FS4africa Open Call 1 (OC1) addressed to research and technology stakeholders
The 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
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
Mycotoxin contamination in multiple food crops including food and feed
Pesticide residues in grains and vegetables
Microbial contamination particularly contamination from coliforms (e.g. Escherichia coli)
Food adulteration
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:
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
