Deadline: 20 March 2025
UNDP, with the financial support of the Austrian Development Agency, has announced a grant competition within the framework of the “Platform No. 5: Empowering Women’s Economic Opportunities in Armenia” project.
The project will support three women entrepreneurs involved in agricultural value chains in three regions of Armenia to improve weak links in the value chains by promoting cooperation between the links in the chains. The target regions are Tavush, Lori and Vayots Dzor. One of the important conditions of the grant is that the selected project supports and contributes to the activities of other women operating in the value chain.
Funding Information
- The maximum grant budget is 50,000 USD.
- The funds expected from the grant should be directed exclusively to the investment of equipment and technological reforms. In order to effectively organize these processes, certain expenses may also be directed to strengthening professional capabilities.
- The funds provided by the grant cannot be used to finance current expenses, including rent, salaries, utility bills, advertising expenses, and other similar payments.
- The total amount of investment costs for the purchase of raw materials and renovation of the premises cannot exceed ten percent of the grant budget. Expenditures in this direction will be considered allowable if their impact is justified.
Eligibility Criteria
- Grant participants:
- Participants in the following value chains are invited to apply:
- Horticulture, fruit growing,
- Cultivation of vegetable crops, non-traditional, high-value plants,
- Grain farming,
- Cereal cultivation,
- Potato farming,
- Berry cultivation,
- Viticulture and winemaking,
- Transition from gathering to cultivated agriculture.
- Participants in the following value chains are invited to apply:
- Only legal entities and sole proprietorships founded by women are eligible to apply for the grant. In the case of entities founded by more than one individual, at least one of the co-founders must be a woman. In the event of equal conditions, preference will be given to teams consisting exclusively of female co-founders or businesses with the largest number of female co-founders.
- Please note that the applicant must have more than one year of proven entrepreneurial activity, sufficient grounds for expansion, which include: increasing turnover, growth in employees and jobs, stable sales networks, etc. All this must be supported by documents and certificates.
- It is a necessary condition that the applicant’s business project contributes to the strengthening of the mentioned value chains, in particular, the investment made will lead to systemic reform of at least one of the areas presented below in the value chain, also contributing to the advancement of other women operating in the value chain. Important prerequisites of the program are:
- Storage and preservation, establishment of cold storage facilities
- Logistics organization
- Increased sales opportunities, including branding, packaging
- Vacuum service, increasing sales markets, promoting exports
- techniques , application of modern agricultural management technologies
- Creation or improvement of recycling technologies, standardization of production processes, local and international certification
- Creation or improvement of experimental farms, nurseries, certified seed production stations for seedlings
- Supply chain improvements, including fertilizer and pesticide technologies, soil analysis laboratories, irrigation networks, increased resilience to natural disasters (e.g., anti-hail systems), etc.
- Knowledge-based and experimental modern agriculture, pest control, financial literacy training, master classes, guided consultations
- Other: please specify, presenting facts and justifications for this direction.
Application Process
- To apply, you need to fill out:
- the grant application package, which includes the application form and budget template
- submit the company registration certificate
- If available, documents, licenses, reports substantiating the activities of the enterprise
- Sufficient grounds for expansion, for example, a description of a successfully financed and implemented credit program, partnerships with other buyers/service users.
For more information, visit UNDP.