Sustainable Energy for Smallholder Farmers (SEFFA) Innovation Fund in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda
The Sustainable Energy for Smallholder Farmers (SEFFA) project in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda is calling for proposals for innovations on renewable energy business cases in agriculture.
Eligible applicants, local or regional (East African) organisations, such as NGOs, companies and social enterprises can submit concept notes.
The fund will disburse grants of around € 22,500 to four successful applicants per country.
If you think you can contribute with innovative ideas to productive use of renewable energy for agricultural development, the SEFFA innovation Fund would like to receive your application.
The calls for concept notes are open until 7th March for Uganda, 21st March for Kenya and 11th April for Ethiopia. Applications are submitted electronically: Download the application form below, fill it completely and send it to seffa-innovation@giz.de with a copy of the legal registration of the organisation in the target country.
Please consult the Guide for Applicants and the note on the thematic focus for further information, like the requirements for eligible entities, funding information, etc.
Upcoming Webinars
A webinar to address questions and provide further clarifications will be offered specific to each country on the following dates and times:
- The webinar for Uganda: Thursday 24 February 2022 at 15:00-16:00 EAT
- The webinar for Kenya: Tuesday 15 March 2022 at 15:00-16:00 EAT
- The webinar for Ethiopia: Thursday 31 March 2022 at 15:00-16:00 EAT
You may register for the webinar in your country by sending an email to seffa-innovation@giz.de, including your full name and the name of your company/organization. If you have any questions that are not addressed in the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section below, please feel free to email them to us before the webinar so that we may prepare for them.
Downloads
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Sustainable Energy for Smallholder Farmers (SEFFA) project?
The project “Sustainable Energy for Smallholder Farmers (SEFFA) in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda’’ addresses the lack of access to sustainable, affordable, and renewable energy technologies for Productive Use of Energy (PUE) along the agricultural sector. Therefore, the project promotes the distribution and use of solar energy and services focused on solar irrigation, solar cooling, and solar drying, to increase production, improve processing. This will reduce post-harvest losses for the smallholder farming households and the related agri-businesses in the horticultural and dairy value chains. The project was initiated by EnDev and is co−financed by the IKEA Foundation.
More information on the SEFFA project is available here.
2. What is the SEFFA Innovation Fund?
The SEFFA Innovation Fund aims to accelerate innovative business cases for renewable energy technologies for productive use of energy in the agricultural sector in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. The SEFFA Innovation Fund is managed by EnDev and co-financed by the IKEA Foundation.
3. What is the thematic focus of the SEFFA Innovation Fund?
The SEFFA Innovation Fund aims to accelerate PUE business cases that are at a concept stage. The innovations must contribute to SEFFA objective of improving the productivity and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the dairy and horticultural value chains. The fund will provide small grants on a competitive basis to support local, innovative PUE business models which have the potential to be scaled and are related to the following PUE technologies:
- Solar irrigation for horticulture and livestock
- Solar drying for horticulture
- Solar cooling for horticulture and dairy
- Renewable energy community hub
Alignment to the SEFFA project is an important criterion for assessment. Please consult the Note on the Thematic Focus for more information.
4. What innovations is the SEFFA Innovation Fund looking for?
Submissions must be innovative, meaning different from business as usual and additional to existing markets, products and services. The innovations may be technology related but may also be related to processes such as business models, new forms of cooperation, innovative finance.
The innovations have to contribute to SEFFA objective of improving the productivity and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the dairy and horticultural value chains. The innovations have to support the following renewable energy services and small-scale PUE technologies: solar irrigation, solar cooling, and solar drying.
5. What are the implementation countries?
Since the SEFFA project is implemented in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda the SEFFA Innovation Fund will cover these three countries.
6. Who can apply?
Eligible applicants are local or regional (East African) organisations including NGOs, private sector, knowledge organisations, etc. – youth groups and women led ventures are especially encouraged to apply. Governmental organisations are not eligible to apply.
For organisations interested in applying with partners, only one primary applicant should apply. Each organisation can submit maximum one submission as the primary applicant for each country.
Each application can only target one of the three countries, multi-country applications are not accepted.
7. What funding and support do successful applicants receive?
The Innovation Fund will select around four successful applicants per country for grants of €22.500 per applicant to implement the proposed pilot project. Co-funding and own financial contributions in the project formulation are encouraged but not compulsory. Implementation of the proposed pilot project may take up to 12 months.
During implementation, the grantees will be monitored by and receive technical support in the form of advisory services from the GIZ or SNV country team. The support also serves to stimulate learning and disseminating lessons, communication, link the innovation and other SEFFA activities and identifying opportunities for scaling up.
8. How do I apply?
The innovation fund assesses applications on a competitive basis. First, applicants are invited to submit a concept note for an open call for innovations. Following that, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal.
To apply send your Concept Note application form and proof of legal registration in the target country to seffa-innovation@giz.de by the deadline:
- For Uganda: 12:00 EAT on 7 March
- For Kenya: 12:00 EAT on 21 March
- For Ethiopia: 12:00 EAT on 11 April
9. What are the eligibility criteria for applications?
Organisations need to be legally registered in the targeted country, with an active country presence (e.g. an office, ongoing activities in country), and at least one year of working experience with renewable energy for agriculture or related areas.
Organisations that already work with or are looking to work with the SEFFA project can also participate in the competition. Organisations may apply with partners, but with a sole primary applicant. Co-funding and own financial contributions in the project formulation are encouraged but not compulsory. A maximum of one submission will be considered per applicant.
10. When can I apply?
The first step in participating in the SEFFA Innovation Fund is submitting a concept note. Please consult the Guide for Applicants for more information and a more detailed timeframe.
The deadline for submitting a concept note for Uganda is 7 March 2022 at 12:00 EAT. The expected implementation time of your pilot project is from June 2022 to June 2023.
The deadline for submitting a concept note for Kenya is 21 March at 12:00 EAT. The expected implementation time of your pilot project is from July 2022 to July 2023.
The deadline for submitting a concept note for Ethiopia is 11 April 2022 at 12:00 EAT. The expected implementation time of your pilot project is from August 2022 to August 2023.
Disclaimer: in case of an overwhelming interest for the fund shortly after its launch, it may happen that the indicative evaluation periods are not always respected.
11. How will the applications be evaluated?
The applications will be evaluated by a Selection Panel with specialists and be based on the following criteria:
Criterion Weight
Impact and scalability 25
Degree of innovation 25
Team and partnerships 15
Alignment with SEFFA activities 25
Youth and women involvement 10
Please consult the Guide for Applicants for more information about the evaluation.
12. What happens if my application is successful and I am selected for a grant?
Before signing the final contact, we will conduct a due diligence check of your organisation to verify and ensure that your organisation is able to implement the proposed project. This may take around two months. If all is in order you will be able to implement your proposal during a pilot project of maximum 12 months. During implementation you will be monitored by and receive technical support from the GIZ or SNV country team.
13. I am interested, what are the next steps, what should I do?
If you are interested, please use the Application Form for Uganda, Kenya or Ethiopia and send your application to seffa-innovation@giz.de by the deadline for the targeted country:
- For Uganda: 12:00 EAT on 7 March
- For Kenya: 12:00 EAT on 21 March
- For Ethiopia: 12:00 EAT on 11 April
14. I represent a donor and I love the idea, who should I contact?
If you are interested in learning more and/or supporting the (scaling up) of the innovations, please contact us at seffa-innovation@giz.de.
