Orskov Foundation
/OVERVIEW: Based in Scotland and named for a famous agricultural scientist, the Orskov Foundation mainly supports student research in agricultural science. Environmental conservation and climate change are secondary areas of interest.
IP TAKE: Having paused its collaborative community projects program, this funder mainly supports student research in agricultural science, focusing on sustainable farming, food security and adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. Most grants go to students at universities in Africa.
The Orskov Foundation accepts for its student research grants via email between October 1 and December 31 of each year. Guidelines and application materials are available on the foundation’s website. It’s accessible and responsive; however, its website does not appear to have been updated lately.
PROFILE: The Orskov Foundation was established in 2004 by the Danish farmer and agricultural scientist Bob Orskov. Orskov was born into a farming family in Jutland, Denmark, and earned a Ph.D. in agricultural science at the University of Reading in England. Throughout his career, Orskov has helped “students, researchers and scientists from low-income countries to better manage their feed resources, increase animal productivity and facilitate poverty alleviation,” and he has made significant contributions to the field of agricultural science in these areas. Based in Scotland, the foundation supports student research on sustainable food production and community agricultural projects in Malawi, Rwanda, Indonesia and Cambodia.
Grants for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems
Sustainable agriculture and food systems are the primary focus of this foundation. Orskov’s student grants and community projects uniformly fund projects that support agricultural innovation toward the sustainability, longevity and prosperity of farms in developing areas of the world. Recent student grants have supported research on sustainable land management and food production as well as agricultural adaptation to climate change. A significant number of grants go to students pursuing graduate degrees at African universities. The foundation has also supported community agricultural projects in Africa. In Malawi, the foundation partnered with the African Moringa and Permaculture Project to create sustainable community gardens that “enhance and replicate the structure and diversity of natural forests.” The foundation also partnered with the Rwanda Village Concept Project and the National University of Rwanda to support rural rice growers with quality seeds, organic fertilizers and training in sustainable farming methods.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice
The Orskov Foundation does not name environmental conservation as an area of grantmaking interest, but some of its student grants have supported conservation research projects related to agriculture. Funded research has addressed issues of deforestation, soil health, agroforestry, remote environmental monitoring, statistical models for land management and biodiversity conservation.
Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy
The Orskov Foundation’s student grants have supported projects that involve the use of clean energy in agriculture and methods for adapting agricultural practice to changing climates. Several grants have gone to students studying and researching methods of controlling invasive plant and animal species that have gained ground as a result of climate change, while others have worked to develop resilient crops and agricultural adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
Important Grant Details:
The Orskov Foundation makes between two and 10 grants to graduate students in agriculture and related fields each year. The foundation has paused its community project program. For information about past funding, see the foundation’s Orskov’s student grants and community projects pages.
The Orskov Foundation accepts applications for its student grants via email between October 1 and December 31 of each year and posts application guidelines on its website. Grantmaking for 2020 and 2021 have “focused on enabling students to participate in online training” in response to the COVID-19 crisis. General inquiries may be addressed to the foundation’s staff via email.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
