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Healthy Communities Grants Webinar

July 12, 2024

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Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production

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OUAIP Mission

Community Gardens and Farms

Rooftop farms, vertical production, green walls

Hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponics

Indoor farms, greenhouses

Food waste reduction

Composting

usda.gov/urban

The Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (also referred to as OUAIP) is leading the way in the department to promote availability of programs for all sizes and types of operations.

The office was authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill to encourage and promote urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural practices.
There has been a recognition that USDA has not been fully present to serve urban and innovative stakeholders, and the Office was created to close that gap.

Our mission is to support the range of production viewed on this slide. From community gardens and urban farms to rooftop gardens; we work across agencies and offices to support the next generation of agriculture including, indoor farms and vertical technology farms, hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.
Finally, an important component of our work is composting and food waste reduction. Both of which divert food waste from landfills; but also, compost is an essential amendment to build up soil quality, and food waste reduction ensures all the energy put into the food we eat, is beneficial to people.

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OUAIP Responsibilities

OUAIP

Federal Advisory Committee

Composting & Food Waste Reduction

Urban Agriculture & Innovative Production Grants

People’s Garden Initiative

USDA Coordination

External Engagement

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Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) Grants

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Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Grants

Provide access to food in areas where it is limited or unavailable.

Proposals must be designed to support multiple farmers or gardeners

No partner match required.

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UAIP Applicant Eligibility

Nonprofit organizations with or without 503(c)(3) status
Unit of local governments
Tribal governments
Any school serving grades K-12

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UAIP Project Types

The two types of UAIP grants available are Planning Projects and Implementation Projects. Below are example activities that can be funded.

Planning Example Activities	Implementation Example Activities
Surveys Assessments Technology development Design and planning Developing recommendations and strategies Creating business plans Feasibility studies Municipal planning regarding policies and zoning Producing educational material Developing strategies to eliminate food waste	Job training Mentoring Business development assistance Increasing food production Training students for careers in agriculture Expanding operations of community gardens or nonprofit farms Production of compost

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UAIP Across the Country

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Composting and Food Waste Reduction (CFWR) Agreements

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Composting and Food Waste Reduction Agreements

CFWR provides funding to develop and test strategies for food waste reduction and composting

Projects can be in all community types including rural, urban and suburban.

25% Match Required (can be in-kind)

Cross-cutting partnerships

Composting and Food Waste Reduction Agreements or CFWR provides funding to local governments, schools and tribal governments to develop and test strategies for planning and implementing compost plans and food waste reduction plans.

Projects can be in all community types including rural, urban and suburban. Proposal must address at least one of the following:

Produce compost
Improve soil quality
Increase rainwater absorption
Reduce municipal food waste
Divert food waste from landfills
Increase access to compost for agricultural producers
Reduce reliance on, and limit the use of fertilizer
Encourage waste management and permaculture business development

As the slide indicates 25% match is required, which can include in-kind contributions.

Finally, under CFWR, OUAIP is engaging in concerted efforts to bring together private producers and their local governments to identify food waste solutions. Fostering connections between sectors like controlled environment agriculture, urban agriculture, and municipal waste management has resulted in a number of public-private dialogs that have the potential to sustainably transform local food systems.

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CFWR Applicant Eligibility

Unit of local government
School districts
Tribal governments

Phoenix, AZ

Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK

Knoxville, TN

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CFWR Priorities

Priority will be given to pilot projects that:

Show economic benefits in the community.
Make compost more accessible to agricultural producers.
Include food waste reduction strategies.
Incorporate strategic partnerships.

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CFWR Across the Country

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USDA Resources

Urban Agriculture at a Glance	Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Newsletter	Innovative Production Webpage	People's Garden brochure

usda.gov/urban

farmers.gov/urban

usda.gov/peoples-garden

usda.gov/topics/urban/ innovative-production

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Conservation Innovation Grants

Cheryl Rice, RCPP and CIG Coordinator – Ohio NRCS

USDA is An Equal Opportunity Provider, Employer and Lender

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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Conservation Innovation Grants

to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies

Update and adjust current NRCS Standards and Specifications to conservation practices

Push conservation in ag forward for all users

Bridge from solid idea to field scale adoption

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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Define innovation

Novel
Under-adopted (geography)
Addressing barriers (resource, technology based)
Ag Industry need that is not being addressed by current conservation practices due to a lack of needed information/data/proof of concept

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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State Natural Resource Targets (Ohio)

Climate Smart Agriculture – climate resilience
Urban Agriculture
Water Quality – sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen, etc.
Soil Health – compaction, organic matter, soil biology, etc.
Sustainable forestry-based ecosystems

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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Eligibility

To apply you must:

Be a U.S.-based non-Federal entities (NFE)
Or an individual

(Federal agencies are not eligible)

CIG Participating Producers must:

Meet the EQIP conservation program eligibility requirements
Cannot be provided for a conservation practice or activity for which the producer has already received funds through any USDA conservation program

No duplicate payments with other conservation program participation

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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CIG – Conservation Innovation Grant (state)

State decides amount of annual offering
State decides natural resource targets
Ohio has decided at a maximum of $300,000 and a minimum of $50,000 total project budget
1:1 match required* - 50% budget federal, 50% non-federal

*Can be waived or reduced for Historically Underserved projects

1-3 year projects
Applications submitted in Grants.gov
Projects administered in ezFedGrants

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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CIG – Conservation Innovation Grant (national)

National headquarters decides amount of annual offering
National headquarters decides natural resource targets
NHQ has decided at a maximum of $2M and a minimum of $300,000 total project budget
1:1 match required* - 50% budget federal, 50% non-federal

*Can be waived or reduced for Historically Underserved projects

1-3 year projects
Applications submitted in NRCS Programs Portal
Projects administered in ezFedGrants

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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CIG Basics

Funding restrictions

What can we help pay for

Demonstrate, evaluate, and verify the effectiveness, utility, affordability, and usability of natural resource conservation technologies and approaches in the field; and,

Must have a project evaluation component

Adapt and transfer conservation technologies, management, practices, systems, approaches, and incentive systems to improve performance and encourage adoption.

Must have a technology transfer component

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

Funding Restrictions

Funds may not be used to pay any of the following costs unless otherwise permitted by law

and approved in writing by the agency in advance of incurring such costs

a. Profit and management fees. Any funds awarded to for-profit entities must be used

for reimbursement of award related direct and indirect costs only.

b. Costs above the amount of funds authorized for the project.

c. Costs incurred prior to the effective date of the award, including time spent applying

for this opportunity.

d. Costs which lie outside the scope of the approved project and amendments thereto.

e. Entertainment costs, regardless of their apparent relationship to project objectives.

f. Compensation for injuries to persons, or damage to property arising out of project

activities.

g. Consulting services performed by a Federal employee during official duty hours

when such consulting services result in the payment of additional compensation to

the employee.

h. Capital expenditures for general purpose equipment, buildings, and land and for

improvements to land, buildings, or equipment which materially increase their value

or useful life. See 2 CFR 200.439 for additional information.

i. Meals may be charged to an award only if they are necessary for the performance of

the project. For instance, meals (normally only lunch) that are a necessary part of the

costs of meetings and conferences (i.e., required attendance and continuity of a

meeting), the primary purpose of which is the dissemination of information, are

allowable, as are costs of transportation, rental of facilities, speakers’ fees, and other

items incidental to such meetings or conferences. Note: Meals consumed while in

official travel status do not fall in this category. They are considered to be per diem

expenses and should be reimbursed in accordance with the organization’s established

travel policies subject to statutory limitations or in accordance with Federal travel

policies.

j. Costs normally charged as indirect costs may not be charged as direct costs without

proper justification and agency approval. Proper justification includes

documentation that the costs meet the criteria for allowability (see 2 CFR 200.403).

Examples of such costs include rent, utilities, depreciation on buildings and

equipment, the costs of operating and maintaining facilities, and general

administration and general expenses, such as the salaries and expenses of executive

officers, personnel administration, and accounting.

k. Salaries that are not commensurate with level of work. All costs must be reasonable

to be allowable (2 CFR 200.403), and 2 CFR 200.404 defines a reasonable cost as

one if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a

prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made

to incur the cost. Salaries determined not to be reasonable compared to the level of

work will be unallowable.

l. Software produced by non-domestic entities. Project budgets must not include costs

(both Federal costs and cost-share) for software developed by non-domestic entities

if it will be utilized by the Federal government or hosted on Federal systems.

m. Refer to Section D for applicable indirect cost restrictions, if any.

This list is not exhaustive. For additional information please refer to 2 CFR Part 200,

subpart E, Cost Principals.

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CIG Basics

Review selection process:

Applications will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of the notice.
Technical peer review panels composed of subject matter experts evaluate the proposals. Proposals are evaluated against the CIG Proposal Merit Criteria.
The technical peer review panels forward their recommendations to the State Conservationist.
The State Conservationist makes the final award selections based on the recommendations of the peer review panels.
Grants and Agreements Division does administrative and risk reviews
Final awards are signed.

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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CIG Basics

Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified via email.
Unsuccessful applications will receive a summary of reviewer comments and feedback
Expect to begin projects in a few months after selections are made
No spending can occur on a selected project until a FULLY executed Grant document is in place

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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Online Resources

Grant posted on Grants.gov – here
CIG database of past projects – success stories
Grantee Resources – includes a grantee guide, form templates and examples
SAM.gov
CIG Website
CIG and Historically Underserved

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

Groups are defined by the USDA as “Historically Underserved” (HU) because these groups have been historically underserved by USDA. To work toward righting historical wrongs, a variety of USDA programs provide special advantages to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners that fall into one of the groups below, which are included in the USDA’s HU definition.

Beginning Farmer or Rancher – new to farming or ranching, or, has operated a farm or ranch for less than 10-consecutive years.

Socially Disadvantaged Farmer or Rancher – a member of a group whose members have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of that group without regard to their individual qualities.

These include:

American Indians or Alaskan Natives
Asians
Blacks or African Americans
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders
Hispanics

Veteran Farmer or Rancher – has served in the armed forces and has not operated a farm or ranch, has operated a farm or ranch for less than 10-consecutive years, or first obtained veteran status during the last 10 years.

For the CIG Classic program, the following groups are eligible to apply to the HU set aside: (1) historically underserved producers; (2) community-based organizations comprised of or representing historically underserved producers; and, (3) entities proposing projects that involve historically underserved producers and for which the benefits of the project flow entirely to historically underserved producers.

For the On-Farm Trials competition, substantive inclusion of HU producers is given priority consideration as part of the proposal evaluation criteria.

Limited Resource Farmer or Rancher – has a household income at or below the national poverty level (for a family of 4) or less than 50% of the county median household income.

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USDA Non-Discrimination Statement

USDA prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex (including gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation), reprisal, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, or all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or is any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities).

Cheryl Rice�Cheryl.rice@usda.gov�740-396-3855

oh.nrcs.usda.gov/

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330-400-5350

121 South Main Street, Suite 107

Akron, OH 44308

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