Keepers of the Earth Fund

Description

1) Objective

Cultural Survival is pleased to announce our 2025 Call for Project Concepts in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa for our Keepers of the Earth Fund. The Keepers of the Earth Fund is awarding grants of up to $8,000 USD for this call. Grants directly support Indigenous communities, organizations, and traditional governments in their self-determined development projects based on their Indigenous values. They seek to financially support collective projects that benefit Indigenous communities.

The 2025 call for proposals will prioritize projects focused on the following topics and their intersections: (Nevertheless, applicants are encouraged to submit proposals in topics or themes important to their community.)

• Climate change – (e.g. reforestation, adaptation of crops, flood prevention)
• Food sovereignty (e.g seed banks, Indigenous traditional food systems, fishing and hunting rights)
• Indigenous economies (e.g. production, distribution and circulation of products, trade, community enterprises, arts and crafts when they are a strong part of the local economy)
• Indigenous governance based on ancestral systems (e.g. inclusion of women and youth on Indigenous governments, strengthening assemblies or other forms of decision making)
• Indigenous knowledge systems – (e.g. transfer of knowledge from knowledge keepers to youth and children)
• Indigenous spiritualities – (e.g. practice of rituals for agriculture, cycles of the moon, the rain, knowledge transfer of Indigenous cosmovisions to new generations or the community).

2) Eligibility

Applicants must be Indigenous-led or represent an Indigenous-led project, be a grassroots/local organization or group and have an organizational bank account or access to a fiscal sponsor. They consider all applications on a case-by-case basis but prioritize small organizations with annual budgets less than $150,000.

3) Location

Actions must take place in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.

4) Budget

Grant amounts range up to $8,000.

5) Application

Project concepts will be accepted until August 22, 2025.