USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Competitive Grants Program is sponsored by USDA. Funds research, education, and extension projects to improve rural economies, increase food production, and address food waste.

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) | NIFA The lifecycle of grants and cooperative agreements consists of four phases: Pre-Award, Award, Post-Award, and Close Out. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is committed to serving its stakeholders, Congress, and the public by using new technologies to advance greater openness.

The Data Gateway enables users to find funding data, metrics, and information about research, education, and Extension projects that have received grant awards from NIFA. This website houses a large volume of supporting materials. In this section, you can search the wide range of documents, videos, and other resources.

Veterinary Services Grant Program Technical Assistance Webinar NIFA staff will hold a Technical Assistance Webinar to discuss the Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) Notice of Funding Opportunity. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture provides leadership and funding for programs that advance agriculture-related sciences.

Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is the nation’s leading competitive grants program for agricultural sciences.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awards AFRI research, education, and extension grants to improve rural economies, increase food production, stimulate the bioeconomy, mitigate impacts of climate variability, address water availability issues, ensure food safety and security, enhance human nutrition, and train the next generation of the agricultural workforce.

AFRI was established by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill and re-authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill. The program was re-authorized to be funded at $700 million a year. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 funds AFRI at $445.

2 million. NIFA provides AFRI grants to support research, education and extension activities in six Farm Bill priority areas: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities.

AFRI-funded science is vital to meeting food, fiber, and fuel demands as the world’s population races toward a projected 10 billion by 2050 concomitant with diminishing land and water resources and increasingly variable climatic conditions. In addition, AFRI programs help develop new technologies and a workforce that will advance our national security, our energy self-sufficiency, and the health of Americans.

NIFA’s policies for accepting late applications are available at https://nifa. usda. gov/resource/late-application-consideration .

If your application is delayed for a valid extenuating circumstances, please let the program contact listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) know about the potential delay and submit all the required documentation after your application had been submitted to us. NIFA will consider your request at that time based on the information provided.

NIFA’s AFRI funding portfolio includes both single- and multi-function research, education, and extension grants that address key problems of national, regional, and multi-state importance.

AFRI-funded projects sustain all components of agriculture, including farm efficiency and profitability, ranching, renewable energy, forestry (both urban and agroforestry), aquaculture, rural communities and entrepreneurship, human nutrition, food safety, biotechnology, and conventional breeding. These projects also create jobs and help develop the next generation of agriculture and food scientists.

AFRI-funded integrated projects must include at least two of the three functions of agriculture knowledge – research, education, and extension – to ensure delivery of science-based knowledge to people, allowing them to make informed practical decisions. In addition to Standard grants, the AFRI portfolio includes Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAP) and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement ( FASE ) grants.

CAP grants are large, multi-million dollar projects that often involve multiple institutions. FASE grants help institutions become more competitive and attract new scientists and educators to careers in high-priority areas of agriculture.

NIFA makes grants for high priority research, education, and extension, taking into consideration the determinations made by the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board.

Subject to the availability of appropriations to carry out the AFRI program, the Secretary may award grants to state agricultural experiment stations; colleges (including community colleges) and universities; university research foundations; other research institutions and organizations; federal agencies; national laboratories; private organizations or corporations; individuals; or any group consisting of two or more of the aforementioned entities.

Each grant program has its own unique set of requirements, the details of which are available within specific Requests for Applications in Part I, C. See the list of available AFRI NOFOs.

2022 NIFA APHIS Program Priorities 2022 NIFA AFRI Foundational and Applied Science NOFO Partnership Opportunity 2021 AFRI New Investigators Webinar Series History of USDA EPSCoR States Integrated Programs Application Information AFRI Notices of Funding Opportunity Resources Partnership with the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) AFRI FASE & EPSCoR Program State Agricultural Experiment Stations AFRI Foundational and Applied Science FY23 NOFO Technical Assistance Webinars AFRI 2021-2022 Annual Review AFRI 2022-2023 Annual Review Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Foundational and Applied Science Program NSF - NIFA Plant Biotic Interactions Program AFRI Strengthening Agricultural Systems Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases National Robotics Initiative: 2.

0: Ubiquitous Collaborative Robots (NRI-2. 0) Food and Nutrition Security Page last updated: February 27, 2026 Your feedback is important to us.