Food for Education | USDA FAS 0700 10608 S

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS 0700 10608 S

The Food for Education grant opportunity is offered under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifically through the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), as part of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (CFDA 10.608). It is a discretionary funding opportunity that uses a cooperative agreement structure, meaning USDA-FAS remains meaningfully involved in the project during implementation rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back. The overall purpose of the program is to reduce hunger and improve education outcomes in low-income, food-deficit countries by linking food assistance with school attendance and learning, with a strong emphasis on improving literacy and educational access for girls.

At its core, the McGovern-Dole program supports school feeding and related education activities by donating U.S. agricultural commodities and pairing those commodities with financial and technical assistance. The program is designed to help countries improve food security, reduce the incidence of hunger, and strengthen primary education systems. In addition to school-based programming, it also supports maternal, infant, and child health and nutrition interventions that target pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and young children up to age five. This reflects the program's broader child nutrition mission, recognizing that early-life nutrition and maternal health have direct impacts on learning, school readiness, and long-term development.

A key structural requirement embedded in the program is the inclusion of a "graduation" plan, as required by the legislation authorizing McGovern-Dole. In practice, this generally refers to a transition strategy that helps ensure benefits and program functions can be sustained locally over time, such as shifting responsibility to host governments, communities, or other systems once external assistance tapers down. The expectation is that supported countries and implementing partners build capacity and develop pathways for continuity rather than creating indefinite reliance on donated commodities or external operational support.

This particular Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is focused less on launching brand-new projects and more on providing additional support to existing, active McGovern-Dole agreements. The stated funding priority is to add freight, commodity, and/or administrative resources to ongoing programs when circumstances have created shortfalls or disruptions. The announcement highlights several common reasons additional funding may be needed, including natural disasters, lower-than-expected proceeds from monetization (where allowed under a program design), unexpected freight-rate changes, political instability that delays key activities and timelines, breaks in the commodity pipeline that interrupt school feeding, and losses of commodities. In other words, the funding is intended to stabilize and keep existing program delivery on track when external conditions threaten continuity.

From the opportunity details provided, the award ceiling is listed at up to $5,000,000, with an expected number of awards around 10. The opportunity was originally posted on April 22, 2020, with an original closing date of August 1, 2020. Eligibility is summarized as "Others" with additional clarification expected in the full eligibility section of the official notice, which typically means the program may be open to specific categories of organizations such as non-profits, NGOs, international organizations, or other qualified entities involved in implementing McGovern-Dole agreements, depending on the exact criteria in the full NOFO.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as targeted, problem-solving funding for active McGovern-Dole projects that are facing logistical, cost, or operational pressures. It reinforces the program's central goals: using school meals and related support to improve attendance and learning, advancing literacy (particularly for girls), addressing hunger and food insecurity, and supporting maternal and early childhood nutrition for improved long-term outcomes.

• The Department of Agriculture, McGovern-Dole Food for Education 10.608 in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Food for Education" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.608.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 22, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 01, 2020. (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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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