The call for application for the Rainforest Alliance’s Africa Cocoa Fund (ACF) Grant is ongoing. This is for certified cocoa farmers in Cote d’ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria.
This is the first call for applications, and it is open until 2020 September 30. During this first call for applications, ACF will distribute $500,000 out of the total $5 million funds. Then, there will be additional calls for applications in 2021 and 2022.
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About Africa Cocoa Fund
The Rainforest Alliance’s Africa Cocoa Fund (ACF) is a three-year, $5 million fund to support cocoa farmers and help preserve the local landscapes in West and Central Africa. It aims to create measurable, long-lasting positive impact by building the capacity of those certified cocoa farmers who most need assistance to implement the ACF certification standards for sustainable agriculture.
The initiative will also support select sustainability projects for cocoa farmers and their landscapes beyond its certification requirements, to achieve further positive impact. The fund is part of its broader measures to strengthen the cocoa sector.
Eligible Interventions To Apply For
Eligible interventions fall into two categories of primary and secondary focus. Which include;
Category A – Primary Focus
Addressing child labor; implementing child labor monitoring and remediation system, assess-and-address system, remediation actions, and gender and youth inclusion.
Geodata – location points and polygon collection; collecting location points and polygons to enable compliance with the High Conservation Value areas, forest protection, and protected area criteria of the ACF standards.
Digitization of Internal Management System (IMS) and traceability system; creating and maintaining records in digital format to increase trustworthiness and reliability of records, developing capacity for data analysis to enhance the performance of the group, enabling groups to overcome quality and business challenges by making decisions backed by data and with cross-functional visibility.
Agroforestry and shade implementation: estimating and implementing materials to meet the shade requirements, farm rejuvenation and forests restoration activities
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Category B – Secondary Focus
- Income diversification
- Skill development; Coaching and negotiations, local advocacy, IMS and personal development
- Landscape-level issues; Linking certification to landscape and communities, including the contribution of tree ownership to increased use of shade trees
- Data-driven innovative solutions and scale-up of integrated pest management, soil health, and other climate-smart strategies
- Living income; proof of concept about paying living income to farmers
Other Terms And Condition For The Africa Cocoa Fund Grants
- During the first call for applications, Rainforest Alliance will distribute US$500,000 out of the total US$5 million funds. There will be additional calls for applications in 2021 and 2022. A producer group or cooperative can receive a maximum of two ACF grants during the lifetime of the fund (but not more than one grant per one call for applications). Also, there is an expectation of a maximum of 10 awards in the first round.
- The interventions of the ACF will mostly be technical assistance. A producer group or cooperative applying for support will select an eligible intervention and provide further details on proposed activities and expected impact in the application.
- A producer group or cooperative can include several combinations of eligible interventions.
- Also, a producer group or cooperative can, under specific conditions, apply for in-kind grants such as the provision of technology or equipment. Each request will be reviewed case by case during the application process.
- One producer group or cooperative can receive a grant of US$30,000-$150,000 for all its interventions combined. This amount includes the payment for the services of implementing partners and consultants.
- Then, interventions must be implemented between 6 months to 2 years as necessary.
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The deadline for application for the Rainforest Alliance’s Africa Cocoa Fund Grant is 2020 September 30, 11:59 p.m. GMT. If you find interest in the program or know anyone that meet the criteria, use this link to learn more and apply; https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/business/sustainable-farming/africa-cocoa-fund-application/
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