The Trellis Fund is financing up to 12 projects in 2013. It believes in supporting small organizations in developing countries especially those which are often excluded from grant opportunities. It is inviting these organizations to apply for grants and also benefit from sharing of skills.
The Trellis Fund is part of the Horticulture Collaborative Research Support (Horticulture CRSP) at the University of California. It is sponsored by the USAID.
The goal of the Horticulture CRSP Trellis Fund is to link graduate students in the United States to agricultural NGOs/universities/government agencies and graduate students in developing countries through a unique funding structure. The Trellis Fund will enable the host organizations to conduct adaptive research and extend horticultural information to local farmers and build the capacity of graduate students in the United States and developing countries. Proposals can address horticultural production (including irrigation and fertilization), pest management, postharvest, nutrition or marketing problems that face local farmers. Proposals can also address related social and economic processes.
The host organization will complete and submit a proposal that includes the type of expertise they seek in a U.S. graduate student, the project goals, activities and gender equity program. Proposed projects may be stand‐alone interventions or part of broader project. Upon selection, Horticulture CRSP will match the proposal with a U.S. graduate student.
The Trellis Fund will finance up to 12 projects in 2013. It will support the host organization’s farmer outreach program with a $2,000 contract. The host organization can use the funds to pay for educational materials, demonstration plots, transportation costs, and to provide honoraria to the host organization staff for conducting adaptive research and extending new information to farmers. The Trellis Fund will also pay fellowships to U.S. graduate students to cover their travel expenses to visit with the host organization and for corresponding with the host organization via email. The graduate student will be required to travel to visit the host organization for 1‐2 weeks to meet his/her project partners and the clientele farmers. Whenever possible, Trellis Fund projects should also include a local university student in order to promote cross‐cultural partnerships between developing professionals.
The focus countries include: Uganda, Senegal, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Zambia, Ghana, Honduras, Tajikistan, Rwanda, Liberia, Haiti, Nepal, Kenya, Cambodia, Malawi, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania.
The deadline to submit proposals is 4 March 2013. For more information, visit this link.
