2023 Seventh Call for Proposals for Producer Organizations-led Projects

Deadline Date: 24-Feb-2023

The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) has launched the second part of the Seventh Call for Proposals dedicated to Producer Organization-led projects.

The Seventh GAFSP Call for Proposals is part of the global response to the current global food security crisis. It is in complete alignment with the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS). It contributes to the mobilization of funding to overcome the current crisis and enable the long-term transformation of global agri-food systems towards more resilience and sustainability.

The world is facing a food crisis of an unprecedented scale, further exacerbated by climate change, conflict, and a global pandemic. In response to these ongoing challenges, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program continues to serve as a valuable instrument for financially supporting the most vulnerable countries and communities.

Objectives

• The objective of the PO-led financing track is to provide funding to entities traditionally unable to access finance for catalytic investments in agriculture and food security. This financing track was created with the recognition that POs are key economic players in the value chain and a vehicle for increasing livelihood opportunities for POs’ members through capacity building and enabling greater access to finance, markets, and technology. The key principles of GAFSP funding for PO-led projects are as follows:
• PO-led projects are demand-driven and owned by the PO.
  • PO-led projects address the needs of smallholder farmers expressed through their POs and for which solutions are designed through a bottom-up approach.
  • PO-led projects are implemented directly by the PO, in partnership with a Supervising Entity (SE) selected by the PO itself.
  • PO-led projects’ funds are channeled through the selected SE. As such, the selected SE has fiduciary responsibility and manages the grant according to its policies and procedures. The SE should try to adapt implementation and procurement procedures to the specific capacity of the PO in question whenever possible.

Funding Information

GAFSP expects approximately US$ 25 million to be allocated in grant resources for eligible POs. Additional donor commitments may become available by the date of grant award allocation (expected in July 2023), which could increase the total allocation amount. GAFSP plans to allocate funds to several projects with allocations of up to US$ 3 million per project.

Eligibility Criteria

For GAFSP, the definition of a PO includes national and sub-national POs structured as either a producers’ association, union, federation, cooperative, or apex organization (including umbrella organizations or federations of POs) with the following characteristics:

• It is a local organization formed by a group of smallholder producers to undertake agriculture-, foodand nutrition-related activities, including storage, processing, and marketing.
• Its members include farmers, pastoralists, artisanal fishers, forest-dwelling groups, landless people, and/or indigenous people.
• It is owned by its members: PO members participate in the governance of the PO.
• Its profits and other benefits are shared among its members; and
• It is a registered legal entity.