Background

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) brings together human, financial, and technical resources to address some of the challenges faced by the poorest and most marginalized communities in the world. Special emphasis is placed on investing in human potential, expanding opportunity and improving the overall quality of life, especially for women and girls. The Foundation primarily works across seven thematic areas – agriculture and food security; climate resilience; education; early childhood development; work and enterprise; health, nutrition, and WASH; and the strengthening of community institutions to lead development interventions. AKF is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of 11 development agencies addressing the needs of poor and marginalized communities in more than thirty countries where it operates.  

AKF started its operations in India in 1978, and today implements programs in both rural and urban areas across six states (Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Delhi). 

About the CLIMATE SMART BUSINESS CHALLENGE FACILITY (CSBCF)

The Climate Smart Business Challenge Facility (CSBCF) is a pilot project implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation 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.

The CSBCF identifies and supports small and growing businesses (SGBs) by providing access to (i) much needed financing to leverage additional private sector capital; and (ii) technical support for innovative ideas and solutions to adapt to the consequences of climate change in Central and South Asia. The facility envisions the  creation of incentives for SGBs to become champions of green practices and optimize the potential of the private sector to contribute towards climate resilience in Central and South Asia. 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 objective of this Call for Proposals is to invite SGBs to pitch their innovative ideas for enhancing climate resilience. 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  country context given the 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.

Size of the grant financing

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 INR 9,00,000 (EUR 10,000) and the maximum threshold for grant financing for an SGB is INR 67,50,000 (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.

What is Innovation?

The Facility defines innovation as developing new and/or refining/adapting existing practices, goods, services, and technologies that have potential to address issues related to the impacts of climate change in the country  more effectively than existing approaches. A pre-requisite for an idea to be categorized as an innovation is that it recognizes and addresses, where possible, the sensitive needs of marginalized groups such as women, children and senior citizens. As such, an idea that negatively impacts marginalized groups cannot be categorized as innovative based on CSBCF’s criterion. The Facility focuses on supporting highly innovative climate-smart solutions and refrains from funding the replication or scaling up of existing, proven solutions. Therefore, proposed innovations must not yet be considered commercially viable, thus not qualifying for loans or repayable capital due to innovation risks, justifying the use of grant subsidies. Despite their status, solutions should have the potential to become viable and scalable after successful pilot testing as evidenced by documented technical and financial results.

Thematic Focus

 Innovative solutions that fulfill all requirements below 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 is sustainable and can be scaled up after the duration of the 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., increased productivity per feed, changed diets)
• Increased landscape carbon sequestration (e.g., through micro forests, carbon shields)

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., increased productivity per feed, changed diets)
• Increased landscape carbon sequestration (e.g., through micro forests, carbon shields)

Proposal submission deadline

All proposals should be submitted by applicants via e-mail to: climate.facility@akdn.org. Submission documents must be in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PDF format. Proposals are required to be in English.

The deadline for the submission of project applications is May 22, 2023, 11:59pm IST

No exceptions will be made on the deadline or document formats. Applicants are encouraged to submit a few days earlier than the deadline.

Applicants will receive an acknowledgement email upon confirmation of receipt.

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