The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the South African Department of Science and Technology, and the Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are seeking applications from eligible organizations for a program entitled “Securing Water for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development Competition (Round 4)” with an aim to source and accelerate innovations that will enable the production of more food with less water and/or make more water available for food production, processing, and distribution in developing and emerging countries.

Securing Water for Food focuses on the water/food nexus. Through this program, the funding partners are seeking innovations that will improve water availability and efficiency along the food value chain, thus boosting food security, alleviating poverty, and stimulating inclusive growth. Innovators can come from anywhere in the world, but implementation must take place in a developing or emerging country.

Through Securing Water for Food, they hope to increase both the demand for and availability of innovative water technologies and approaches; increase adoption of those innovations at multiple levels (from small scale farms to large corporations); and improve the sustainability of innovations through robust partnerships and business-to-business relationships.

Focus Areas

• Water Efficiency and Reuse: especially targeted at the food value chain. This will become a greater necessity as water availability is threatened by competition between industrial, agricultural, and energy uses. Improving water efficiency and reuse has tremendous potential water-saving benefits that may have multiplier effects at various levels of a country’s economy.
• Water Capture and Storage: These systems are in high demand in many regions where rain occurs at limited times. With projected increases in rainfall variability due to climate change and increased demands for food production, capture and storage systems at various scales are needed to secure water supplies throughout the year and build resiliency to drought and floods.
• Salinity and Salt Water Intrusion: In coastal areas, over-pumping and rising sea levels are leading to saltwater intrusion, forcing farmers to use marginal quality water for irrigation. With more than 30% of the world’s population living in coastal areas and drawing food supply from fertile deltas, urgent solutions are required to reduce the impacts of salinity on the quality of aquifers and food production.

Funding Information

• The estimated ceiling for this RFA is $7.5 Million USD from Securing Water for Food.
• Subject to the availability of funds, the individual Award(s) will range from $100,000 to $2,000,000. It is anticipated that 5-15 proposals will be funded.

For more information on eligibility and how to apply, visit FundsforNGOs.