Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO invites the Indonesian Agricultural Research Alliance (APPERTANI) to submit a proposal to participate in FAO’s competitive grant project in Indonesia code: TCP/INS/3807 entitled “A Study on Exploring Bottlenecks and Pay-Offs Along the Value Chain in Reducing Food Loss and Waste in Perishable Horticulture Commodities” based on the assessment of the previously proposed Expression of Interest (EoI). For APPERTANI, it is an opportunity to follow up on the results of gatherings and plenary discussions of 19 March 2022, so that they are proactive in initiating and seeking collaborative activities by submitting proposals in accordance with the corridor of expertise.

A proposal drafting team has been formed to follow up on the opportunity given to meet the deadline for submitting a proposal of 19 May 2022. Prof. Joni S. Munarso, principal researcher of Agricultural Post Harvest Research and Development, was appointed as team leader due to his long experience in carrying out research in the post-harvest field. The team leader is assisted by researchers and practitioners from various fields, namely postharvest, sub-sector specialist, agricultural economics, extension worker and rural sociologist. Thanks to the hard work and assistance of the parties involved, the complete proposal along with the Vendor Registration Form and Letter of Agreement (LoI) along with appendix-1 has been successfully submitted according to the given deadline and received confirmation that the proposal was accepted on May 24, 2022. Hopefully, good news will be received in the near future.