FY 2021 McGovern-Dole Standing Supplemental NOFO | USDA FAS 0700 10608 21 S

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS 0700 10608 21 S

The FY 2021 McGovern-Dole Standing Supplemental NOFO is a discretionary U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) grant opportunity under CFDA 10.608 that supports the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program. At its core, the McGovern-Dole program is designed to feed school children and strengthen literacy and education outcomes in low-income, food-deficit countries, with a particular emphasis on improving opportunities and learning outcomes for girls. The program operates by donating U.S. agricultural commodities and pairing those donations with financial and technical assistance so implementing partners can run school feeding and related education-focused activities. In addition to school feeding, the program also supports maternal and child health and nutrition interventions, reflecting the idea that learning, attendance, and development are closely tied to adequate nutrition at home and in early childhood.

The program has two central objective areas. First, it funds preschool and primary school food-for-education efforts intended to improve food security, reduce hunger, and improve literacy and primary education, especially for girls. This typically aligns with activities that encourage enrollment, attendance, and learning progress by making food available through schools and by supporting complementary education interventions. Second, it supports maternal, infant, and child nutrition programming for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and children under five years old, recognizing that nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood is critical for long-term health and cognitive development. A notable required feature across McGovern-Dole projects is the inclusion of a "graduation" component, meaning projects are expected to build toward sustainability and an eventual transition away from external support as stipulated in the program legislation.

This particular notice is a "standing supplemental" funding opportunity, meaning it is not primarily aimed at starting brand-new projects. Instead, the priority is to provide additional freight, commodity, and/or administrative funds to existing, active McGovern-Dole cooperative agreements. The intent is to help ongoing projects stay on track when circumstances change or costs rise beyond what was originally planned. The NOFO highlights common reasons supplemental resources may be needed, including natural disasters, COVID-19-related complications, unexpectedly high commodity and shipping (freight) rates, the need to continue school feeding and other program activities without interruption, political instability that delays key milestones, pipeline breaks that threaten consistent delivery of school meals, and losses of commodities. In practical terms, this supplemental mechanism is meant to protect continuity, avoid disruptions in school feeding, and stabilize implementation when external shocks would otherwise reduce rations, shorten feeding periods, or force partners to pause programming.

From an administrative standpoint, awards are issued as cooperative agreements, which generally indicates substantial involvement by USDA/FAS in program oversight compared with a standard grant. The opportunity was created on December 1, 2020, with an original closing date of August 1, 2021. The listed award ceiling is $5,000,000, and the agency anticipated making around 20 awards, suggesting the supplemental amounts could vary depending on the scale of need across current agreements. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with clarification expected in the full notice under the additional eligibility information section, but the stated program priority makes clear that the target applicants are organizations already operating active McGovern-Dole cooperative agreements that can justify supplemental needs tied to the kinds of disruptions and cost increases described in the NOFO.

• The Department of Agriculture, McGovern-Dole Food for Education 10.608 in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2021 McGovern-Dole Standing Supplemental NOFO" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.608.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 01, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 01, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA FAS 0700 10608 21 S

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