EC launches Call for Local CSOs to promote Equity and Innovation in Food

Deadline: 6-Jun-24

The European Commission (EC) has announced the call for proposals to empower local CSOs as independent actors in the establishment and governance of sustainable, responsible and nutritious food systems in Malawi, thereby fostering increased availability, access, and consumption of quality, safe, nutritious and appropriately fortified foods and infant food, especially for children under five.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues 

• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • Lot 1: Support to local CSOs to contribute to increased demand for food fortification and the availability of safe and nutritious infant food. 
    • Strengthened capacities of local CSOs, CSO networks and platforms to understand, monitor, and advocate for food fortification, and safe and nutritious infant food as part of the food systems transformation.
    • Enhanced role of local CSOs in policy dialogue and decision-making processes at all levels through advocacy for food fortification and safe and nutritious infant food.
  • Lot 2: Support to local CSOs to promote equity and innovation in food fortification and infant food 
    • Local CSOs enabled to promote equity and innovation in food fortification and infant food at the district level. Each application shall address all objectives under the selected lot.

Priorities

• The priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • Inclusion of women, youth and vulnerable groups in all activities.
    • Under SO1: (Strengthened capacities of local CSOs, CSO networks and platforms to understand, monitor and advocate for food fortification, and safe and nutritious infant food as part of the food systems transformation)
      • Supporting awareness and technical capacity building of local CSOs on integrating food fortification and infant food value chains into food systems. This includes topics such as (not exhaustive) the importance of micronutrients; the need for adequate nutrient intake; the contribution of fortification to improved intake compared to other initiatives; compliance with fortification standards by industries; legislation, enforcement, and monitoring of fortification standards; technical capacities to support fortification processes;
      • Generation and dissemination of evidence related to fortification and infant food;
      • Supporting CSOs’ organisational capacity related to internal governance; programme, project and financial management.
      • Supporting CSOs’ capacity to benefit from digital tools in advocacy and in the implementation of their daily activities.
    • Under SO2: (Enhanced role of local CSOs in policy dialogue and decision-making processes at all levels through advocacy for food fortification, and safe and nutritious infant food)
      • Policy engagement and advocacy with policy and decision-makers and key stakeholders on food fortification and infant food, addressing topics such as (not exhaustive):
        • Enactment and enforcement of food fortification and infant food legislation and standards, including the integration of food fortification and infant food in agricultural value chains, and regular monitoring by responsible government institutions and compliance by industries;
        • Alignment of legislation to global and regional guidance with regard to standards, sugar-sweetened beverage, high salty product, high fat food products etc. including extent of compliance with minimum and maximum fortification standards of fortified foods at various points of distribution (production, import and on the market) by industries;
        • Endorsement by the Parliament and enforcement of Codex Alimentarius, code of breastmilk substitute and standards for infant foods, including updated complementary feeding framework that aligns to the latest guidelines;
        • Community mobilisation for demanding access to fortified foods, and participating in nutrition interventions.
        • Public awareness and industrial awareness, including SMEs awareness creation.
      • Participation of local CSOs in multi-stakeholder dialogues at all levels to exchange knowledge, forge partnerships with other actors to leverage resources, share best practices, scale up interventions, and held the actors accountable.
    • Under SO 3: (Support to local CSOs to promote equity and innovation in food fortification and infant food at district level)
      • Training and capacity building for policy makers and key stakeholders to better integrate food fortification and infant complementary food value chains into food system transformation policies, strategies, and monitoring plans.
      • Technical capacity building of CSOs that can ably engage all producers of fortified foods and/or fortificants ensuring adherence to quality procedures in their manufacturing for wider marketing of their products, partnering with research institutions, private sector actors, and government agencies to develop and test innovative approaches to improving food fortification and infant food.
      • Support to local production of or access to fortificants.
      • Resource availability to improve access to micronutrients;
      • Community mobilisation for demanding access to fortified foods, and participating in nutrition interventions.
    • Each application shall address at least two of the above-referred priorities under each objective of the selected lot.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 3,939,500. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Indicative allocation of funds by lot:
  • Lot 1: EUR 1,500,000
  • Lot 2: EUR 2,439,500
• Size of grants 
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
    • Lot 1:
      • minimum amount: EUR 1,400,000
      • maximum amount: EUR 1,500,000
    • Lot 2:
      • minimum amount: EUR 2,300,000
      • maximum amount: EUR 2,439,500

Duration 

• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 60 months.

Types of Activity 

• Lot 1
  • Workshops and training sessions, knowledge-sharing events, data collection and analysis, production of policy briefs, monitoring, awareness raising campaigns, advocacy
  • Baseline and assessments level of compliance with mandatory fortification standards across the value chain, knowledge of consumers on the role of fortified foods
  • Support CSOs initiatives to monitor the ongoing review of Nutrition policy and Food and Nutrition Bill and related guidelines and regulations, especially on food fortification and infant food and marketing of breast milk substitutes and hold government accountable
• Lot 2
  • Support access to fortificants including facilitation and start-up or upgrade of local production of fortificants.
  • Capacity assessment and capacity building of all actors to adequately implement their roles to coordinate, advocate, integrate, implement and monitor nutrition related policies and programmes in regulation, certification or enforcement of food fortification laws & guidelines and infant foods.
  • Create capacity for analysing fortified products.
  • Support CSOs in filling the gaps in the provision of communication for social behavioural change and monitoring services in the consumption and marketing of micronutrients through food fortification, fortification standards and infant foods, industries compliance and government enforcement and monitoring.

Location 

• Actions must take place in Malawi.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant (s) 
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and
    • be non-profit-making and
    • be a civil society organisation and
    • be established in Member State of the European Union or in one of the countries eligible for NDICI- Global Europe (NDICI- Global Europe Article 28 or
    • be established in the Republic of Malawi or in one of the countries eligible for NDICI-Global Europe (NDICI- Global Europe Article 28 paragraphs 1 & 2). Applicants outside of Malawi may apply only provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:
      • have a proven track record of capacity building of CSOs and other entities, preferably in food fortification and food systems approach,
      • have a proven track record of working in infant food value chain feeding, preferably in local production of fortified infant food,
    • working experience in Malawi would be considered an asset. And
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary
• Co-applicant(s) 
  • There must be partnering between International CSOs and local CSOs, ensuring that the latter build their technical capacity in the priority areas of the call. The minimum recommended number of co-applicants to be involved in the action is one.
  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.
• Affiliated entities 
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
    • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link. This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
      • Control on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
        • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or firsttier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
          • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
      • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,) as the proposed affiliated entities.

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