FS4Africa Open Call 1
Strives to enhance food safety and security in African communities by supporting research and technology stakeholders in developing and implementing innovative solutions tailored to address specific challenges within the food system.
FS4Africa Open Call 1 (OC1) is an initiative aimed at improving food safety systems across Africa, specifically targeting the informal sector. The call seeks to provide financial support to research and technology stakeholders, such as start-ups, SMEs, and research organisations, to test, validate, and enhance business concepts and tools that contribute to the project's objectives.
Type of projects to be funded: Projects should involve testing, validating, and enhancing business concepts and tools or developing new ideas that align with FS4Africa's objectives and can be introduced to the market. The focus is on novel, practical solutions that address specific food safety challenges.
Sectors / domain: The primary sector is food safety, particularly within the African informal food sector.
Individual or consortium: The call accepts applications from single entities only; consortia are not allowed.
Specific eligibility requirements: Applicants must be legal entities established in eligible African countries (check list in the guidelines). They should not be existing members or affiliates of the FS4Africa project consortium.
Specific topics or challenges: proposed solutions must fit within one of the FS4Africa Use Cases (as described in the guidelines under section: Use Cases being developed within the FS4Africa project) or aim to address one of the following food safety challenges in Africa: food safety issues with weak value chain organisation; mycotoxin contamination; pesticide residues; microbial contamination; and food adulteration.
Projects duration: Each project is expected to last 12 months. The implementation period will be divided into 3 phases:
- Phase 1 - Design (3 months / February 2026 – April 2026): Payment of 30% of the total grant [Deliverable: Activity plan];
- Phase 2 - Development (6 months / May 2026 – October 2026): Payment of 50% of the total grant [Deliverable: Results demonstration];
- Phase 3 - Validation (3 months / November 2026 – January 2027): Payment of the final 20% of the total grant [Deliverable: Report on market or community associated activities].
Budget, funding rates and payment conditions:
Funding rate: 100%
Budget conditions / limitations: Each project can receive up to €60,000.
Payments: Payments are deliverable-based and divided into three phases: 30% upon design completion, 50% after development, and the final 20% upon validation.
Key dates: The call opens on June 2, 2025, and closes on September 30, 2025. Project implementation begins in February 2026.
Links
Closes
30/09/2025
Max funding per project
60.000€