​. The most straightforward way to demonstrate co-leadership is through a portion of the project budget allocated to a Global South partner.

Once you have met with Paul Rogé, you may begin an application. To do so, the online application portal is accessible to you from the How to Apply page, or by visiting the form directly. Applications are due by May 15, and we hope to reach funding decisions by September 15.

For technical assistance with the application process, please get in touch with Grace Gbolo at ggbolo@mcknight.org. For questions on the thematic area, please get in touch with Paul Rogé at proge@mcknight.org.