Innovation Fund - Call for Proposals

Women Empowerment Through Gender-Transformative Market Opportunities (WEGO) Program 

The Women's Empowerment through Gender-Transformative Market Opportunities (WEGO) is a 5-year program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by CARE Ethiopia in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture. It focuses on strengthening institutional gender capacities and increasing incomes for 5,200 women farmers through market-driven interventions in selected horticulture (avocado, onion, tomato) and livestock (dairy, poultry, small ruminants) value chains across four woredas in Amhara (North Mecha and Fogera) and Sidama (Wondogenet and Shebedino) regions of Ethiopia.

The WEGO Innovation Fund is a competitive financing mechanism that provides grant capital to test, validate and scale up innovative solutions addressing systemic gender constraints faced by women in these focus value chains. By incentivizing promising technologies, business models, practices and partnerships, the fund aims to empower women to equitably participate in and benefit from agricultural market systems.

The WEGO program is pleased to announce a call for proposals for its Innovation Fund.

Award Information:

-         Potential awardees: Primary producers award and private sector_service and support providers and buyers

-         Award ceiling: Minimum of USD 5,000 and maximum will be determined depending on quality and impact of proposal and decided case-by-case basis

-         Cost sharing requirement: Minimum of 30-70% cost share expected from applicants but it will be solicited on a case-by-case basis

-         Project duration: until April 31, 2026

Eligible Applicants:

Category A: Primary Producers

-         Women farmers, traders, women farmer cooperatives, cooperatives, women's self-help groups, and youth innovation hubs working in the focus value chains of WEGO.

Category B: Private sector actors, service providers, support providers and buyers

-         Private firms, technology companies, private enterprises, financial service providers, advisory service providers, research/academic institutions, associations, social enterprises (in some cases NGOs) offering a range of efficiency enhancing tools and technologies, including digital solutions for women farmers across the target value chains

-         Individual women entrepreneurs and MSMEs, start-ups, exporters, commercial farms, agro-processors, wholesalers, supermarkets, institutional buyers, etc

-         Any other relevant entities with synergies to and supporting WEGO focused value chains

Priority Innovation Areas:

-         Technologies, digital based solutions/services and practices enhancing women's production, productivity and income in the focus value chains

-         Women-led enterprises and business models across input supply, value addition, marketing etc 

-         Climate-smart and labor-saving solutions including solar powered productive use appliances and hybrid technologies enhancing women's productivity and resilience 

-         Market linkages, supply chains and tailored financial products benefiting women

-         Skills development, capacity building, extension advisory service models serving women 

-         Other innovative approaches unlocking key gender barriers identified

How to Apply

Download the full WEGO Innovation Fund Request for Applications with details on eligibility, application process and templates from http://careethiopia.afrotender.com

Submit completed applications by and before June 10, 2024 to WEGOInnovationfundapplications@CareInternational.onmicrosoft.com  

For more details on the application process and any queries, please contact via same email or phone call

-         0911059504/0921574818/0923239800 for applicats form Addis and surrounding

-         0916332092 for Hawassa/Sidama and surrounfig areas and

-         0918011526 for BahirDar and surrounding area

Stay tuned! We look forward to receiving your innovative proposals.