McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program | USDA FAS MCGOVERN DOLE PROGRAM 23

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FAS MCGOVERN DOLE PROGRAM 23

The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) grant opportunity designed to reduce hunger and improve educational and nutrition outcomes in low-income settings outside the United States. The program focuses on using food assistance as a practical tool to strengthen food security while also improving learning and health, with an explicit emphasis on helping girls stay in school and succeed in primary education. In addition to school-based interventions, the program also supports targeted nutrition assistance for very young children and mothers during critical life stages when adequate nutrition has the biggest long-term impact.

At its core, the opportunity is built around two main objectives. The first objective is to support preschool and school food for education programs in foreign countries. These activities generally aim to improve food security, lower hunger rates, and increase literacy and primary education participation and performance, especially for girls who may face greater barriers to enrollment and attendance. The second objective is to support maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs that serve pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and children up to five years old. This second track recognizes that nutrition in pregnancy and early childhood strongly influences survival, growth, cognitive development, and later school readiness, so investments here are meant to prevent both immediate malnutrition and longer-term developmental setbacks.

This funding opportunity is offered as a discretionary award under the assistance listing (CFDA) number 10.608, and the funding instrument type is a cooperative agreement. A cooperative agreement typically indicates a more hands-on partnership between the funding agency and the recipient compared with a standard grant, often involving ongoing coordination, approvals, or technical engagement during implementation. The agency administering the opportunity is USDA FAS, which is the part of USDA that manages international food assistance programs and related agricultural cooperation efforts.

For this particular announcement cycle, USDA anticipated making around seven awards, with an award ceiling listed at up to $32,000,000. The opportunity was posted with a creation date of February 22, 2023, and an original application closing date of April 28, 2023. The eligible applicant category is listed broadly as "Others," with the expectation that applicants consult the announcement text for the specific eligibility rules and definitions. In practice, opportunities like this commonly involve organizations with demonstrated capacity to manage international programming, coordinate with host-country partners, and meet U.S. government compliance, reporting, and monitoring requirements, but the authoritative eligibility determination comes from the full notice.

USDA also organized applications by priority countries, each with its own funding opportunity number tied to the same overall program. The priority country opportunity numbers listed are: USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(510) for Cameroon, USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(124) for Haiti, USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(558) for Mozambique, USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(646) for Nepal, USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(130) for Nicaragua, USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(688) for Sri Lanka, and USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(578) for Togo. There is also a separate track for non-priority country applications under USDA-FAS-10.608-0700-23-(000). Applicants are directed to consult Appendix B (Country Guidance) for country-specific details, which usually includes contextual priorities, operational considerations, and guidance on how USDA wants proposed activities tailored to local needs.

Finally, the announcement notes that the "Related Documents" area contains the complete notice and the practical materials needed to apply. That includes step-by-step application instructions, information on accessing the Food Aid Information System (which is commonly used for planning, reporting, and oversight of food aid activities), and weekly responses to questions, along with other essential reference documents. In other words, the short description lays out the goals and target populations, while the supporting documents provide the compliance requirements, submission process, and the detailed expectations for program design, budgeting, monitoring, and coordination.

• The Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.608.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 22, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 28, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $32,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA FAS MCGOVERN DOLE PROGRAM 23

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