OOP AANSOEKE

Om die groeitrajek van voedselveiligheidsoplossings te versnel, sal FS4Africa twee oop aansoeke bekendstel vir minstens 15 projekte in totaal. Hierdie projekte sal finansiële ondersteuning aan derde partye (FSTP) verskaf om die projek se impak te maksimeer en netwerkuitbreiding te bespoedig.

  • Die eerste oop aansoek beoog om finansiële ondersteuning te verskaf aan navorsings- en tegnologie-belanghebbendes (beginnerondernemings, KMO's, navorsingsorganisasies en ander multidissiplinêre rolspelers) om die sakekonsepte en gereedskap van die projek te toets, te valideer en te verbeter, of idees en gereedskap te ontwikkel wat bydra tot die projek se doelwitte wat dan aan die mark bekend gestel kan word.
10 projekte vir 10 oop aansoek-1-begunstigdes
(600k euro tot 60k euro vir elke derde party)
  • Die tweede oop aansoek beoog om finansiële ondersteuning te verskaf aan derde partye (innovasiespilpunte) om gebruiksgevalvennote en oopoproepbegunstigdes op te lei deur mentorskap te verskaf en innoverende sakekonsepte te versnel, insluitend sosiale innovasie en opskaling met die oog op Afrika of Europese voedselbesigheidentrepreneurs en beginnerondernemings. Die aktiwiteite kan óf virtueel óf in persoon wees.
5 projekte vir 5 oop aansoek-2-begunstigdes
(200k euro tot 40k euro vir elke derde party)
More information about the Open Call 1 is available below.

Indien jy meer oor die oop aansoeke wil weet, teken aan by ons nuusbrief

Open Call 1

FS4africa Open Call 1 (OC1) addressed to research and technology stakeholders

Die FS4Africa Open Call 1 (OC1) aims to provide financial support to research and technology stakeholders (start-ups, SMEs, research organisations and other multidisciplinary actors) to:

test, validate and enhance the business concepts and tools of the project (built on FS4Africa existing UC topics) or
develop ideas and tools that address the specific challenges of the FS4Africa project and contribute to the project's objectives which can then be introduced to the market.
FS4Africa will only accept applications from one entity per proposal
(no Consortia allowed)
Each Open Call proposal should propose the following activities:
A New Solution or Enhanced Solution​

Applicants should propose either a completely new innovative solution addressing the food safety challenges in the African Informal Sector, or enhancing an existing solution, leveraging tools, business concepts, or frameworks already developed by the FS4Africa project. Solutions do not necessarily have to be tied to FS4Africa existing UC topics as long as they align with the broader goals of the project and address one of the following challenges in areas such as:

  • Food safety issues associated with weak channels for value chain organisation, traceability & authentication of safe food
  • Mikotoksienbesmetting in verskeie voedselgewasse insluitend voedsel en voer
  •  Plaagdoderreste in graan en groente
  • Microbial contamination particularly contamination from coliforms (e.g. Escherichia coli)
  • Voedsel vervalsing
Testing with
at least 10 participants
  • Outline a clear testing methodology to engage a minimum of 10 participants, such as (indicatively) farmers, SMEs, or other food supply chain actors.
  • Define metrics to measure the solution’s effectiveness, scalability, and practicality in addressing food safety challenges.
Demonstration
in an event with
at least 30 Stakeholders
  • Plan and organise a public demonstration event to showcase the solution’s functionality, outcomes, and benefits.
  • Engage at least 30 stakeholders, including (indicatively) policymakers, industry representatives, researchers, and community leaders.
Plan for Upscaling and Market Rollout
  • Present a roadmap for scaling the solution to a broader audience or market.
  • Identify potential barriers to scaling and propose solutions to overcome them (e.g., regulatory challenges, market entry barriers).
OC solutions are expected to start at TRL4
and reach TRL6 by the end of the project.
Selected projects will be launched in February 2026 having an implementation timeframe of 12 months (until January 2027). The implementation period will be divided into 3 phases:

Design

Phase 1
(Duration: 3 months / Feb. 2026 – Apr. 2026)
[Deliverable: Activity plan]

Development

Phase 2
(Duration: 6 months / May 2026 – Oct. 2026)
[Deliverable: Results demonstration]

Validation

Phase 3
(Duration: 3 months / Nov. 2026 – Jan. 2027)
[Deliverable: Report on market or community associated activities]
The Open Call 1 will select at least 10 subprojects (covering all 5 challenges mentioned above) in total providing Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP), as a mechanism to maximise the project’s impact and accelerate network expansion.

Key numbers and
date of the Open Call:

Total Open Call 1 budget: €600,000
Max budget per project: €60,000 

Submission procedure

Proposals will be submitted digitally through the opencalls.fund (OCF) platform

Proposals must be delivered before the defined deadline (September 30th, 2025, at  17:00 CET)

By applying to FS4Africa Open Call 1, applicants (single entities) automatically accept the terms and conditions of the Open Call 1 as described in the Open Call Kit:

OPEN CALL KIT
Call for evaluators
Open Call text (Fiche)
Open Call text (Fiche) in French
Open Call Hand out Summary
Open Call Applicants’ Guide
Declaration of Honour (DoH)
SME Declaration
Open Call Proposal Template
Open Call Budget Template
Bank account information
Model sub-grant agreement
Open Call Frequently Asked Questions

FS4Africa is looking for evaluators !

Evaluators profile

We are looking for independent evaluators, who will be able to assess the quality of applications received within the FS4Africa Open Call 1, shortly after its closure.

Evaluators must be:

  • European – EU nationals Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU), including their outermost regions, as well as Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to an EU Member as well as nationals of Horizon Europe associated countries, full list here).
  • Experienced in technical and/or business expertise related to the topics of the call and knowledge surrounding food safety systems. Particular attention to the African informal sector will be highly appreciated.
  • Experienced in evaluating EC proposals or similar experience.

An evaluator should not work for an organisation that aims to apply for the FS4Africa Open Call, nor in an organisation participating in the FS4Africa consortium.

All evaluators must declare beforehand any known conflicts of interest and must immediately inform the FS4Africa Consortium staff if they detect a conflict of interest during the evaluation. The evaluator’s contract also requires evaluators to maintain strict confidentiality with respect to the whole evaluation process.

They must follow any instruction given by the FS4Africa Consortium to ensure this. Under no circumstance may an evaluator attempt to contact an applicant on his/her own account, during the evaluation process. Confidentiality rules must be adhered to at all times before, during and after the evaluation. All external evaluators will sign a confidentiality declaration.

All evaluators must adhere to the guiding principles for independent experts set out by the EC including independence, impartiality, objectivity, accuracy and consistency.

The evaluators will be in charge of providing a neutral yet technical/scientific review of the received applications on the following aspects:

  • Concept and feasibility
  • Technology readiness and innovation development
  • Impact & Exploitation
  • Organisational capacity and sufficiency in the team’s background

The full evaluation criteria of the FS4Africa open call 1 are specified in the respective Open Call kit documents. In addition, the kit will be part of the evaluators’ manual.

You can check the full specifications in the “Call for evaluators” document!

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