Grants for women-led Farmer-Based Organizations, SMEs & VSEs within Post Production Rice Value

This Project, funded by the World Bank’s Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), aims to support and Promote women-owned and women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Very Small Enterprises (VSEs) engaged in the post-production rice value chain. The initiative focuses on four countries: Guinea, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

EWASME seeks to eliminate obstacles and provide extensive support to women entrepreneurs in these regions. It prioritizes improving the processing and distribution capacities of appropriate and deserving businesses by offering them targeted capacity-building programs and matching grants. Furthermore, the project will establish connections between enterprises and private sector buyers and explore options for providing loan collateral.

This call specifically targets women-owned and women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and very small enterprises (VSEs) involved in the post-production segment of the rice value chain within the agriculture sector in Torma Bum, Bonthe District, Sierra Leone. Women-owned or led farmer-based organizations, cooperatives, SMEs, and VSEs operating in this area are invited to participate and take advantage of this transformative initiative.

Criteria

• In response to this Call for Applications, UNDP requires all Applicants to conduct themselves in a professional, objective, and impartial manner, and they must at all times hold UNDP’s interests paramount. Applicants must strictly avoid conflicts with other assignments or their interests, and act without consideration for future work.
• All Applicants found to have a conflict of interest shall be disqualified. Without limitation on the generality of the above, applicants, and any of their affiliates, shall be considered to have a conflict of interest with one or more parties in this solicitation process, if they:
  • Are or have been associated in the past, with a firm or any of its affiliates which have been engaged UNDP to provide services for the preparation of the design, Terms of Reference, and other documents to be used in this competitive selection process;
  • Were involved in the preparation and/or design of the Programme/project related to the services requested under this Call for Applications; or
  • Are found to be in conflict for any other reason, as may be established by, or at the discretion of, UNDP. In the event of any uncertainty in the interpretation of what is potentially a conflict of interest, applicants must disclose the condition to UNDP and seek UNDP’s confirmation on whether such conflict exists.
  • Are members or affiliated with a member of the selection committee.

For more information, visit UNDP.