Call for Concept Notes on Strengthening Food Systems (Mozambique)

Deadline: 15-Feb-23

The Embassy of the Netherlands has announced the Concept Notes on Strengthening Food Systems and food and nutrition security (FNS) program in Beira Corridor, Mozambique.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (MoFA) via the Embassy of the Netherlands in Maputo (called “the Embassy” henceforth), intends to fund a 4-year food and nutrition security program in Mozambique targeting the development of smallholder farmers, small commercial farmers and other agricultural-related SMEs in Beira Corridor in Manica and Sofala provinces.

Objectives

• The overarching objective (impact) that the Embassy is pursuing with this call aiming at supporting food and nutrition security in the Beira Corridor region. Central in this new program are sustainable productivity and income of small scale food producers. The literature on historical processes of reduction of poverty and hunger points to the crucial role of agricultural growth in the transition from agrarian to industrial economies (the so-called Green Revolution). Take offs were highly associated with simultaneous presence of public investments in smallholder agriculture and rural development, economic freedom for farmers and rural entrepreneurs and macro-economic stability. In the process, investment in local smallholder agriculture shows considerably larger spill-over effects on poverty, employment and economic growth than investments in other sectors.
• Targeting the right investment for the right purpose is key. Growing food crops for the (local) market brings different constraints, needs and perspectives than growing crops mainly for own survival (in spite of possible combinations between the two). Regardless of this differentiation, all food production systems need to be ecologically sustainable, as well as resilient to (climate- and/or price related) shocks and stresses, to sustain the local food system as a whole.
• Both objectives come together in what nowadays is commonly referred to as ‘food system(s)’. The Embassy therefore prefers to start from a more modest concept, farming (or food production) systems, and then contextualize from the two objectives towards the most relevant systemic issues that need to be addressed to achieve the standard FNS outcome.
• The interventions focus on small scale food producers’ farming systems, in which the two categories of smallholders described above are recognized: subsistence farmers (SHFs) who primarily produce food for their own consumption and small-scale commercial farmers (SCFs) who primarily produce for the market. However, in practice these different categories of smallholders cannot always be separated and will often interlink and overlap.

Policy Priorities

Farming systems depend on people and on the planet in the first place. Below a brief description of elements related to the Netherlands policy priorities, that are intrinsic part of any farming system.

• Labour is the main investment in smallholder food production and the backbone of local food security. Division of labour, between farm and household, and access to labour-efficiency increasing technologies reflect local power relations. While women are equally, or even more engaged in agriculture than men, they have in general less agency, resources and opportunities to develop their farming systems. In that sense, gender is intrinsic to the goals of productivity, income and resilience. Targeting women, knowing to what extent they are being reached and measure effects on their empowerment in agriculture is key in order to make strategic choices that better benefit women;
• Nature (soil, water, land, and agro-biodiversity) – Agriculture is based primarily on biological and ecological principles. On one side there are farming systems that maximally mimic these natural processes (labelled as low-external-input, extensive, regenerative, organic, agro-ecological) and on the other side farming systems that maximally manage or manipulate these processes (labelled as high-external-input, intensive, modern, conventional, industrial); but most are somewhere in between. Essential is to stay within the boundaries of ecological sustainability, on farm level, as well as on landscape level, while acknowledging dynamics (synergies and trade-offs) between production functions and nature conservation;
• Climate – No farming system can be sustainable if it is not resilient to current and future economic and weather shocks and stresses, including indirect effects like pests or invasive species. In that sense, climate cannot be ignored. It disproportionately affects women, and since women are key players in the agriculture sector in Mozambique. Goal is 100% climate mainstreaming through integrated approaches that make farming systems in their entirety more vital and more resilient.

Funding Information

• The total funding available under this call for concept notes is € 30,000,000. The contract can be renewed for a second phase of another 4 years, depending, among others, on the performance of the implementing consortium, to be confirmed by an independent mid-term evaluation at the end of year 3 of phase 1. The Embassy will fund only one proposal or none, up to the maximum funding available.

Delivery of Outcomes

• The level to which the detailed Theory of Change developed by the consortia contributes to the objective as formulated in IV section, and the extent to which this is convincingly elaborated in activities that lead to the defined outputs and outcomes, as well as the interlinkages and balance between these results on output and outcome level.
• The level to which consortia has developed quantitative and qualitative indicators that are in line with the Theory of Change and proposed action plan;
• The level to which consortia has employed innovative ways to generate solutions to improving smallholder productivity, and employing innovative or creative approaches. This evaluation criterion will be especially considered in assessing the ideas in their contribution to transforming food systems. This will includes, among others, climatesmart agriculture, improved cropping techniques, livelihoods diversification, land use planning and ecological sustainability, soil sensing and water use efficiency, productivity monitoring, circular agriculture and strengthening farmers-based organizations.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any capable consortia led by a private non-profit company, or an (international) NGO is eligible to apply. Preferably, the consortia leader and its partners must have previous experience in Mozambique.
• Mozambican public institutions deemed relevant must express support in writing to the proposal of the consortium;
• The consortia must have at least one Mozambican organization as member of the consortia;
• Having a proven track record in the required field of Food and Nutrition Security in Mozambique, either based on the organization’s history of interventions or the individuals that will be working on the proposed program. This also apply on other consortium partners. Complementarity within the consortia should be demonstrated;
• Consortium lead partners with their consortium partners must implement the project themselves and not simply act as an intermediary channel to provide financing to other implementing parties or subcontract those to execute most of the work;
• The program implementation will be carried out at the responsibility of, and at the risk of the consortium lead partner to whom the grant or contribution will be awarded;
• The proposed activities must be only implemented in Beira Corridor region in Manica and Sofala provinces in Mozambique;
• The consortium lead partner must enclose references (project summary sheets) to 3 different contracts with the concept note. It must be apparent from the reference contracts as a whole that the consortium lead partner has the following competencies:
  • Building sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems in Mozambique;
  • Sustainable smallholder farming improvements including integrated water and soil management by local communities;
  • Promoting employment and income generation for rural youth and women as well as working on gender transformation;
  • Monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems as part of adaptive management of projects and programs under fragile social and economic conditions;
• The above competencies must appear predominantly within the overall six reference contracts provided. Where the consortium lead partner relies on a contract that is not yet fully completed, only results actually achieved during the course of the contract will count. The end date of the references must lie not earlier than three years prior to the concept note submission deadline for this call. A contract may therefore have started more than three years ago.
• When verifying the consortium lead partner’s statement, the Embassy reserves the right to request further information from the other contracting authorities as to whom the service was performed;
• If the selected consortium lead applicant is located within the EU, a grant decision will be used, and the Dutch General Administrative Law, the MOFA grant law, the MOFA grant decree and the MOFA grant regulations 2006 will be applicable.
• The costs that are needed to hand in an application are for the applicant.

For more information, visit Embassy of the Netherlands.