Call Opening Date: 24^th May 2023

Call Closing Date: 24^th June 2023

1.0 BACKGROUND

The Fundo Nacional de Investigação (FNI) of the Republic of Mozambique and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) from the Republic of Zambia are science granting councils participating in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) for Sub Saharan Africa.

The SGCI seeks to strengthen the capacities of the participating SGCs in supporting research and evidence-based policies that will contribute to socio-economic development of the countries. The Initiative is jointly funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the UK´s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

In contributing to their national research systems, the SGCs (in the two countries) secured a Grant from the International Development Research Centre under the auspices of the SGCI which aims at supporting research projects in sustainable economies and societies.

2.0 RATIONALE AND SCOPE OF THE JOINT CALL

Sustainable development means that the needs of the present generation should be met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Economies must be productive to meet the needs of the world’s growing population. Societies must be inclusive, providing opportunities for decent work for all, reducing inequalities and effectively eliminating poverty. In implementing sustainable development strategies, it is important to foster international cooperation among countries. In this context sustainable economies and societies: Sustainable Agriculture Practices and Renewable Energy was identified as research priority area to develop collaboration between Mozambique and Zambia.

To contribute towards efforts to enhance the implementation of sustainable economies and societies in the two countries, FNI and NSTC will fund collaborative research projects in this area. The objective of this Bilateral Joint Call is to generate critical knowledge that will help in strategic development and utilization of sustainable economies and societies to increase industry competitiveness, improve service delivery and reduce poverty.

3.0 THEMATIC FOCUS

The researchers in the two countries will collaborate to prepare joint research proposals in the priority area named below. The FNI and NSTC will, therefore, co-fund demand-led, collaborative research projects that address issues of relevance in the following priority areas in which research project proposals are invited;

a) Sustainable economies and societies: sustainable agriculture practices e.g. organic farming, green enterprises, crop rotation, increased crop diversity, integrated pest management (IPM), integration of livestock and crops, sustainable agroforestry practices, and precision farming),

b) Renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass energy etc)

APPLICATION GUIDELINES AND ELIGIBILITY

The application guidelines and other requirements including eligibility criteria are downloadable from any of the following website and links;

www.fni.gov.mz/ http://gms.fni.gov.mz/sistemamonitoria/

5.0 SUBMISSION AND PROCESSING OF PROPOSALS

Submission of an application package should be in a form of electronic copy. The deadline for submission is 24^th June, 2023. Application package shall include full proposal specified herein; Principal Investigator’s covering letter; letter of support from the institution of the Principal Investigator; and CVs of the Principal Investigators. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. When the full application package is duly completed save the document as “last names of principal investigators–NSTC-FNI Call for Proposals 2023”. The electronic copy should be in PDF.

• The Joint full application package should be submitted electronically in the prescribed template to the following:

• Upload on FNI website for principal investigators from Mozambique, and Email to nstc@nstc.org.zm for principal investigators from Zambia.

• All applications will be reviewed based on their quality and merit. A full proposal template is downloadable below.

• All documents (full research proposal, CV, detailed budget, letters of support) have to be submitted in PDF.

• The review, selection of proposals and communication to applicants is expected to be done by 31 August 2023.

• All proposals will be received and processed in confidentiality with acknowledgment of intellectual property rights of the applicants.

• Decision of NSTC and FNI will be final.

6.0 ENQUIRIES

Any enquiries from researchers shall be directed as follows;

a) Enquiries from researchers in Zambia should be directed to Atridah Mulonga on amulonga@nstc.org.zm and Phica Jalabani on pnjalabani@nstc.org.zm (Telephone +260-211-255854).

b) Enquiries from researchers from Mozambique should be directed to Dirce Madeira on dirce.madeira@fni.gov.mz or dmadeiramac@gmail.com (Tel No. 258-845-633807) and Edson Faria on edson.faria@fni.gov.mz (Tel No. 258-844-122705)