What is the Rural Development Programme for England?
Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) funding schemes provide money to improve agriculture, the environment and rural life. Improvement projects with RDPE funding will continue to get money until they finish. The grants are funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), which is part of the European Structural and Investment Funds.
This will be a minimum £35 million fund to boost rural productivity and create local jobs and the overall budget could increase to £50m to fund worthy projects. For this funding round of the Growth Programme, the minimum grants request has come down to £20,000 from £35,000, meaning that more small or micro-businesses may be eligible for a grant for their projects.
Under the RDPE Growth Programme, there are grants for:
• business development
• food processing
• rural tourism infrastructure
The EU rural development objectives are:
- Fostering the competitiveness of agriculture.
- Ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources, and climate action.
- Achieving a balanced territorial development of rural economies and communities including the creation and maintenance of employment.
Who can apply:
- Small rural businesses – new or
- existing. That includes farmers
- who want to diversify into nonagricultural activity
What are the grants for:
To help rural businesses grow and create more jobs. Any increase in jobs or growth in your business must be a direct outcome of the grant. You cannot include jobs or growth in your business that are in supply chains.
Grant funding can help pay for:
• constructing or improving buildings
• buying new equipment and machinery
