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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core Objective: To develop a joint AU-EU Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) that supports Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) by strengthening knowledge flows and collaboration between African Union and European Union actors.
Target Recipient Type: Organizations involved in research and innovation (R&I), agriculture, food systems, advisory services, farmer organizations, businesses (including SMEs), local authorities, NGOs, and civil society.
Target Recipient Size: SME participation is particularly promoted, but various organizational sizes are expected through the multi-actor approach.
SECTOR-SPECIFIC: This grant is SECTOR-SPECIFIC, focusing primarily on Agriculture, Food Systems, Bioeconomy, and related environmental aspects.
Geographic Scope: African Union member states and countries eligible under Horizon Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries).
Key Filtering Criteria: Applicants should have a strong focus on Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA), AU-EU cooperation, agroecology, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity. Collaboration with existing related projects is also a key factor.
Grant Frequency and Program Context: This is a specific topic within the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 (Cluster 6), which is part of a recurring framework program for research and innovation. This particular call is a single-stage opportunity for 2025.

Financial Structure

Funding takes the form of a lump sum contribution.
Budget range: The maximum contribution per grant for this specific topic is €6,000,000.
Total budget for this topic is €6,000,000.
Currency: Euros (EUR).
Eligible costs: Applicants must propose the lump sum based on their estimated direct and indirect costs. Eligible cost categories include: Personnel costs (employees, direct contractors, seconded persons, SME owners), Subcontracting costs, Purchase costs (travel, equipment, goods, services), and Other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods/services, research infrastructure access costs, procurement, ERC additional funding).
Indirect costs: Calculated by applying a 25% flat rate to the direct cost categories that qualify for indirect costs under Horizon Europe rules.
Payments: Lump sum contributions are paid per work package upon successful completion of the work package activities, as defined in the grant agreement. Payments do not depend on actual costs incurred.
Financial reporting: Beneficiaries have no obligation to document costs incurred for the action but must maintain accounting records under national law. Financial checks and audits focus on the technical implementation and fulfillment of work package conditions, not on cost reporting.
Co-financing: The methodology ensures compliance with co-financing principles; the total estimated costs of the action should be greater than the estimated Union contributions. Reimbursement rates are factored into the lump sum calculation.
Financial guarantees: 5-8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.

Eligibility Requirements

Organizational Type & Structure

Consortia must include at least three independent legal entities established in an African Union member state. An 'African Union member state' includes countries whose membership has been temporarily suspended.
International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are exceptionally eligible for funding.
Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. This approach involves engaging a diverse range of stakeholders, including researchers, policy makers, technology providers, primary producers (farmers), food, drink and hospitality industry, retailers, social economy actors, SMEs along the value chain, local authorities and communities, NGOs, and civil society.

Geographic Location

Legal entities established in all African Union member states are exceptionally eligible for Union funding.
Eligible countries include EU Member States and Associated Countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Consortium Requirements

A consortium is mandatory. It must include at least three independent legal entities established in an African Union member state.

Technical Expertise

Proposals should demonstrate capability to address both high and low Technological Readiness Levels (TRLs).
Expertise in Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), agroecology, climate change adaptation, and food systems is required.

Exclusion Criteria

No specific exclusion criteria are mentioned beyond the general conditions of Horizon Europe.

Application Process

Application Submission

Application deadline: 2025-09-16 00:00:00+00:00.
Submission format: Single-stage submission procedure.
Submission platform: Applications must be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal's Electronic Submission Service.
Required documentation: Proposals must adhere to the page limits and layout described in Part B of the Application Form, which is available in the Submission System. Standard application form templates for Research and Innovation Actions (HE RIA, IA) are used.

Grant Agreement & Implementation

Grant duration: Not explicitly specified, but project implementation and payment are structured around the completion of defined work packages.
Project planning requirements: Proposals must describe in detail the activities covered by each work package and all related resources.
Reporting obligations: Progress tracking and reporting will focus on the technical implementation of the action and the fulfillment of conditions for releasing lump sum contributions per work package. There is no obligation for beneficiaries to report actual costs.
Post-award requirements: Adherence to obligations under the grant agreement, including ethics and research integrity, dissemination and exploitation of results, management of intellectual property, and gender equality.

Application Assistance & Support

General Guidance: Online Manual, Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ.
Direct Support: Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs) in EU/Associated Countries and some non-EU countries, Enterprise Europe Network (for SMEs), IT Helpdesk for technical issues with the Portal.
Specialized Advice: European IPR Helpdesk for intellectual property issues, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk for standardisation in proposals.
Ethical Standards: The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment provide guidelines on roles and responsibilities.
Partner Search: A partner search tool is available to help find collaborative organizations.

Evaluation Criteria

Project Quality & Innovation

Proposals will be assessed on their Excellence, Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of Implementation, consistent with standard Horizon Europe criteria.
Expected to identify, map, and study main AKIS actors and structures in the African context to support agroecological transition, in close cooperation with the FNSSA International Research Consortium.
Capability to effectively and efficiently enhance cooperation and knowledge flows between AKIS actors at various geographical levels.
Development of relevant models and formulation of operational recommendations for a joint AU-EU AKIS.
Ability to pilot and animate a joint AU-EU AKIS as a bi-continental networking and knowledge sharing platform linking African and European AKIS actors.
Integration of local knowledge and practices alongside technological and scientific expertise, enriching indigenous insights with innovative approaches and new technologies.
Adoption of an inclusive approach that respects and integrates diverse knowledge.
Balance in addressing both high and low Technological Readiness Levels (TRLs).

Expected Impact

Strengthening understanding, experience sharing, and science-policy interfaces for agri-food system actors to improve knowledge flows and develop an effective AU-EU AKIS, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals and the FNSSA roadmap.
Better informing and integrating R&I actors in AU and EU (including farmers, advisors, businesses, and consumers) within a well-functioning joint AU-EU AKIS supporting climate transition and agroecological approaches.
Achieving better experience sharing among AKIS actors in the EU and AU.
Contribution to the African Union-EU High Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation.
Contribution to the climate objectives of the African Union and the EU, and to the commitments of the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Development of innovative tools and approaches to improve the resilience, adaptation to climate change, and sustainability of agriculture and food systems in Africa.
Translation of R&I efforts into tangible business, products, services, development, and employment opportunities in Africa and Europe.
Alignment with the AU-EU Innovation Agenda, particularly in the Green Transition area, and support for the African Free Trade Area.
Contribution to the implementation of Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) adopted R&I roadmaps pertaining to climate change.
Promotion of SMEs participation for effective transition of innovations into the market.

Quality of Implementation

Mandatory implementation of the multi-actor approach to ensure adequate involvement of public authorities, advisory services, and farmer organizations.
Active collaboration is required with the project resulting from the call 'HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-05-two-stage: Developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership'.
Integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) is required to apply a human-centred approach and support social innovation.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Projects must comply with general Horizon Europe rules and applicable EU regulations.
Adherence to the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 is mandatory.
Contribution to the commitments of the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework is expected.

Ethical & Social Standards

Strict adherence to ethical standards and research integrity requirements is expected.
Data protection and privacy regulations must be observed.
Accessibility and inclusion standards, including gender and other socio-demographic groups, must be considered and integrated.
The One Health approach should be applied where relevant.

Technical & IP Requirements

Intellectual Property (IP) policies will follow standard Horizon Europe guidelines, with a focus on dissemination and exploitation of results.
Technology specifications for solutions should be aligned with climate transition and sustainability goals.

Special Considerations

Mandatory Multi-Actor Approach: Proposals must actively involve a diverse range of stakeholders, as specified in the organizational eligibility.
Specific Collaboration: Active collaboration is required with the project resulting from the call 'HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-05-two-stage: Developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership'.
Strategic Alignment: Projects are encouraged to seek complementarities with EU Missions ('A Soil Deal for Europe', 'Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030'), and European Partnerships (e.g., Agroecology, Animal Health and Welfare, Sustainable Blue Economy, Sustainable Food Systems, Agriculture of Data, PRIMA, EIP-AGRI).
Coordination: Coordination is expected with JRC activities, including the EC Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy, EU Soil Observatory, European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment, and Knowledge Centre for Global Food and Nutrition Security.
Synergies: Synergies are encouraged with other relevant EU financial programs and initiatives, such as the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), particularly EIT Food, and international cooperation programs (e.g., DeSIRA).
Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH): Integration of SSH is required to ensure a human-centred approach to R&I and support social innovation.
Geographic Outreach: The EU aims to increase innovation actions in widening countries, EU outermost regions, and Central and Eastern European countries.
International Cooperation: International cooperation is highly encouraged to maximize impacts, especially under the EU-Africa Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA).

Grant Details