Call for research proposals to develop climate-resilient and sustainable interventions in crop, livestock and fisheries value chains

Who can apply

• Public agricultural research institutions
• Universities and other academic institutions
• Private-sector organisations
• Non-governmental organisations
• Civil society organisations
• Other actors within Uganda’s National Agricultural Research System (NARS)
• Individuals with proven capacity to use science to generate solutions or exploit opportunities

Focus areas

• Climate-resilient coffee value chains
• Capture fisheries
• Beneficial insects for food and feed
• Agri-climate advisory models
• Climate-smart agriculture
• Agricultural productivity
• Market access
• Food-system resilience
• Climate-resilient technologies
• Technology commercialisation
• Sustainable production models
• Fisheries health and productivity
• Water pollution management in fisheries
• Fish feed and value addition
• Climate and commodity data systems

Requirements

• The applicant must be an eligible actor within Uganda’s National Agricultural Research System.
• The lead applicant or Principal Investigator must be a researcher.
• The lead PI must have at least a master’s degree.
• The lead PI must have at least five years of active full-time research experience.
• A PhD is an added advantage.
• The lead PI must have proven capacity and a track record of managing similar projects.
• A certificate of project completion signed by a previous funder may be used as evidence of project-management experience.
• The proposal must address one of the specific thematic areas in this call.
• The proposal must not exceed five pages.
• Applications must be submitted in English.
• The proposal should demonstrate innovation, clear project design, a theory of change, appropriate research-team competencies and sustainability of impact.
• The proposal must address Uganda’s climate-smart agriculture objectives and relevant national development priorities.
• Environmental and social safeguards, gender and equity must be integrated into the project design.
• A realistic risk-management plan must be included.
• Female-led applications and applications involving female researchers are strongly encouraged.

Application steps

• Review the official NARO call and the Competitive Research Grant implementation requirements.
• Select one of the eligible thematic areas.
• Identify an eligible Principal Investigator meeting the academic and research-experience requirements.
• Develop a maximum five-page research proposal.
• Clearly define the problem, objectives, methodology, innovation and expected results.
• Include a theory of change, monitoring and evaluation approach and sustainability strategy.
• Demonstrate relevance to Uganda’s Climate Smart Agricultural Transformation Project and national development priorities.
• Integrate gender, equity, environmental and social safeguards and risk management.
• Prepare the required supporting documents in accordance with the NARO CRG requirements.
• Prepare the proposal in English in both PDF and editable Microsoft formats.
• Email the proposal and supporting documents to dg@naro.go.ug, copying researchcoordination@naro.go.ug and grants@naro.go.ug.
• Submit no later than 14 September 2026 at 5:00 PM.