Scientific Exchanges Program | USDA FAS 10620 0762 10 21 0001

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS 10620 0762 10 21 0001

The Scientific Exchanges Program (SEP) is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service initiative designed to build practical, long-term research and professional connections between the United States and agricultural institutions in eligible countries. The core mechanism is a fellowship model: U.S.-based host institutions bring visiting agricultural professionals to their campuses and research facilities for hands-on training, applied research, and structured collaboration. The broader aim is to strengthen agricultural science capacity overseas in ways that translate into improved productivity, stronger food security, and economic growth, while also supporting USDA priorities related to agricultural innovation and global trade. SEP emphasizes that these exchanges should not be one-off trainings; they are meant to create durable linkages among fellows, their home institutions, U.S. mentors, and the wider international agricultural research community.

USDA planned to make up to 11 awards under this opportunity. One award (Award 1) is specifically centered on food safety topics that directly affect international agricultural trade, especially sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT). This track is aimed at West Africa and is framed as an effort to improve national and regional food safety systems by giving fellows real-world research experiences on food safety challenges that countries face when they try to access or expand export markets. Applicants under this award are encouraged to integrate Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) concepts where they can strengthen food safety outcomes. The program is also designed as a cohort experience: while each fellow should have an individual faculty mentor for one-on-one guidance, USDA expects the fellows to move through the program together as a group to share ideas, compare approaches, and build intraregional coordination. A key policy dimension is built in as well, with an expectation that fellows, through their research and engagement, will reinforce the relevance of international standard-setting bodies such as Codex Alimentarius, the International Plant Protection Convention, and the World Organization for Animal Health for policymakers shaping food safety regimes in the region. After an organization is selected for funding, it must identify and nominate proposed fellows for USDA review and final concurrence, and it must develop a detailed project workplan.

The remaining awards (Awards 2 through 11, up to 10 awards) focus on Climate Smart Agriculture and food systems research across a broader set of regions, including countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Latin America, and the Middle East. In this context, CSA is described as an integrated approach to managing whole landscapes (cropland, livestock, forests, and fisheries) in ways that respond to the combined pressures of food insecurity and accelerating climate change. The “food systems” angle extends beyond the farm to include climate-related improvements across the production and supply chain, including work on food loss and waste, sustainable materials management, and strengthening local and regional markets. USDA is looking for proposals that meaningfully incorporate CSA into research and training agendas relevant to these regions.

Across all awards, USDA expects program designs to go beyond technical research skills and intentionally build leadership and science communication capacity. The idea is that fellows should return home better able to explain evidence, advocate for sound policy, and communicate effectively with peers, decision-makers, and the public. Programs are also expected to align with the strategic goals of the fellows, the host institutions, and USDA, and to support research agendas that can produce tangible impacts on international trade, food security, and economic growth in emerging economies. Collaboration is a strong theme throughout, including engagement with U.S. stakeholders such as relevant regulatory agencies and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, reflecting the program’s trade-facing and policy-aware orientation. USDA also signals that learning should be multiplied: fellows and host institutions are encouraged to share results and lessons through teaching, extension, and outreach, and to maintain professional relationships after the fellowship ends.

In terms of where and how the work happens, the host organization is expected to place fellows at a U.S. campus-based research facility, supplemented by orienting visits to U.S. government regulatory agencies in Washington, DC (or other appropriate locations) and field visits when useful. The program structure should include time at USDA in Washington, DC both at the beginning and end of the fellowship period so fellows can brief and debrief with key USDA staff. Awardees are expected to coordinate closely with the USDA program manager and to incorporate virtual meetings, outreach, and other engagement activities as part of the program’s ongoing collaboration. An additional reciprocity component is required: each fellow’s U.S. mentor is expected to travel to the fellow’s home institution for up to two weeks, reinforcing the two-way nature of the partnership and helping embed the fellowship outcomes into the fellow’s institutional setting.

Administratively, this was a discretionary funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number USDA FAS 10620 0762 10 21 0001) under CFDA 10.620, managed by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Eligible applicants included public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and other eligible entities as clarified in the full announcement. The opportunity listed an award ceiling of $700,000 and an anticipated total of 11 awards. The original closing date for applications was June 10, 2021 at 11:59 PM EDT.

• The Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Scientific Exchanges Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.620.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 16, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 10, 2021 June 10, 2021 at 1159PM EDT. (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 $700,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 11 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA FAS 10620 0762 10 21 0001

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