Deadline: 22-May-23
The Climate Smart Business Challenge Facility is inviting proposals for Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) to pitch their innovative ideas for enhancing climate resilience.
The Climate Smart Business Challenge Facility (CSBCF), a pilot project implemented by Aga Khan Foundation Tajikistan in partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
This project is supported by the IKI Small Grants program, which is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and financed by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the Federal Foreign Office.
The CSBCF identifies and supports small and growing businesses (SGBs) by providing access to
- much needed financing to leverage additional private sector capital; and
- technical support for innovative ideas and solutions to adapt to the consequences of climate change in Central and South Asia. The facility envisions to create incentives for SGBs to become champions of green practices and optimize the potentials of the private sector to contribute towards climate resilience in Tajikistan, Pakistan, and India.
Recognizing the threats posed by climate change in AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use) and Water Nexus and the limited financing available for SGBs to invest in innovative approaches to address these issues, the CSBCF during the pilot phase aims to identify, support, and learn from innovative climate-resilient and low-carbon solutions related to this nexus.
Objective of this Call for Proposal
- The Facility is seeking technically sound proposals that not only align with the Facility’s aspirations but also demonstrate high relevance and likelihood of effective implementation within the specific country context given proposed approach, scope, time frame and financial resources of the project. The SGBs must also, as part of this Call for Proposals, provide a clear plan for documentation and sharing the learnings from their innovative solutions.
Thematic Focus
- Innovative solutions that fulfill all requirements will be eligible for investment and technical support through the Facility:
- Demonstrate innovation as per the Facility’s definition and responds to one or more thematic priorities of the Facility.
- Clearly demonstrate how the proposed idea is inclusive; as such, an idea will get disqualified if the planned interventions may lead to exclusion of certain groups.
- Demonstrate that the idea has a potential to become viable and scalable after successful pilot phase.
- Demonstrate capacities to ensure robust reporting and documentation of learnings during the project’s implementation phase.
- The Facility will focus on the AFOLU and Water Nexus (both adaptation and mitigation) and support climate-resilient business models that help to focus on innovative and transformative solutions related to this nexus. The innovations may include, but may not be restricted to, the following areas:
- Climate-resilient farming systems (e.g., crop diversification, alternative farming methods, ecosystem-based farming, increased levels of biodiversity and soil fertility)
- Resource efficiency (e.g., increased water-use efficiency, energy efficiency / access to non-fossil energy sources, fertilizer micro dosing)
- Reduced food loss and minimized agricultural waste products (incl. promotion of healthier diets)
- Reduced enteric fermentation (e.g., increase productivity per feed, changed diets)
- Increased landscape carbon sequestration (e.g., through micro forests, carbon shields)
Funding Information
- Any grant financing requested by SGB under this Call for Proposals must fall within minimum and maximum amounts:
- The minimum grant financing available for an SGB is EUR 10,000 and the maximum threshold for grant financing for a SGB is EUR 75,000.
- Any grant funding requested under this Call for Proposals must not exceed 60% of the total eligible cost of the action.
- The balance (i.e. the difference between the total cost of the action and the amount requested) must be financed from cash and/or in-kind sources by the applicant.
Geographic Focus
- This Call for Proposal will be open to locally registered SGBs in Tajikistan, Pakistan and India.
- In Tajikistan, the SGBs operating in any region and/orcapital city of Dushanbe are eligible to submit their applications.
- In India,the SGBs operating inany states are eligible to submit their applications.
- In Pakistan, the SGBs operating either in District Chitral of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province or in Gilgit Baltistan province or both are eligible to submit their applications.
Target Businesses
- The Facility targets private sector enterprises that have limited or no access to climate financing. It will focus on well-established small and growing business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) private sector businesses that aim to transition towards a more climate-resilient business model and/or to expand with a new product/service that aims to build climate resilience.
- The target enterprises must be locally headquartered and legally able to receive and administer funding. Priority will be given, where possible, to women-led SGBs under this pilot project. Large regional multinationals that have their Headquarter or parent company outside the target countries are not eligible for this call. Moreover, any activities and/or business that are linked to alcohol, tobacco, or simple trade (e.g., buying or selling goods without adding value) will not be financed under the Facility.
Selection Criteria
- The applicants must employ at least five people and have appropriate safeguarding mechanisms or must endorse that they will adhere to the safeguarding policies of AKF. Moreover, the applicant must have a proven track record of externally audited accounts for the past three years and/or proof of company tax returns or equivalent demonstrating their fiduciary viability and internal control mechanisms.
- accounts should demonstrate that the applicant has an average annual turnover of at least EUR 35,000 for the past three years. Furthermore, the applicants must contribute at least 40% of the required financing in cash and/or kind towards their climate-smart solutions. This is important to ensure that SGBs fully own, and are invested in the success of, their proposed climate-smart solutions.
- Locally registered in one of the 3 participating countries and meet due diligence requirements.
- Employ at least 5 people and ensure appropriate safeguarding mechanisms will be followed.
For more information, visit CSBCF.
