African Innovation Challenge Fund (African ICF) 2008

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July 22, 2008

African Innovation Challenge Fund (African ICF)

Second RIU Call for Proposals – Innovation Challenge Fund: Phase 2 Africa

Deadline: 1st Sep 2008

The purpose of the African Innovation Challenge Fund (African ICF) is to provide financial support to teams so they can take promising research, funded by DFID, to the next stage of use. The selected initiatives will contribute to RIU’s purpose by delivering significant use of RNRRS and other natural resources research outputs for the benefit (direct or indirect) of poor men and women in different contexts.

The first RIU call issued in 2007 focused on target countries in S and S.E. Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam) and the response demonstrated that there were many entry points for scaling up RNRRS research knowledge. However the subsequent lesson learning study on the Asian challenge fund process indicated that, the scope of the call may have been too broad, creating wide expectations which the challenge fund was unable to fulfill. The RIU management team have therefore decided to focus the Africa call on two key elements which we feel are critical in getting research into use and from which lessons can be drawn for decision makers. These two elements are 1) novel communication methods and 2) public-private partnerships which can stimulate the use of natural resource technologies and processes produced by DFID research activities for the benefit of large numbers of people.

More information on these focal areas and the context of the African ICF can be found in the guidance notes (available in English and in French)

The RIU Innovation Challenge Fund Africa will focus on the following countries in sub Saharan Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, S.Africa, Senegal, Mali and Niger (Total 10 countries).

Other countries in Africa e.g. Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria are involved in RIU country programmes under another RIU component –component 1.2- Enhancing Demand. To avoid duplication of effort these six countries are not the primary focus of the African ICF. They may be considered for funding where regional initiatives exist but we stress that in this call we wish to focus on the ten countries which have been highlighted above.

The guidance notes and application forms are available in English and French, although we kindly request that applications are submitted in English to assist selection procedures.

Any questions or queries should be directed to the RIU Grants and Policy co-ordinator Lucy Nickoll L.nickoll@nrint.co.uk

Closing date for submission of Concept Notes: Monday, 1st September, 12 noon (GMT+1)

Application and Further Information

Scholarship Tags: African, Challenge, Fund, ICF, Innovation