Deadline Date: July 05, 2026
The BioSustainability Design Programme in Uganda is inviting applications to support research-based innovations that address key challenges within the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in Karamoja.
The focus areas include climate-smart food production, nutritious and locally sourced school meals, and clean cooking solutions for schools, along with agricultural resilience, post-harvest management, supply chain coordination, food processing and value addition, food safety and quality assurance systems, institutional cooking energy solutions, and sustainable financing models for rural and school-based food systems.
The programme addresses critical challenges affecting smallholder farmers and school feeding systems in Karamoja. In climate-smart food production, farmers face fragmented systems, weak organizations, limited access to climate information and quality inputs, and inadequate post-harvest infrastructure, resulting in low productivity and difficulty meeting school supply demands. In school feeding systems, challenges include weak and fragmented supply chains, inadequate storage, risks of aflatoxin contamination, pest infestation, manual tracking systems, and limited technical capacity, all of which affect meal quality and consistency. In clean cooking, schools rely heavily on firewood due to limited access to affordable alternatives, high costs, and cultural preferences, leading to health risks, safety concerns, and environmental impacts.
The programme promotes solutions such as affordable and climate-resilient agricultural technologies, improved access to farm inputs, better post-harvest handling and storage systems, farmer aggregation models, and digital tools that support productivity and market access. It also encourages innovations in food processing, improved kitchen infrastructure, food safety systems, and supply chain solutions that connect schools with local producers. For clean cooking, it supports affordable institutional technologies, alternative fuels, financing models, monitoring systems, and approaches that address social and cultural adoption barriers while reducing reliance on firewood.
Eligible applicants must be research-based innovators based in Uganda with at least two team members in the country. Teams should be multidisciplinary, combining technical, business, design, research, or community expertise, and must demonstrate commitment to building scalable enterprises for low-income and rural communities. Applicants must also be available for training, field immersion, and testing activities in Karamoja, along with in-person and online coaching sessions throughout the programme.
For more information, visit Novo Nordisk Foundation.
