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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) is making available $2.5 million for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) grants. The agency expects the amount of each award to range from $100,000 to $250,000 and there is no cost-sharing requirement with this grant. The deadline to apply is March 10, 2025.

Who is eligible to apply?

• County Governments
• Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)
• Special district governments
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• City or township governments
• Independent school districts
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)

What are the goals and objectives of this program?

• To support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production to any of the eligible entities.
• To improve access to local foods in areas where access to fresh, healthy food is limited or unavailable through urban and/or innovative agricultural practices, including, but not limited to, community gardens, urban farms, rooftop farms, urban agroforests, food forests, orchards, outdoor vertical production, green walls, indoor farms, controlled environment agricultural production, greenhouses, high-tech vertical technology farms, and hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic farm facilities.
• To support multiple farmers or gardeners, impacting underserved areas that are lacking access to fresh, healthy foods, and promoting urban and/or innovative agricultural practices with planning and implementation activities.

What are some examples for eligible grant activities?

Examples of eligible activities are separated into the two funding types, planning and implementation grants, and are as follows.  

Planning activities could support one or more of the following:

• Assessments of underserved community needs within the local food system to identify how food is grown, distributed, or marketed and what existing needs related to food access, nutrition education, conservation, and economic development can be addressed by urban and/or innovative agriculture.
• Planning activities and community partnerships to improve how food is grown, distributed, or marketed in the target area using urban and/or innovative agriculture.
• Business planning, feasibility studies, and other strategies, such as community resource development.
• Policy development to make municipal policies and zoning laws in the target area more supportive of the needs of urban and/or innovative agriculture.
• Creating educational materials and programs that will increase knowledge about food and agriculture and encourage careers in agriculture and innovative production in the impacted community; example topics include nutrition, crop and biology science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
• Ensuring safe growing conditions (e.g., soil tests, environmental assessments).

Implementation activities could support one or more of the following:

• Increasing food production in small, urban, and/or controlled environment spaces, which may include emerging or innovative technology such as hydroponics, aquaponics, vertical farming, indoor, rooftop, etc.
• Promoting agricultural businesses through job training and providing resources to help underserved communities access land and equipment, mentoring, and other assistance to beginning farmers in the local community.
• Implementation of best practices to address food access, zoning, compost, land access, soil health, emerging technologies, infrastructure needs (such as access to water and utilities) at the State, county, local, municipal, or school level to meet the needs of target community and local agricultural producers.
• Educating the impacted community about food systems, nutrition, agricultural production, and environmental impacts
• Operating community gardens or nonprofit farms that offer hands-on training in farming or gardening through virtual or web-based formats.
• Providing schools (K-12) with educational resources or programs that increase student knowledge of and access to locally grown foods, emphasize the importance of consuming nutritious and locally grown foods, and train students for careers in agriculture or innovative production.

What are the funding levels for this grant?

The agency expects the amount of each award to range from $100,000 to $250,000 and there is no cost-sharing requirement with this grant. There is $2.5 million in total funding available.

What is the application timeline?

Applications are due on March 10, 2025 by 11:59pm EST.
The project must be 24 months in duration with the agency anticipating selections by July 1, 2025 and execution of awards by September 30, 2025.

The full Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO) can be found here.

For more information on this grant or how to apply with Morrison’s assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530-893-4764.