USAID calls for applications for an Agribusiness Development Activity project with Deadline: April 1, 2022, the U.S. Embassy oto Tashkent said.
Project Overview
The USAID Agribusiness Development Activity (hereinafter “Project”) is a five-year (July 2020 – June 2025) project that follows a market systems development approach to: (1) increase the competitiveness of agribusinesses by introducing new value added technologies and management practices in the production, postharvest handling, processing, and marketing of agricultural commodities; (2) empower women and youth with the skills and knowledge to secure skilled positions within local businesses and startup their own businesses; (3) link academia with the private sector to improve curricula and target academic research to meet the needs of agribusinesses; (4) strengthen and diversify agriculture extension services; and (5) design and improve policies to promote the growth and development of Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector.
Agribusiness Applied Research Initiatives Support Program
The Project aims to support the establishment of linkages between academic research institutions and the private sector to jointly address the growth and development needs of Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector. The Project intends to select researchers and/or research teams to conduct applied research that will provide evidence-based solutions to problems and challenges currently faced by agribusinesses, farmers, and other agricultural sector actors in Uzbekistan.
The Project seeks applications from qualified applicants to conduct research and produce research papers for publication in academic journals and also could be included in the curriculum at Uzbek education institutions and/or disseminated to private sector agribusinesses. The Project seeks applications that request funding of up to UZS 30,000,000. Upon selection and signing agreements with researchers/research teams, the Project will provide each researcher/research team with UZS 10,000,000 to commence the applied research as stipulated in the agreements. Once the research paper has been submitted to and approved by the Project, the researcher/research team will receive from the Project an additional UZS 20,000,000.
Eligibility
Applicants may submit their applications as individual researchers or as research teams. This call for applications is designed to support Uzbekistan’s research community and therefore, only citizens of Uzbekistan will be eligible for participation in this program. The Project will consider applicants from all academic disciplines, who express interest in conducting practical research to provide solutions to problems and challenges currently faced by agribusinesses, farmers, and/or agritourism sector stakeholders in Uzbekistan. The Project highly encourages female researchers and female research teams to submit applications in response to this call for applications.
Application
Applicants shall submit their documents electronically to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with “Applied Research Initiatives Support Program” in the subject line. The application shall be signed by the researcher or by the principal investigator of the research team. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, as they are received. The concept paper application form will be evaluated against the following merit review criteria:
| Merit Review Category | Score (Points) |
| Practical Relevance: proposed research topic will provide feasible and practical solutions that will address the current problems and challenges faced by agribusinesses, farmers, and/or agriculture sector actors, including potential impact scale on the sector/subsector | 50 |
| Scholarly Contribution: how the study will contribute to its academic field and/or will be incorporated in academic curricula and/or will be relevant for dissemination to the private sector | 30 |
| Research and Academic Background: demonstration of past experience in conducting research, preferably evidence-based studies | 20 |
| Overall Score | 100 |
- Practical Relevance. Applicants are expected to identify specific problems and challenges faced by private sector agribusinesses, farmers, agritourism actors, and/or other agricultural sector actors and propose research objectives aimed at providing practical solutions to their problems and challenges. Applicants are expected to provide a clear description of the existing problem(s)/challenge(s) they aim to address in their research paper which can be supported with primary data. (50 points)
- Scholarly Contribution. This merit review category rates to what extent the research paper will make a significant contribution to the existing literature in the area of the study, and if it will benefit students and faculty at educational institutions and/or will serve the needs of the private sector. (30 points)
- Academic and Research Background. This merit review category rates applicants’ past history of academic publications. (20 points)
Applications must include:
Abstract: Abstract should not exceed 500 words and shall contain the following: title, research objective, methodology, keywords. Word count should be indicated. The potential list of journals for publication should be provided, if known.
CVs: CVs of the researcher/research team should include a list of publications.
Applications and papers must be produced and submitted only in English.
For this call for applications, the Project anticipates selecting up to five (5) researchers and/or research teams to sign agreements to conduct research and produce research papers.
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