Subscribe our Weekly Newsletter
Applications Invited for Water & Energy for Food Grand Challenge-Call for Innovations & Prizes 2020
Organization: Water and Energy for Food (WE4F)
Apply By: 15 Dec 2020
Grant Amount: 500000 USD
About the Organization:
WE4F is a joint international initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands, Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The WE4F program capitalizes on the learnings from Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) and Securing Water for Food (SWFF) Grand Challenge. The program is focused on environmentally sustainable innovations aiming to improve energy and water efficiency in the agricultural sector.
WE4F Program Rationale and Objectives
WE4F hopes to expand the scale of innovations that impact the sectors food and water, food and energy or all three sectors of the nexus (food, water, energy) to increase the sustainability of agricultural food value chains, improving energy and water efficiency as well as to improve climate resilient agriculture and sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity in developing countries and emerging markets, with a particular focus on the poor and women.
To achieve this goal, the effort must include partners from the private sector, NGOs, other research institutions, and other donors who share the common goal of increasing food production through sustainable water and energy usage.
They are looking for innovators with a track record of successful sales and intending to expand their businesses or organizations commercially, using a for profit business model and the addition of outside investment capital, and which will utilize WE4F grant funding as a catalyst attract investors, commercial value chain participants and other relevant partners to help expand to wide-scale adoption of an innovation and attract private capital.
Target Groups of the WE4F Grand Challenge
WE4F works with entrepreneurship and innovation through the following actors:
- Innovators with demonstrated potential for financially sustainable scaling that have previously received support and proved successful in the go-tomarket phase from either the Securing Water for Food or Powering Agriculture Grand Challenges (for a detailed description of the selection criteria see Terms of Reference of the regional innovation hubs on the WE4F website).
- Private, for-profit companies or teams or groups within non-profits or universities which maintain their own budget and are responsible for generating revenue that have as the primary or a major part of their business model an innovative product or service that addresses the nexus of waterenergy-food. These organizations can apply through the Calls for Innovation.
- Other actors that are identified on a case-by-case basis by the Regional Innovation Hub and which fit the criteria of WE4F and are crucial for the scaling of impacts.
Through their support for innovations, WE4F expects to target poor women and men smallholder farmers and others working in all parts of the agriculture value chain. Specifically, our interventions will help companies and organizations providing nexus-relevant products and services reach women and the poor as commercial customers, equipping them with the means to achieve greater earnings and social mobility.
Goal and Focus Areas
WE4F aims to:
- Increase food production along the value chain through a more sustainable and efficient usage of water and / or energy.
- Increase income for ‘Base of the Pyramid’ (BOP) women and men in both rural and urban areas.
- Provide companies and organizations the technical assistance and capital they need to sustainably scale solutions to meet the challenges in the WE4F nexus.
- Promote climate and environmental resilience and biodiversity through the sustainable, holistic management of natural resources and ecosystems.
Thematic Areas in Which Innovation Is Needed
The WE4F Founding Partners have identified priority thematic areas in which innovation is urgently needed as mentioned below. Innovations supported by Water and Energy for Food COULD INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO the themes mentioned below:
- THEME 1: Innovations in food production to reduce water usage
- THEME 2: Efficient use of water resources for food production
- THEME 3: Sustainable use of energy and water on farms
- THEME 4: Energy innovations for food processing, and / or logistics
- THEME 5: Food production with efficient energy use
- THEME 6: Leveraging food waste for energy
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet the following minimum requirements to participate in this call for Water and Energy for Food:
- Type – Water and Energy for Food is open to legally incorporated / registered for-profit businesses and not-for-profit organizations or academic institutions which are responsible for generating revenue and maintaining a self-sustaining operational budget (i.e. covering costs).
- Size – Water and Energy for Food is open to all relevant organizations / companies regardless of size. We encourage applications from small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
- Location – See Appendix 1 for geographic restrictions. Applicants must be legally registered in at least one identified country. If expansion into a new country is a key part of an applicant’s business plan, they must already have partners (e.g. distributors, joint venture partners, potential merger or acquisition targets, NGOs) in place in that country to be considered. These partners must play a material role in the planned international expansion (e.g. should not be a generic, high-level relationship).
- Language – Applications responses must be written in English.
- Matching funds – Grant awardees must demonstrate matching funds; see Section I.B.3.B for details.
- Impact – Applicants’ WE4F nexus-relevant products and / or services must have a direct, tangible linkage between water and / or energy and food value chains.
In addition, innovations must directly or indirectly benefit the poor (e.g. offering opportunities for enhanced income or social mobility). In addition, applications must contribute to gender equality, strive for a positive impact on the environment and avoid negative environmental effects.
Water and Energy for Food specifically encourages applications from women-owned / women-led enterprises and developing country entrepreneurs.
Award and Administration Information
- Award: Although there are multiple international government and private sector partners contributing financial and technical resources to Water and Energy for Food, all awards made through this competition will be made and administered by the WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH implemented by Tetra Tech ES, Inc. The WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH may (i) reject any or all proposals, (ii) accept more than one proposal, and (iii) waive informalities and minor irregularities in proposals received. Awards made through this Regional Call for Innovations may be in the form of grants or other awards- depending on the nature of the submitting organization and the proposal.
- WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH Management of Activities: The WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH Manager shall serve as the primary agreement contact between the WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH and the recipient of the Award.
- Award Administration: Award administration will be determined at time of award based on the mechanism chosen by the WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH.
Funding Information
- Funds may be provided in increments subject to availability of funds, successful implementation and continued relevance to the WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH. the WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH’s obligation to make awards is contingent upon the availability of sufficient appropriated and partner funds from which payment can be made and the receipt of proposals that the WE4F S/SE ASIA RIH determines are acceptable for Award under this Call for Innovations.
Award Budgets
- The estimated ceiling for this Call for Innovations is USD $4 million from Water and Energy for Food. Subject to the availability of funds, the individual Award(s) will range from USD $25,000 to USD $500,000. It is anticipated that 20 to 30 proposals will be funded.
Prospective Applicants who have questions concerning the contents of this Call for Innovations must submit them in writing no later than November 16, 2020 at 5:00 PM GMT+7 to WE4FAsiaBids@tetratech.com.
Deadline: December 15, 2020 at 5:00 PM GMT+7
For more information please check the Link
Latest Online Store
Latest Tenders And EOIs
© Renalysis Consultants Pvt Ltd