💰 Funding Details

Funding Overview

Call Identifier: HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-16

Type of Action: HORIZON-RIA (Research & Innovation Action) – Lump Sum Model (HORIZON-AG-LS)

Maximum EU Contribution per Project: €50 000 000 (100 % of eligible costs, paid as a single lump sum)

Opening Date: 06 May 2025

Deadline: 16 September 2025 – 17:00 Brussels time (single-stage submission)

Strategic Purpose

The call supports the AU-EU FNSSA partnership by *piloting and animating a joint Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation System (AKIS)* that accelerates the agro-ecological transition and climate resilience in Africa and Europe. Projects must:

- Map and connect AKIS actors at local, national, regional and bi-continental levels.

- Establish a bi-continental knowledge-sharing platform linking farmers, advisors, researchers, businesses and consumers.

- Deliver models and operational recommendations that feed into policy (CAP, AU Climate Strategy, Kunming-Montréal GBF, UfM R&I roadmaps).

Budget & Cost Principles

Because the grant is a lump sum, the consortium proposes a single, fixed amount covering the entire action.

1. Draw a detailed *lump-sum budget table* (Annex provided in the F&T Portal).

2. Internal cost tracking is still essential but no financial reporting of actual costs will be required.

3. Payments are linked to the completion of work packages and deliverables, not to incurred costs.

Eligibility Snapshot

* Minimum consortium: 3 legal entities from 3 different MS/AC + at least 3 independent entities established in African Union member states.

* Mandatory multi-actor approach: active participation of farmers, advisors, public authorities, civil society & industry.

* JRC may join as beneficiary.

* Entities in *all* AU member states are eligible for EU funding.

Policy Alignment Checklist

- European Green Deal & Farm-to-Fork Strategy

- AU-EU Innovation Agenda – Green Transition actions (short-term 4 & 5, medium-term 1 & 3)

- FNSSA Roadmap & International Research Consortium

- 2023 AU-EU Agriculture Ministerial Conclusions

- African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

📊 Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria Explained

1. Excellence (0-5 points)

* Clarity & pertinence: Does the proposal directly answer each bullet in the *Scope* section?

* Soundness of methodology: Robust AKIS mapping tools; mixed methods (network science, participatory action research).

* Interdisciplinarity & gender dimension: Social sciences + life sciences + digital.

* Ambition & breakthrough: Novel bi-continental AKIS architecture with replicable governance model.

2. Impact (0-5 points)

* Credible pathways to the three listed expected outcomes and to Destination impacts.

* Scale & significance: Number of AKIS actors engaged, hectares under agroecological practices, policy instruments influenced.

* Barriers & mitigation: Political instability, language diversity, data gaps – with concrete counter-measures.

* Exploitation, communication, dissemination: Business plans for advisory services, links to AfCFTA value chains, open-access knowledge hub.

* Contribution to climate, biodiversity, SDGs quantified with indicators.

3. Quality & Efficiency of Implementation (0-5 points)

* Work plan coherence: WP logic matches objectives and lump-sum milestones.

* Consortium capacity: Complementary expertise, balanced EU/AU effort, gender-balanced leadership.

* Risk management: Technical, financial and geopolitical risks with contingency actions.

* Lump-sum justification: Transparent cost breakdown; clear link between resources & outputs.

*Thresholds: 3/5 per criterion and 10/15 overall.*

📝 Application Strategy

Application Strategy

1. Build a High-Impact, Balanced Consortium

1. Map complementarities: pair *EU excellence in AKIS design* with *your country’s applied agroecology expertise* and African partners’ local knowledge.

2. Secure *≥3 AU partners* early and co-produce the concept note to demonstrate genuine bi-continental ownership.

3. Involve at least:

- Farmer organisations & advisory services (to satisfy multi-actor approach)

- SMEs/start-ups able to turn R&I into marketable services

- Public authorities to guarantee policy uptake

- Social science & humanities teams for inclusiveness and gender/youth lenses

2. Design Work Packages Around Expected Outcomes

| Expected Outcome | Dedicated WP focus |

| --- | --- |

| Strengthened science–policy interface | WP1: Policy labs & evidence synthesis |

| Well-functioning joint AU-EU AKIS | WP2: Mapping & actor network analysis |

| Enhanced cooperation & knowledge flows | WP3: Digital and physical brokerage mechanisms |

| Pilot AKIS platform | WP4: Bi-continental living network & demonstrators |

| Uptake & exploitation | WP5: Business models, AfCFTA alignment, capacity building |

| Management & Lump-Sum Milestones | WP6: Governance, ethics, data, gender, risk management |

3. Integrate Key Cross-Cutting Elements

* Synergies: formal collaboration protocol with the project funded under *FARM2FORK-05* (agroecology living labs).

* Data management: FAIR data, alignment with EC Knowledge Centre for Global Food & Nutrition Security.

* Gender & Youth: measurable KPIs (e.g., 40 % women in advisory boards; youth-led innovation challenges).

* Climate & Biodiversity targets: explicit contribution matrix linking each output to EU & AU climate objectives and to the Kunming-Montréal framework.

4. Master the Lump-Sum Logic

1. Reverse-engineer milestones: define verifiable outputs (e.g., “Pan-African AKIS portal online & 5 000 users”).

2. Attach *payment triggers* to those outputs.

3. Allocate an internal contingency (~5 %) because budget transfers post-grant agreement are limited.

5. Quality Assurance

* Run a mock evaluation using HE Annex D criteria two weeks before submission.

* Obtain an external review by the National Contact Point in your country.

💡 Success Factors

Early Co-Design With AKIS Actors

Run **pre-proposal workshops** in at least three AU regions and one EU hub to co-identify challenges and secure buy-in.

Robust Inclusive Knowledge-Sharing Platform

Develop a bilingual (EN/FR) portal with **offline SMS gateways** for regions with low connectivity, ensuring broad access.

Clear Exploitation Pathways

Define **service packages** (e.g., advisory toolkits, certification schemes) aligned with AfCFTA to attract private investment.

Alignment With Parallel EU Projects

Establish a **Memorandum of Collaboration** with the agroecology living-labs project (*FARM2FORK-05*), sharing datasets and demonstrator sites.

❌ Common Mistakes to Avoid

Ignoring Mandatory African Participation

Submitting a consortium with fewer than **three independent AU entities** leads to immediate ineligibility.

Superficial AKIS Mapping

Listing stakeholders without **network analysis, typologies or relationship metrics** fails to demonstrate scientific rigour.

Overlooking Lump-Sum Constraints

Treating the budget like a classic *actual-cost* grant results in **unverifiable cost items** and weak payment milestones.

Weak Link to AU-EU Innovation Agenda Actions

Not explicitly referencing **short-term actions 4 & 5** and **medium-term actions 1 & 3** reduces perceived policy relevance.

Insufficient Multi-Actor Evidence

Missing letters of commitment from farmer organisations, advisory services or consumer groups diminishes the credibility of the **multi-actor approach**.

Generic Impact Indicators

Using vague KPIs like *"increase sustainability"* without **quantified targets and baselines** undermines the impact score.

Developing a joint AU-EU Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) supporting the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership

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