The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Markets, Risk and Resilience (MRR Innovation Lab) invites researchers at U.S. universities to submit proposals for research projects that support our mission to generate and transfer into action innovations that will bolster resilience, keeping rural individuals, households, communities and markets in positions of economic viability from which they can sustain and accelerate a path of inclusive agricultural growth.

Deadlines

• 3/15/21 11:59 pm PT: Letter of Intent (one paragraph)
• 4/19/21 11:59 pm PT: Full Proposal

Funding

• Maximum request amount: $750,000

Researchers

• Each proposal must identify at least one PI from a U.S.-based university and one from a host-country institution. The MRR Innovation Lab will subcontract with the PI from the lead US university.
• Researchers will be expected to work with the MRR Innovation Lab staff to distill themes and findings of research projects into a coherent, evidence-based voice for integration of results into policy and program design.

Projects

• The proposed research must be completed no later than June 2025.
• Proposals should tie into one or more MRR research priorities:
  • Enabling Resilient Escapes from Poverty
  • Financial and Agronomic Innovations for Inclusive Growth and Resilience
  • Resilient Market Systems for Broadly-based Agricultural Growth

We encourage those that include deliberate learning objectives related to gender, youth and nutrition either as a primary focus of the research or as relevant cross-cutting issues.

Projects will take place in Feed the Future resilience-focused (includes Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe) or target countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda).

While the MRR Innovation Lab is a research organization, our goal is to achieve concrete development outcomes through research. A proactive and joint effort between individual researchers and the MRR Innovation Lab can help ensure not only that its social science research reaches its full impact by being incorporated into development policy and programs, but also that this impact is demonstrable and measurable.

The MRR Innovation Lab is funded in support of the US Government’s Feed the Future Initiative and the related Global Food Security Act (GFSA) of 2016. The Global Food Security Research Strategy calls for a “pipeline of innovations, tools and approaches designed to improve agriculture, food security, resilience and nutrition priorities in the face of complex, dynamic challenges.”

Selection

• Proposals will be reviewed by the MRR Innovation Lab Director, Associate Director and independent reviewers; the MRR Board of Directors will make final selections in May 2021.
• The MRR Innovation Lab anticipates funding 4-6 proposals under this solicitation.
• Questions on this solicitation may be directed to the BASIS/MRR Innovation Lab office at [email protected] or 530-752-7252.
• Download the full 2021 Request for Proposals PDF.

Learn more and submit at the MRR Innovation Lab site.