2023 Scientific Exchange Program – African Animal Feed and Fertilizer Innovation

The CADI, funded through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) and the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, supports a portfolio of projects in Eastern Europe (non-E.U.), the South Caucasus, and Central Asia. These projects are designed to make American agriculture safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Specifically, the portfolio seeks to prevent and remove trade barriers for U.S. agricultural exports and support U.S. exporters and trading partners. Collectively, the portfolio is working to:• Add over $622 million to the U.S. economy by removing trade barriers.• Contribute an additional $312 million to the U.S. economy through direct support to American exporters and trading partners.• Avoid over $50 billion in potential economic harm to the U.S. economy by preventing lost market access due to the spread of livestock contagions to the United States and new trade barriers.The awardee will conduct original basic and applied research that will focus on advancing a trade agenda that benefits America’s ranchers, farmers, and producers.Through this applied research, the awardee will:• Provide throughout the period of performance actionable recommendations to help achieve the CADI portfolio’s targets.• Track the portfolio’s attributable accomplishments toward these trade outcomes, including the development of U.S. county-level impact estimates.DELIVERABLES1. Final report on the recipient’s research to quantify the CADI portfolio’s direct economic impact on American farmers;2. Annual economic impact report that quantifies the CADI portfolio’s direct economic impact on American farmers. This report will specifically analyze the CADI’s portfolio of projects’ progress toward achieving the following targets:a. Armenia:i. Add $92,851,795 to the U.S. economy by increasing the sale of 200,000 MT U.S. wheat (40k MT sold once per year, for 5 years) through technical assistance to trading partners.ii. Add $2,197,937 to the U.S. economy by increasing U.S. exports to Armenia by 5% using short-term training and technical assistance to remove food safety-related technical barriers to trade.b. Georgia:i. Add $92,851,795 to the U.S. economy by facilitating the sale of 200,000 MT U.S. wheat (40k MT sold once per year, for 5 years) through technical assistance to trading partners.ii. Add $15,443,458 to the U.S. economy by increasing the U.S. market share of the Georgian poultry market by 1.1% over 5 years through short-term agricultural trade promotion and technical assistance.iii. Add $892,190 to the U.S. economy by facilitating $433,102 in the export of U.S. aquaculture inputs short-term agricultural trade promotion and technical assistance.c. Kazakhstan:i. Contribute $28,000,000 to the U.S. economy by supporting 1,000,000 bushels of expanded market opportunity for U.S. wheat, per year for 5 years, through improved agricultural production data.d. Ukraine:i. Maintain $439,441,866 in U.S. economic activity by ensuring $224,994,460 in U.S. agricultural exports to Ukraine continue over 5 years by preventing new barriers to U.S. agricultural exports.ii. Protect $50,000,000 in damage to the U.S. economy by maintaining U.S. pork’s global market access by preventing the spread of African Swine Fever to the United States.iii. Catalyze $1,030,000 in U.S. economic activity by unlocking the Ukrainian livestock genetics market and facilitating $500,000 in U.S. livestock genetics exports through short-term agricultural trade promotion and technical assistance.iv. Add $31,135,852 to the U.S. economy by unlocking the Ukrainian purebred cattle market, and supporting U.S. exporters in achieving 50% market share for 5 years.v. Contribute $14,255,778 to the U.S. economy by supporting 250,000 bushels of expanded market opportunity for U.S. wheat, per year for 5 years, through improved agricultural production data.vi. Contribute $16,731,044 to the U.S. economy by supporting 250,000 bushels of expanded market opportunity for U.S. oilseeds, per year for 5 years, through improved agricultural production data.e. Uzbekistan:i. Add $9,177,352 to the U.S. economy by increasing U.S. market share of soybean exports by 5%, and sustain this market share for 5 years through short-term agricultural trade promotion and technical assistance.ii. Add $4,735,105 to the U.S. economy by increasing U.S. market share of distilled spirits exports by 6.2%, and sustaining that market share for 5 years through short-term agricultural trade promotion and technical assistance.3. A quarterly presentation to the USDA/FAS CADI management team on the CADI portfolio’s progress toward achieving America First trade targets, providing strategic recommendations to maximize outcomes for the benefit of American agriculture; and,4. Annually, provide at least one success story per country where CADI operates. Each story must include a detailed analysis of USDA/FAS accomplishments in one of the following areas:a. Preventing or removing trade barriersb. Assisting U.S. exporters and trading partnersAll work under this research program is unclassified. The awardee shall ensure that all information is safeguarded against unauthorized access. Any personnel performing work under this agreement who will have access to non-public information will require Public Trust (Moderate Risk) background investigations (also known as T2 background investigation) that will be issued by USDA prior to beginning work.The projected Period of Performance is from November 1, 2026 - September 31, 2028, with the possibility of an extension as described in Section 9.1.The work will require Temporary Duty Travel (TDY) to foreign and domestic locations that remain to be determined. A total of 4 one-week international TDYs to Eastern Europe (non-E.U.), the South Caucasus and Central Asia should be included in the budget, as well as four one-week domestic trips to locations to be determined. Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-FAS-10960-0700-109-26-0003. Assistance Listing: 10.960. Funding Instrument: G. Category: AG. Award Amount: Up to $333K per award.

The occurrence of insects as well as pesticide residuals can be significant barriers for U.S. horticultural exports. Each importing country can have unique phytosanitary and maximum residue limit (MRL) requirements, which creates operational and logistical challenges. To maximize return to growers, U.S. shippers need tools that can universally address all such requirements while maintaining product quality. Currently, tree nuts and many other durable specialty crops require fumigations or freezing, which are both expensive and create bottlenecks in marketing.More and more tree nut handlers are using a modified atmosphere (MA) or controlled atmosphere (CA) technology in which low-oxygen conditions (<1% by volume) are maintained during storage and/or in packaging. Low-oxygen conditions are known to control insect pests, leave no chemical residuals, and result in high quality products since the lipid oxidation that causes rancidity is markedly suppressed. While this approach is being used as a condition of sale, there is currently no efficient way for shippers to validate the low-oxygen conditions for customers, let alone importers with phytosanitary requirements for insect control. Technically and economically viable, verifiable, and preferably traceable technologies are critically needed before low-oxygen storage and packaging approaches can be used for export to most countries.Currently, the existing low-oxygen technologies do not incorporate digital mapping or official record-keeping during the packing or storage process, so there is no non-invasive manner to verify the oxygen content over time within the gas-impermeable liners and/or confirm seal integrity. This limits the ability to verify that a low-oxygen environment has been maintained at a specific oxygen level over a certain period of time, which would be necessary to ensure the conditions were met to act as a phytosanitary treatment. Counties such as India, Korea, and Japan require phytosanitary treatments, such as fumigation, for post-harvest pest management before many types of U.S. tree nuts can be imported into the countries. Additionally, buyers in other markets also request pest management treatments as a condition of sale in commercial transactions. Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-FAS-10621-0750-106-27-0001. Assistance Listing: 10.621. Funding Instrument: CA. Category: AG. Award Amount: Up to $2M per award.

The purpose of this combined Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 35 and Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 200.204 (henceforth referred to as “BAA”) is to solicit research proposals for submission to the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) for funding consideration. Prior to this announcement, ARL announced two separate BAAs to support the mission: 1) W911NF-17-S-0002 titled “Army Research Laboratory Army Research Office Broad Agency Announcement for Fundamental Research”; and 2) W911NF-17-S-0003 titled “Army Research Laboratory Broad Agency Announcement for Basic and Applied Scientific Research”. This announcement succeeds BAA W911NF-17-S-0002 and BAA W911NF-17-S-0003 combining the opportunities into a single announcement. ARL’s mission as the Army’s foundational research laboratory is to Operationalize Science to ensure overmatch in any future conflict. ARL’s foundational research mission spans basic research (budget activity 6.1) and applied research (budget activity 6.2) as defined by 32 CFR 22.105 but may include advanced technology development (budget activity 6.3) and advanced component development and prototypes (budget activity 6.4) when opportunities arise to directly or indirectly help achieve ARL’s mission. ARL partners across the national security enterprise to deliver fundamentally advantageous change that is rooted in the creation and exploitation of scientific knowledge. This publication constitutes a BAA for awards as contemplated in FAR 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016 as well as a merit-based, competitive procedure in accordance with the Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARS) at 32 CFR 22.315(a) and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Other Transaction Guide version 2.0 dated July 2023. This BAA document, and the online list of research topics found on the ARL BAA topics website at https://www.arl.devcom.army.mil/opportunities/arl-baa/, sets forth ARL’s research topics of interest for whitepapers and proposals. This BAA is issued under FAR 6.102(d)(2), which provides for the competitive selection of basic and applied research proposals, and 10 U.S.C. 4001, 10 U.S.C. 4021, and 10 U.S.C. 4022, which provide the authorities for issuing awards under this announcement for basic and applied research. The definitions of basic and applied research may be found at 32 CFR 22.105. Proposals submitted in response to this BAA and selected for award are considered to be the result of full and open competition and in full compliance with the provision of Public Law 98-369, “The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984” and subsequent amendments. Funding Opportunity Number: W911NF-23-S-0001. Assistance Listing: 12.431. Funding Instrument: CA,G,O,PC. Category: ST.

NIH Complement Animal Research in Experimentation NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge is sponsored by Department of Health and Human Services - National Institutes of Health. Recent technological advances have set the stage for a renewed focus on human-based solutions called new approach methodologies (NAMs) that can complement, and in some cases replace, animal models in research and regulatory testing. These NAMs generally span advanced cell-tissue-organoid ( in vitro ), computational modeling ( in silico ), and cell-free biochemical analysis ( in chemico ) techniques, with each type of NAM offering different advantages. A combination and integration of multiple NAMs elements into a synergistic approach that augments gaps and/or deficiencies in individual NAMs approaches is a “combinatorial NAM” and could ultimately allow for improved predictions of human clinical response. Although many combinatorial NAMs are still early in development, not validated and standardized, nor available to the market broadly, combinatorial NAMs can potentially transform the way biomedical research, drug development, and clinical trials are conducted. To accelerate development and validation of combinatorial NAMs for human-based scientific and regulatory purposes, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund’s Complement-Animal Research In Experimentation (Complement-ARIE) program in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is launching the Reduction to Practice (RTP) Challenge. This challenge invites innovative combinatorial NAMs solutions from multidisciplinary teams who can successfully demonstrate implementation of their human-based solution in a practical and usable form within a 3-year period. Solvers will have the chance to win up to $1,430,000 in cumulative cash prizes and have their solution provided validation and/or qualification support by the Complement-ARIE Validation and Qualification Network (VQN). This Challenge is open to the public. Participants and winners from the Complement-ARIE Ideation Challenge launched in November 2023 are also encouraged to apply. The Reduction to

The NSF National AI Research Institutes program (NSF 23-610) funds large multi-institution centers comprised of scientists, engineers, and educators united by a common focus on advancing the research frontiers in AI. Each AI Institute receives up to $20 million over 5 years to pursue transformational advances in a range of economic sectors and scientific fields, with the program seeking to build a broader nationwide network of AI research excellence. AI Research Institutes have as their primary focus the advancement of multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder research on larger-scale, longer-time-horizon challenges in AI. NSF announced $100 million for five new AI Research Institutes in 2026 in partnership with Capital One and Intel, continuing a program that has grown steadily since 2020: seven institutes in the first cohort, eleven added in 2021, seven more in 2023, two NSF-Simons astronomy institutes announced in September 2024 (each receiving $20 million), and the new 2026 cohort. The 2026 program emphasizes themes including AI for next-generation networks and computing, AI for materials and manufacturing, agentic AI, AI safety, and AI for science. Institutes must build genuine consortia with meaningful integration spanning three to ten partner institutions. Future solicitation cycles expected to continue with thematic focus areas announced annually.