IDRC – Canadian International Food Security Research Fund

Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) are pleased to announce the 2013 Call for Concept Notes of the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF or the ‘Fund’).

Food and nutritional insecurity, climate change, new and emerging diseases, and the uncertain economy in many regions of the world continue to threaten the livelihoods of millions of poor people in many developing countries. According to the 1996 World Food Summit, “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Food insecurity remains a significant challenge for most developing countries, which are especially vulnerable to economic and weather-related shocks to food production and distribution systems. The need to improve food security is particularly important in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, which account for almost 90% of the undernourished people in the world.

The World Bank has estimated that under current conditions, global food production would have to double by 2050 to meet increasing global demand. With a growing world population and increased affluence in some rapidly developing countries leading to demand for more and higher quality foods, and given environmental problems such as soil degradation, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and climate change, new and innovative solutions are required to improve food security. Increasing agricultural productivity through strategies that do not harm the environment will be one of the keys to ensuring food security for the growing rural and urban populations of developing countries.

Opportunity

Increased investments in agricultural and nutrition-related research also require innovative partnerships between the natural and social sciences and between developed and developing country organizations, including the private and public sector, farmers and their organizations, media, and civil society. In particular, there is a demand in the South for strong relationships and partnerships between Canadian and developing country organizations and companies. Effective Canadian and developing country partnerships can generate the type of knowledge and innovation that enables smallholder farmers – including the poorest – to improve their productivity and strengthen the markets that process and deliver food, while achieving environmental sustainability. This would enable these producers to increase their own food supplies and incomes, build a more effective agri-food system and improve food availability in their countries.

In 2009, CIDA and IDRC launched the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund to increase the contribution of Canadian and developing country research expertise toward solving global problems of food insecurity through applied, collaborative, results-oriented research. To date, the Fund has supported 19 large applied agriculture and nutrition research consortia in 20 countries, each a mix of Canadian and developing country researchers, chosen from three rounds of competitive calls.

The goal of the CIFSRF is to develop more equitable, productive and environmentally sustainable agri-food systems that increase food security and enhance nutrition in developing countries. The key objectives of the Fund are to:

• Increase food security in developing countries by funding applied research in agricultural development and nutrition;
• Apply Canadian science and technology expertise in collaboration with developing- country partners to address food security;
• Use research results to inform food security policies and programs; and
• Identify innovations and scale-up the most promising research results.

This 2013 call will support new research projects to improve food production and distribution, and the health and nutritional dimensions of food security in developing countries. Through this call, the Fund is looking to expand its research portfolio to other innovative research ideas and lay the groundwork for scaling-up research results and innovations – within a country, across a region, and possibly, across continents.

Funding Available

• Project budgets under this call must be in the range of CAD $1,000,000 to CAD $5,000,000
• Project duration must not exceed 30 months, including all research activities and final reporting. It is anticipated that projects selected in this call will begin July 2014. Please plan activities accordingly.

Full Details

Full details regarding the IDRC – Canadian International Food Security Research Fund

Deadlines

CURO Checklist and Instructions for faculty submissions

Internal Contacts

If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact:

• Carleton International for help with proposal development and substantive review as soon as possible