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Should we directly cut to the chase in the Background Section of the Grant Application from the very first line followed by the proper (official) background of the problem?
OR
Should we give a proper background (WHY of our research), before introducing the problem (WHAT of our research) in the last line of the first paragraph?
Note that I also have separate sections for (i) Aims and Objectives, (ii) Research Questions and Methodology.
Assuming that the funding agency has no guidelines, you can write it so that it makes the most sense to yourselves and, hopefully, for your readers.
The why can go elsewhere, of course, such as in an introduction or abstract (if short). Whether it is a mistake to just avoid the why of it is a judgement call that only you can make. Some problems are well enough known that a reader will understand without any explicit statement. But not everything is like that.
Write it up and then make a judgement about how it fits together. Take the likely knowledge of the readers at the funding agency into account. If they are likely to be generalists, you may need to say more. Less for specialists.
