The Africa Cocoa Fund: Call for Applications and Q&A

The Rainforest Alliance’s Africa Cocoa Fund (ACF) is a three-year, $5 million fund to support cocoa farmers and help preserve the local landscapes in West and Central Africa. It aims to create measurable, long-lasting positive impact by building the capacity of those certified cocoa farmers who most need assistance to implement our certification standards for sustainable agriculture. The ACF will also support select sustainability projects for cocoa farmers and their landscapes beyond our certification requirements, to achieve further positive impact. The fund is part of our broader measures to strengthen the cocoa sector.

Call for applications 2021

Are you a smallholder producer group or cooperative certified and/or a member of the UTZ or Rainforest Alliance certification system?

Do you want to improve your capacity to implement data-driven and risk-based innovations to improve your certification process and create positive impact for the longer term for your members?

Apply for the Africa Cocoa Fund from May 24^th  to July 7^th  2021

The Africa Cocoa Fund (ACF) has been set up to provide financial and technical assistance to:

1. Create measurable, long-lasting positive impact by building the capacity of those certified cocoa farmers who most need assistance to implement our certification standards for sustainable agriculture
2. Support sustainability projects for cocoa farmers and their landscapes beyond our certification requirements.

Through ACF’s support, certified smallholder producer groups, cooperatives and farmers or vulnerable members  who need support  will become empowered to monitor their performance, improving their ability to use and access data and enhance their capacity to make informed decisions for their long-term continuous improvement.

During this time window, the ACF encourages members and groups with common sustainability issues or challenges and who are operating in the same geographical area to consider sending joint applications.

You can apply if you are located in:

• Côte d’Ivoire
• Ghana
• Cameroon
• Nigeria

AND

you are a member or certificate holder or smallholder producer group with limited technical assistance support through supply chain partners or other channels

OR

you are member or certificate holder or smallholder producer group that already had ample access to technical assistance or you’re a private  cooperative. Your application will be considered if a) there is additional 1:1 co-financing by a supply chain actor or if b) the initiative is part of a Public-Private Partnership.

All projects under the ACF will be driven by farmers and intend to create positive impact for the longer term.

Which interventions can a producer group or cooperative apply for?

Two categories of interventions are available to be supported through the ACF as laid below.

A producer group or cooperative can select several combinations of these eligible interventions or propose other types of intervention for which they require funding.

Category A – Primary focus

Interventions that support and build the capacity of certified cocoa farmers in West and Central Africa, who most need assistance to implement our standards and assurance requirements.

• A1. Addressing child labor: implementing CLMRS, Assess & Address, Remediation actions, and gender & youth inclusion 
• A2. Geodata – location points and polygon collection: collecting location points and polygons to enable compliance with the High Conservation Value (HCV) areas, forest protection and protected area criteria of the standard   
• A3. Digitization of IMS and traceability system: creating and maintaining records in digital format to increase trustworthiness and reliability of records, developing capacity for data analysis to enhance performance of the group, enabling groups to overcome quality and business challenges by making decisions backed by data and with cross-functional visibility.

Category B – Secondary focus

Interventions that go beyond the requirements of our certification programs, but that are aligned with our organizational strategy and core intervention.

• B1. Income diversification
• B2. Skill development: coaching and negotiations, local advocacy, Internal Management System (IMS) and personal development
• B3. Landscape level issues: linking certification to landscape and communities including contribution of tree ownership to increased use of shade trees
• B4. Data-driven innovative solutions and scale up of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), soil health and other climate-smart strategies
• B5. Living income: proof of concept about paying living income to farmers                                                                                  

Which other terms and conditions apply to the ACF grants?

During this second call for applications we’ll distribute US$1,350,000 out of the total US$5 million fund. There will be additional calls for applications later this year and in 2022.            A producer group or cooperative can receive maximum two ACF grants during the lifetime of the fund (but not more than one grant per application period).

We expect a maximum of 20 awards this round

• The interventions of the ACF will mostly be technical assistance. A producer group or cooperative applying for support will select an eligible intervention and provide further details on proposed activities and expected impact in the application.
• A producer group or cooperative can include several combinations of eligible interventions.
• A producer group or cooperative can, under specific conditions, apply for in-kind grants such as the provision of technology or equipment. For more information about these specific conditions, please contact us directly at acf@ra.org Each request will be reviewed case by case during the application process.
• One producer group or cooperative can receive a grant of US$30,000-150,000 for a project. This amount includes the payment for the services of implementing partners and consultants.
• Interventions must be implemented between 6 months to 2 years after contracting.

What are the criteria for assessment and selection of grantees?

The following selection criteria will be used to assess and rate intervention applications:

• 40% – Relevance and alignment with priority intervention areas of the ACF
• 30% – Positive impact and sustainability of the intervention
• 30% – Cost-effectiveness, financial and operational potentials of a group

What to expect after submitting the ACF application?

1. All applications received will be reviewed by our Project Manager (PM), in consultation with other Rainforest Alliance staff. Following this, the PM will share the selection results with applicants from July 12^th to 30^th, 2021.
2.  Together with the Rainforest Alliance staff, the PM will work with selected applicants to select an implementing partner (IP) or consultant (C).
3. Together, the selected applicant and the IP/C will co- develop the intervention, strengthening the proposal and will agree on a logical framework and budget for implementation.
4. Rainforest Alliance will conduct due diligence on the producer group or cooperative and a written contract will be signed by all the partners to clearly define roles and responsibilities.

How and when can I submit my application?

Please visit ra.org/acf to complete our application form in either English or French.

The deadline for the submission of applications is July 7^th 2021.

For further clarification, please send an email to us at acf@ra.org.

Certified groups or cooperatives or members interested in applying for funding are encouraged to contact us as soon as possible. We can help by sense-checking ideas and highlighting synergies with other initiatives within and outside your location.

General questions about the Africa Cocoa Fund