The International Fund for Agricultural Development is inviting eligible institutions to propose a regional food-systems initiative backed by a US$2 million grant. The call concerns Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, with submissions due on 16 October 2026 at 23:59 GMT.
Purpose and eligible applicants
IFAD will select an eligible organisation, government agency, private-sector entity, research institution or consortium. This is not a grant for individual jobseekers. The initiative prioritises livestock, cassava and rice value chains, with attention to regional relevance, commercial viability, climate resilience, women’s and young people’s inclusion, and potential for expansion.
Submission requirements
The official page provides the concept-note template, eligibility self-certification forms, institutional-profile requirements and grant conditions. Documents must be submitted electronically as PDFs using the official submission address. Questions may be sent before 2 October 2026; relevant answers will appear in the call’s FAQ. Read the full call documentation before preparing a proposal.
Decide whether your institution has a credible role
Opportunities Feed proposal guidance: Begin by mapping your organisation’s actual experience against the proposed work. List projects you have delivered, the partners involved and the evidence available to demonstrate results. Distinguish experience held by your institution from experience held by one employee in a previous role.
A regional proposal needs more than a list of countries. Explain how activities in different places connect, what can be learned across locations and where approaches need to differ. Partners should help the team understand local conditions rather than simply provide names for the application.
If a consortium is needed, discuss responsibilities early. Decide who will coordinate delivery, manage finances, maintain records and communicate with the funder. Check that each partner can realistically provide the staff time and operational capacity described. Avoid committing another organisation to activities without its agreement.
Build the concept around an identifiable constraint
A useful starting point is a specific problem experienced by producers, processors, traders or consumers. Describe who is affected, why the problem persists and what would change if the proposed intervention worked. A proposal that tries to solve every challenge at once can become difficult to cost, implement and evaluate.
Connect activities to outcomes. Training, equipment, research and coordination meetings are possible means of delivering change, not evidence of change by themselves. Explain the mechanism through which an activity would improve performance, reduce a barrier or strengthen a relationship. Be clear about assumptions that remain untested.
Use locally relevant evidence where it is available. A general regional statistic may help explain the context, but it does not automatically demonstrate the needs of a particular group. Identify gaps in your understanding and show how the project will avoid making decisions on the basis of unsupported assumptions.
Make inclusion practical
Do not rely only on a statement that women and young people will benefit. Consider when activities take place, how participants are selected, what language is used and whether travel, access to information or responsibilities at home could prevent participation. Consult intended participants rather than treating them solely as recipients.
Think about who controls the benefits after an activity ends. Access to training does not necessarily translate into access to productive assets, markets or decision-making. A thoughtful project design explains how participation will connect to meaningful opportunities while remaining honest about the limits of the proposed intervention.
Plan finances, risks and evidence together
Build an activity-based budget with a clear explanation for each estimate. Check that staffing, procurement, travel and monitoring assumptions agree with the delivery timetable. Do not treat the advertised grant amount as money already available to spend, and do not assume that every proposed expense will be eligible.
Identify risks that could change the work plan and explain how the team would respond. Avoid a risk section made up only of broad labels. The practical question is what an emerging problem would mean for participants, partners, expenditure and delivery—and who would decide on an adjustment.
Choose measures that are proportionate to the project. Record what the starting situation is, what change is expected and how evidence will be collected. Protect confidential information and avoid asking participants for data that the project does not need.
Before sending the application
- Read the complete call and the latest FAQ.
- Confirm institutional and consortium eligibility.
- Use the official templates without omitting required sections.
- Check consistency between the concept note, budget and institutional profile.
- Open every final PDF to confirm it is complete and legible.
- Verify the submission address on IFAD’s own website.
- Retain the final files and evidence of submission.
Official application route
The button below opens IFAD’s call page, where applicants can access the documents and the official submission contact. It does not submit a proposal on your behalf. Prepare early enough to resolve questions within the published timetable and avoid relying on a last-minute email as your only submission plan.
Conclusion
This opportunity is best suited to institutions with a well-supported regional concept and the capacity to deliver it responsibly. A focused proposal, a workable partnership and realistic evidence of expected results are more useful than a broad promise to transform an entire sector.
Stay Connected
Keywords: IFAD grants, Central Sahel funding, food systems transformation, agricultural development funding, climate resilience grants
