Deadline: 15 April 2020

The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is inviting applicants for support of commodity development activities in its member countries.

The CFC provides a range of financial and technical instruments in support or business activities contributing to commodity sector development in Developing Countries. Examples include agriculture, commodity value addition and trade, minerals and metals. Besides generating a viable financial return, eligible activities should also deliver a measurable social and environmental impact.

Objectives

CFC supports activities which promote the contribution of the commodity sector to achieving the SDGs in CFC member countries including the following aspects:

• Social: Create employment (particularly for youth and women), provide sustained increase in household incomes, reduce poverty, and enhance food security.
• Economic: Enhance production and productivity, achieve higher local value addition; improve competitiveness of producers, producer organisations and small and medium sized industries, support the financial sector development.
• Environmental: Enhance production taking into account the environment and its long-term possibilities for the same, or increased use of productive resources while maintaining or reducing the impact on the environment.

The CFC supports the implementation of activities along the value chain that:

• Are innovative, scalable and replicable.
• Are financially sustainable.
• Have a potential measurable positive socio-economic and environmental impact on the stakeholders in commodity value chains as compared to the prevailing baseline situation.
• Develop stronger connections with existing markets or create new markets along the value chain.
• Increase financial or other services available for commodity producers and commodity-based businesses.
• Enhance knowledge generation and information dissemination.
• Build effective and cost-efficient collaboration between producers, industry, governments, civil society organisations and other stakeholders for commodity-based development.
• Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural value chains Inter alia including climate change and energy-related sensitive components as appropriate.

Eligibility Criteria     

All legal public and private entities are eligible to apply under this Call for Proposals, provided they:

• Operate in commodity value chains in CFC member countries (mentioned below) or provide financial services to micro, small and medium sized businesses operating in these value chains.
• Have a proven relevant track record of sound financial operations in their current and/or proposed activities over a period of at least 3 years, which can be documented by means of (audited) financial statements.
• Share CFC’s values, including internationally recognized principles concerning human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption as reflected in the United Nations Global Compact.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can download the application form available on the given website.

Eligible Countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

For more information, please visit http://www.common-fund.org/call-for-proposals/