Deadline: 17th January 2024

Efficiency for Access invites organisations to sign up to the fourth call for proposals for the Fund Research and Development for Efficiency for Access .

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Launched in November 2023, the Efficiency Fund for Access Research and Development (R&D), with support from the IKEA Foundation and UK aid (from the UK government through the Transforming Energy Access platform), will provide over £1.3 million to organisations under the Efficiency programme for the fourth call of the Access R&D Fund. Since 2018, the fund has provided over £5 million in grant funding, supporting 38 R&D projects to accelerate innovation and address key barriers to access in the off-grid and weak grid appliance sector.

Under this call, support will be provided for the development of agricultural technologies, sometimes known as agrotechnologies, which are high-performance, energy-efficient appliances. These appliance technologies will increase resilience and post-harvest productivity by supporting post-harvest management, including harvesting, handling, storage, processing and transport, in horticulture, dairy, fisheries and livestock food systems.

Scope

• To be covered by this call, R&D projects must:
  • Developing or improving a technology innovative electrical appliances for use in environments without a network and/or with a weak network; and
  • Improving the post-harvest resilience and productivity of food systems while reducing their environmental impact. Improving resilience and productivity can be achieved in any of the following ways: guaranteeing and increasing yields, expanding access to markets, reducing waste and losses, and improving operations, services and maintenance of essential equipment within one or more of a food system's value chains.
• Examples of eligible R&D projects may include, but are not limited to, the development of high-performance, energy-efficient home appliance technologies (agricultural technologies) for use in off-grid and/or weak-grid environments, digital or software solutions that enable agricultural technologies, systems and models that..:
  • Extending the shelf life of food (e.g. through refrigerated storage, ice making or drying)
  • Processing food (e.g. grinding, pressing or threshing)
  • Transporting food sustainably (i.e. electric mobility or temperature-controlled logistics)
  • Improve the performance, maintenance or timely service of critical equipment within scope

Information on financing

• Grants are available from £50,000 to £300,000. Over £1.3 million in funding has been made available for this call.

R&D categories

• Your project must fall into one of the following categories based on the stage of your R&D:
  • Initial stage for feasibility studies - It includes both developing and demonstrating the concept of a technology and analysing and evaluating the potential of a technology in order to support the decision-making process.
  • Intermediate stage for industrial research - It must be for the purpose of developing products, processes or services that lead to an improvement in existing products, processes or services. It can include creating components for complex systems and can include prototyping in a laboratory or environment with simulated interfaces to existing systems, particularly for validating generic technology.
  • Final stage of experimental development - Experimental development can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validating new or improved products, processes or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions. The main objective is to make further technical improvements to products, processes or services that are not substantially defined.

Election criteria

• The minimum eligibility criteria are:
  • Candidates must be a company An academic organisation, a non-profit organisation, a public sector organisation or a research and technology organisation based in any country in the world. Applicants for funding can also form partnerships (for example, between academics and companies, or between entrepreneurs and established companies). However, the lead partner will take responsibility for the project and will be the beneficiary of the grant funding.
  • Your application must demonstrate results linked to the general objective of the programme (to accelerate the availability, accessibility, efficiency and performance of a range of inclusive low-energy appliances, particularly suited to developing country contexts) and to the R&D scope of this call.
  • Applicants must demonstrate sufficient matching funding for the project costs.
  • Applicants must demonstrate a track record in research and innovation and/or provide strong evidence of their ability to successfully implement the R&D project.
  • Candidates must be compliant with human rights national and international fundamental standards labour and environmental management laws. Applicants must not be involved in any acts of terrorism or support terrorist activities.
  • Candidates must allow regular due diligence.

For more information, visit Efficient access .