Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement (LRP) Program | USDA FAS LRP 18

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS LRP 18

The Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement (LRP) Program is a discretionary grant opportunity run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifically through the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), under CFDA number 10.612. It is offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally means USDA-FAS expects ongoing coordination with the recipient during implementation rather than a hands-off pass-through award. The program sits at the intersection of agriculture, education, and broader food-assistance and development work, with an emphasis on strengthening food systems while meeting immediate nutrition needs in partner countries.

At its core, LRP funding is meant to support field-based food assistance projects carried out in a foreign country by allowing recipients to procure food closer to where it will be distributed. Grant funds can be used to purchase eligible commodities locally or regionally, which can reduce delivery times compared to shipping food from distant markets and can help align food assistance with local dietary preferences and market conditions. Beyond the commodity purchases themselves, the program also supports related activities that improve the availability and reliability of commodity supply in developing countries, along with administrative and operational costs necessary to run the project on the ground. In practice, that can include the management, logistics, monitoring, and other implementation costs that are directly tied to carrying out a field-based food assistance program.

USDA-FAS indicates that it may give funding preference to eligible entities that already have, or are actively working toward, projects under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. That preference signals an interest in implementers with relevant experience in school feeding, child nutrition, and related education-linked food assistance, as well as organizations that can coordinate across programs or build on existing McGovern-Dole efforts.

Applications under this opportunity are specifically prioritized for Guatemala, Honduras, Malawi, and Senegal. While proposals may not be limited exclusively to those locations depending on the full eligibility rules and the year-specific notice, the language clearly indicates that those countries are at the top of the review and selection priorities for this round of funding.

Programmatically, the LRP Program is described as primarily focused on development-oriented food assistance rather than short-term relief alone. That means projects are expected to aim at longer-lasting outcomes such as improved food availability, strengthened supply chains, better market functioning, and more sustainable access to nutritious foods. At the same time, the governing rule also allows for the furnishing of food assistance through an emergency response mechanism (cited as 7 CFR 1590), meaning LRP can be used in crisis contexts when structured as a field-based project rather than a one-off shipment. Whether focused on development or emergency needs, projects funded under this opportunity must be field-based and have a defined duration of at least one year and no more than two years.

From an award structure standpoint, the notice lists an award ceiling of $4,000,000 and anticipates approximately four awards. The opportunity was created on May 9, 2018, with an original application closing date of June 22, 2018. Eligibility is listed broadly as “Others,” which typically means the detailed eligibility criteria are provided in the full funding notice and may include certain types of non-profits, international organizations, universities, cooperatives, or other entities that meet USDA-FAS requirements and demonstrate the capacity to implement overseas food assistance activities under a cooperative agreement.

Overall, this opportunity is designed for organizations that can run multi-month, on-the-ground food assistance projects overseas, procure food commodities locally or regionally in a compliant manner, and manage the operational realities of implementation while contributing to stronger local or regional food supply systems. The strongest applications are likely those that can clearly justify why local or regional procurement is appropriate for the target setting, show credible operational capacity and compliance readiness, and align with USDA-FAS priorities, including the country focus areas and potential linkage to McGovern-Dole-related experience.

• The Department of Agriculture, Capacity Building and Development Food Assistance in the agriculture, education, other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement (LRP) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.612.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 09, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 22, 2018. (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 $4,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA FAS LRP 18

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