Greener Futures: Sustainable Agribusiness and Climate-Smart Agriculture Program in Zimbabwe

Deadline: 17-Feb-25

Through this call for proposals, the EU and the Government of Zimbabwe aim at stimulating the growth of climate-smart agri-business, enhancing the resilience of agricultural value chains, and integrating renewable energy solutions, thereby supporting the sector’s productivity and adaptability to environmental challenges.

Within a landscape approach, the EU seeks to reinforce agro-ecological systems, enhance agri-business development, and promote renewable energy adoption within the agricultural sector, aiming to create synergies between environmental stewardship and economic growth that benefit communities across Zimbabwe. This initiative contributes to the Team Europe Initiative on “Greener and Climate Smart Agriculture.

Objectives

• The global objective of this call for proposals is: to support greener and sustainable agri-business and climate resilience in Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector.
• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are:
  • To promote climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable value chains by fostering the adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices, enhancing market linkages, and developing inclusive agri-business hubs that empower smallholder farmers, especially women and youth.
  • To “green” agricultural production processes by integrating renewable energy and upgrading infrastructure / equipment to improve the efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness of agri-business hubs, with a focus on drought-resistant crops and climate adaptation.

Priorities

• The priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • Climate resilience and adaptation: Proposals should promote the production of drought-resistant crops and traditional grains, integrating CSA practices, and fostering market linkages. They should focus on activities that increase the climate resilience of agricultural practices, such as the adoption of drought-resistant crops, water-efficient irrigation systems, and soil conservation techniques. Projects should demonstrate a clear strategy for integrating CSA principles to enhance the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers and the broader agricultural sector; and
  • Value Chain Development and Agri-business Hubs: Proposals should aim at developing or strengthening drought-resistant agricultural value chains that are sustainable, inclusive, and profitable. This includes the establishment or enhancement of agri-business hubs in strategic locations that offer high value-addition potential for drought-resistant agricultural value chains, providing essential services and infrastructure to support sustainable agri-business models. While supporting production, the agri-business centres will provide services such as processing, storage, and access to markets, thereby adding value to agricultural products and stimulating local economies. Focus should be on drought-resistant crops and traditional grains. However, to account for their seasonal nature, other complementary products may also be included in the agri-business hubs to maintain a continuous flow of services and market access throughout the year; and
  • Renewable energy integration and infrastructure support: Proposals should also prioritize the greening of production and value addition processes through the use of renewable energy solutions, particularly within the drought-resistant crops value chain. Additionally, projects should support key areas such as water management, small-scale irrigation, transport, power, communications, agro-processing capacity, market access, and agricultural knowledge, technology, and information systems to enhance the overall efficiency and sustainability of agri-business hubs; and
  • Capacity building and inclusive growth: Proposals should include targeted capacity-building activities that empower smallholder farmers and key agri-business actors to engage in and benefit from agri-business opportunities. This may involve training programs, the establishment of farmer groups, and the provision of technical assistance to improve agricultural productivity and business management skills. Proposals are expected to prioritize the full participation and empowerment of women and youth, actively promoting gender equality and youth involvement in the agricultural sector.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 15,000,000.
• Size of grants
  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must not exceed the below maximum amount:
    • maximum amount: EUR 5,000,000
    • minimum amount: EUR 3,750,000

Duration

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

Location

• Actions must take place in Zimbabwe, along agricultural corridors offering the highest value-addition and commercial potential.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and
    • be non-profit-making and
    • be a non-governmental organization
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union, or  in Zimbabwe, or in another country which is a eligible under the NDICI – Global Europe
    • 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)
  • 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.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator).

For more information, visit EC.