Developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership

The Horizon Europe call HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-05-two-stage focuses on developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action within the framework of the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership. This initiative is part of Cluster 6 and aims to support the European Green Deal while contributing to the African Union-EU High Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Eligible applicants for this grant include research institutions, universities, NGOs, small to medium enterprises, public-private partnerships, and international organizations involved in sustainable agriculture. The grant mechanism is a lump sum grant categorized under HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions or Innovation Actions, with funds potentially ranging from 4 million to 6 million euros per project. The geographic eligibility encompasses EU and African Union member states, associated countries, and Mediterranean countries.

Proposals must be submitted through a two-stage process where an initial outline is followed by a full proposal for successful candidates. The application emphasizes collaborative efforts with robust coordination among researchers, farmers, and policymakers to enhance agricultural resilience, sustainability, and food security in Africa. Proposals should set up living labs and lighthouses for testing agroecological practices, support participatory research, and facilitate knowledge exchange between various stakeholders.

Projects should aim to demonstrate effective management of climatic, environmental, and socio-economic challenges while promoting biodiversity and improving agricultural systems. Proposals must incorporate local knowledge alongside scientific approaches using a multi-actor methodology to ensure broad engagement. Financial support can be offered to third parties involved in the project.

Proposals should also consider gender dimensions and social inclusivity, addressing various identities and backgrounds among participants. The opening for submissions begins on May 6, 2025, with deadlines set for September 4, 2025, and February 18, 2026. Overall, the grant aims to foster inclusive agricultural transformations that enhance climate adaptation and food security across Africa while integrating EU efforts.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-05-two-stage, focused on developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership. It falls under Cluster 6 and is a two-stage call. The type of action is HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS) model grant agreement.

The call aims to support the European Green Deal priorities and contribute to the African Union-EU High Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as the FNSSA and Climate Change and Sustainable Energy partnerships. It seeks to contribute to the climate objectives of both the African Union and the EU, and to the commitments of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The goal is to develop innovative tools and approaches that improve the resilience, adaptation to climate change, and sustainability of agriculture and food systems in Africa.

Expected outcomes include:

Accelerated availability, accessibility, and adoption of fair and inclusive approaches and strategies by farmers, advisors, and policymakers to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability in Africa while addressing climate challenges and optimizing the use of ecological processes with co-benefits for biodiversity.

Strengthened coordination and experience sharing among researchers and agricultural actors in Africa, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and in line with the FNSSA roadmap.

Enhanced climatic, environmental, and socio-economic performance of African agroecological farming practices for agri-food stakeholders.

The scope of the call emphasizes agroecology as a holistic approach that optimizes ecological processes for agricultural production, increasing farms’ circularity, diversification, and autonomy. It addresses climate challenges, preserves biodiversity, and drives a full transformation of farming systems and agricultural value chains. Living labs are intended as open innovation ecosystems in real-life sites, using iterative feedback processes throughout a lifecycle approach to innovation for inclusive and sustainable impact. Lighthouses are sites for demonstration of exemplary and replicable solutions, training, peer-to-peer learning, and communications related to promoting agroecological approaches.

Proposals should:

Set up living labs and lighthouses for testing and demonstrating agroecological approaches in different pedoclimatic conditions in Africa.

Carry out participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation activities in living labs with agricultural actors, including on socio-economic aspects to support sustainability transitions and upscaling, to seek practical agroecological solutions to the climatic and biodiversity challenges/opportunities identified.

Identify sites that demonstrate high performance in terms of their actions and results on agroecology and that may be converted into lighthouses.

Strengthen interactions between existing living and new labs, lighthouses and like-minded arrangements on agroecology to share lessons and facilitate science policy interfaces, using existing network arrangements where relevant.

Proposals should contribute to the implementation of the short- and medium-term actions of the joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda, particularly in the area of Green, and aim to translate R&I efforts into tangible business, products, services, development and quality employment opportunities and social economy enterprises in Africa and Europe. They should be in line with the conclusions of the 2023 AU-EU Agriculture Ministerial Conference and support the African Free Trade Area.

Proposals should contribute to the implementation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) adopted R&I roadmaps pertaining to climate change, particularly in the areas impact of water scarcity and drought in rural areas, sustainable agriculture production and biodiversity in changing climate.

Proposals should build on the experience gained with relevant former and on-going FNSSA projects on agroecological approaches under Horizon 2020 and the Horizon Europe Work Programmes, as well as with activities of the DeSIRA initiative part of the EU International Partnerships. They should create synergies with the European Partnership “Agroecology” and targeted EU-Africa cooperation activities under the EU Mission “A soil deal for Europe”, including a dedicated task and resources to create those synergies. They should also create synergies with the project resulting from the call “HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-16”.

Proposals should adopt an inclusive approach that respects and integrates local knowledge and practices alongside technological and scientific expertise, where indigenous insights are enriched by innovative approaches and new technologies through mutual learning.

Proposals must implement the ‘multi-actor approach’ to ensure the adequate involvement of the farming sector, civils society and relevant policy actors.

Participation of Mediterranean countries other than from EU and AU is encouraged.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) could contribute by exploring pathways for a sustainable transition of agriculture and food systems, defining scenarios for the agro-ecological transition, assessing the impacts of such transition, engaging with stakeholders, and disseminating results to policymakers.

Proposals should ensure that gender dimension and social categories (e.g., disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnic and/or cultural origins, sexual orientation) and their intersections are duly considered.

Financial support to third parties (researchers, farmers, advisors, and other multidisciplinary actors) is allowed, with a maximum of 30% of EU funding allocated for this purpose and a maximum of EUR 60 000 granted to each third party.

The opening date for submissions is 06 May 2025, with deadlines on 04 September 2025 (17:00:00 Brussels time) and 18 February 2026 (17:00:00 Brussels time). The indicative budget for this topic is EUR 12 000 000, with an estimated 2 grants to be awarded.

Admissibility conditions, eligible countries, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, evaluation and award processes, and legal and financial setup are detailed in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and related guidance documents. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Application form templates and evaluation form templates are available in the Submission System. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2025, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, and other related guidelines and manuals.

In summary, this call is about fostering sustainable agriculture in Africa by establishing living labs and lighthouses that promote agroecological practices. It aims to bring together researchers, farmers, and policymakers to develop and implement innovative solutions that address climate change, enhance biodiversity, and improve food and nutrition security. The call encourages collaboration between EU and African entities, integration of local knowledge, and a multi-actor approach to ensure the relevance and impact of the projects. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and projects can provide financial support to third parties involved in setting up the living labs and lighthouses.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include researchers, farmers, advisors, policymakers, civils society, social economy enterprises, and other multidisciplinary actors. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are exceptionally eligible for funding. Legal entities established in all African Union member states are exceptionally eligible for Union funding.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) or a HORIZON Innovation Action (IA) under the Horizon Europe Programme. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium. In addition to the minimum number of participants set out in the General Annexes, consortia must include at least three independent legal entities established in an African Union member state. The places of establishment of at least two of these legal entities must be in the same region, as defined by the African Union. The proposals must apply the multi-actor approach.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes the European Union (EU), African Union (AU) member states, associated countries, and Mediterranean countries. Participation of Mediterranean countries other than from EU and AU is encouraged. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector: The program targets the agriculture and food systems sector, with a focus on agroecology, climate action, food and nutrition security, and sustainable agriculture. It also addresses climate change, water scarcity, drought in rural areas, and biodiversity.

Mentioned Countries: African Union member states, Mediterranean countries, European Union member states.

Project Stage: The project stage includes setting up living labs and lighthouses, testing and demonstrating agroecological approaches, carrying out participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation activities, identifying high-performance sites for conversion into lighthouses, and strengthening interactions between existing and new labs. This suggests a focus on development, demonstration, and validation stages.

Funding Amount: The budget varies by topic, with individual grants ranging from around EUR 4,000,000 to EUR 6,000,000. The total budget for the HORIZON-CL6-2025-02 call is significant, with individual topics having budgets of EUR 8,000,000, EUR 12,000,000, or EUR 18,000,000.

Application Type: The application type is a two-stage open call.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant. They may also provide financial support to third parties, with a maximum amount of EUR 60,000 per third party. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants.

Application Stages: The application process is two-stage.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants suggests a success rate that varies depending on the topic. For example, HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-CLIMATE-01-two-stage aims to award around 3 grants, while HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-FARM2FORK-04-two-stage aims to award around 2 grants.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement from the applicant.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call focuses on "Developing agroecology living labs and lighthouses for climate action under the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership." It aims to support the European Green Deal priorities and the African Union-EU High Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation. The call invites proposals that contribute to climate objectives, improve the resilience and sustainability of agriculture and food systems in Africa, and promote agroecological approaches. Projects should establish living labs and lighthouses in Africa to test and demonstrate agroecological practices, conduct participatory research, and strengthen interactions among researchers and agricultural actors. The call encourages the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, including researchers, farmers, advisors, policymakers, and civil society, and promotes an inclusive approach that integrates local knowledge with scientific expertise. Consortia must include at least three independent legal entities established in an African Union member state, with at least two of these entities from the same African Union region. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and beneficiaries can provide financial support to third parties up to EUR 60,000 per party. The application process is two-stage, with deadlines in September 2025 and February 2026. The call is part of the Horizon Europe Programme, Cluster 6, and supports Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Innovation Actions (IA).