SSNUP CFP Information Pack
SSNUP CFP Information Pack
SSNUP CFP Information Pack
MARCH 2024
LIST OF ACRONYMS
ESG Environment-Social-Governance
SH Smallholder household
TA Technical assistance
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. CONTEXT
The Smallholder Safety Net Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) is a 10-year programme funded by the
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg (MFEA) as Lead Donor and supported by Lux-
Development, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Liechtensteinischer
Entwicklungsdienst (LED).
The programme aims to address issues related to smallholders’ resilience and food insecurity by increasing
the amount of private capital in local agrifood systems. It relies on the knowledge, experience, and network
of impact investors (asset managers) in agriculture to identify technical assistance (TA) needs of the
aggregators in agri-food systems and implement TA projects to respond to those issues. The
aggregators/beneficiary organisations are agri-SMEs, farmer organisations, or financial intermediaries that
are current or future investees of the impact investors. They work with and serve a large number of
smallholder farmers and are uniquely positioned to contribute to improve their livelihoods and resilience.
Phase I of the Smallholder Safety Net Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) was launched in October 2020 and
will end in December 2024. As of December 2023, nine impact investors are part of the programme, 75
technical assistance (TA) projects have been approved for a total of 180 beneficiary organisations
supported with a SSNUP contribution to TA projects of € 7 million.
1.2. RATIONALE
The call for projects (CFP) is a new component within the SSNUP programme that will be launched for the
first time in 2024 and aims to provide TA funding for impact investors who are not already part of the
programme.
The objectives of the CFP are no different from that of the programme, therefore any project approved
through this new CFP must contribute to the following 3 objectives:
• Collaborate with new impact investors that are not part of the programme.
• Strengthen the regional focus of the programme in sub-Saharan Africa.
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1.3. SCOPE
The call for projects aims to contribute to the three main objectives mentioned above by co-financing TA
projects that support investees of impact investors active in strengthening agricultural value chains in Africa.
The CFP is open to impact investors currently not part of the SSNUP programme and whose investment
activities are aligned with the expectations of the programme, such as members of Council for Smallholder
Agricultural Finance (CSAF) and/or other investors interested in the programme.
The impact investors must have a focus on sub-Saharan Africa in terms of regional focus, agriculture and
the environment, food security and nutrition in terms of topics. While there are no requirements regarding
the size of their investment portfolios or the necessity of having a specialised TA Facility, commitment to
follow established technical assistance management procedures are essential and mandatory.
The TA projects submitted through the CFP should be designed by both the impact investor and their
investee while ensuring they contribute to the main objectives of SSNUP. The implementation of the TA
project should be led by the investee with support from the impact investor, who will remain the direct
counterpart of the programme. The CFP applicant is the impact investor, not the investee.
Project selection criteria are specific with regards to eligible topics, geographical focus areas, type of
beneficiary organisation (investee) and budget. Details regarding the eligibility and evaluation criteria are
provided in the following sections.
The CFP is open until 23h59 (CET) on 30/04/2024, before assessing the batch of submitted projects and
approving those that best adhere to the SSNUP objectives and criteria.
2. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
This section provides information on the eligibility criteria of the applicant, the submitted TA project and the
project related costs.
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• The impact investor has defined or is ready to define operational procedures to manage
TA projects that:
o ensure best value for money through diligent procurement to select best qualified
service providers.
o enable to monitor TA projects effectively and cost-efficiently to allow for best
results and achievement of expected deliverables.
• The impact investor is able to separate the investment activities from the TA activities in
terms of accounting and decision-making.
• The impact investor is not an existing partner of SSNUP.
4. TA project overall objectives: must contribute to at least one of the following topics: food security
and nutrition, improving smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and/or climate-resilient agriculture, gender
equality, agricultural value chain strengthening and development, and/or agroecological
transformation.
5. TA project categories (see table below for more details): the TA project can cover one or several
of the following TA categories, but cannot include only 5.4 - strengthening of internal management:
5.1. Development/improvement/delivery of responsible financial services for smallholder
farmers or other actors in agricultural value chains (credit, insurance, savings, payment
solution, etc.) (by an agri-SME or farmer organisation).
5.2. Development/improvement/delivery of non-financial services for smallholder farmers
(technical support for the adoption of environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable
practices in terms of production, sales, financial management, etc.).
5.3. Development/improvement/delivery of market building solutions to facilitate transactions
between agricultural value chain actors in order to contribute to the sustainable development
of value chains and created added value (digital platform linking producers, traders, input
providers; responsible contract farming implementation; etc.).
5.4. Strengthening of internal management processes of the beneficiary organisation to make
them more sustainable (training, coaching, advising on best operational or financial practices
aligned with ESG principles, etc.).
1 https://www.ifc.org/en/what-we-do/sector-expertise/financial-institutions/definitions-of-targeted-sectors
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Category Areas of TA interventions Beneficiaries
Technical support for the adoption of sustainable farm practices - Smallholder
Development of
non-financial
services (e.g.: climate-smart practices, agro-ecological practices, households
organic farming, renovation and rehabilitation methods, - Investees / AVC
productivity & quality improvements, technology adoption, etc.) actors
Certification support (first time certifications only)
6. Agricultural value chains: focus on food crops for local/regional markets, in order to maximise
contribution to food security. Cash crops such as coffee, cocoa, cotton, tea, tobacco are not eligible.
8. Budget: the TA project budget should only be covered by SSNUP and the investee. The SSNUP
contribution is limited to € 50,000 per project (plus management fees). The investee contribution
must be a minimum of 20% (in-kind/cash) of the total budget. More details available in section 4.
2 All types of client-centric financial services for SHs, like working capital and investment loans, leasing, warehouse
receipts, savings, life & accident insurance, and so forth that financial intermediaries can offer commercially sustainably
to SHs.
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2.3 EXCLUSION CRITERIA
Only applicants and projects that meet the required criteria will be considered.
• Applicants shall not have been the subject of bankruptcy, liquidation, judicial settlement,
safeguarding, cessation of activity or any other similar situation resulting from a similar procedure.
• Applicants must not be involved or invested in any of the following activities:
o Manufacture, sale, or distribution of armaments and/or weapons or their components,
including military supplies and equipment.
o Manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco or tobacco products.
o Involvement in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of pornography.
o Manufacture, sale, or distribution of substances subject to international bans or phaseouts,
and wildlife.
o Large scale industrial agriculture, gas/oil, and mining.
o Gambling including casinos, betting etc. (excluding lotteries with charitable objectives).
o Violation of human rights or complicity in human rights violations.
o Use or toleration of forced or compulsory labour.
o Use or toleration of child labour.
Applicants must have documents ready for confirmation that they meet the eligibility criteria including
financial statements and any other documentary evidence that might be requested besides the application
form.
1. Financial products: SSNUP will not subsidise the cost/purchasing of financial products (including
insurance premiums) or any business transactions with end clients.
2. Fixed assets (non-digital): SSNUP will not subsidise the purchasing of fixed assets including
property, equipment, vehicles, etc.
3. Digital equipment3 (hardware and software): SSNUP can co-finance the purchasing of digital
equipment (up to a maximum third of the SSNUP contribution) necessary for the implementation of
all types of projects with a digital objective (meaning the digitalisation of processes, client-facing
solutions, access to information, communication, and business transactions). In the case of
software solutions developed or improved in the context of the TA project, the intellectual property
rights should be clearly defined in the contract with the service provider developing the solution.
There are 3 options:
3.1. The software solution is made a public good and is available for free (best case).
3.2. The property rights are shared with one or more of the following entities: funders, the
coordinator (ADA), investor, and/or the investee.
3.3. The property rights remain with the developer of the solution (worst case).
3Digital equipment includes laptops, tablets, mobile phones, other hardware devises and software necessary for the
project to achieve its objectives.
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4. Recurring costs of investees: SSNUP will not cover recurring expenses of an investee. However,
in some cases, like that of certifications (see table above), SSNUP can co-finance the initial costs
if there is a clear path to sustainability.
5. Consultants: SSNUP will co-finance the cost of recruiting consultants for a project. However,
5.1. The number of consultants and days allocated should not be excessive in comparison to
the absorption capacity of the investee.
5.2. No consultants shall be co-funded who co-ordinate and/or backstop other consultants as
commonly proposed by consultancy companies.
5.3. In general, local, and regional consultants are preferred to international consultants.
However, if an international consultant is required, it is advisable to also involve a local or
regional consultant to support the implementation of the project and ensure the local
capacity is strengthened.
5.4. Travel costs must be justified for environmental reasons.
5.5. For long-term assignments, opening a new position and recruiting a new staff member by
the investee, instead of recruiting a consultant, to ensure knowledge and competencies are
internalised, is strongly preferred (see below ‘Staff costs’ for more details’).
5.6. In the case of greenfield and ‘immature’ investees (defined as either or small Tier 3
organisation, weak financial performance, slow growth path, etc.), the temporary
recruitment of a qualified specialist into a managerial function to strengthen managerial
systems, introduce new products/services with a strong focus to train local staff on-the-job
may be far more effective compared to the recruitment of short-term consultants. The co-
funding of qualified specialists in senior managerial functions is eligible for the duration of
the project depending on the needs and situation of the investee. The Terms of
Reference/job description must clearly highlight the objectives of building internal capacity
and ensuring their function can be taken over by someone internally.
5.7. Assignments allocated to consultants should always include a component of transfer of
knowledge and competencies to build internal expertise and ensure ownership of the
project. This can be done in a variety of ways such as for example individual coaching of
managers / key staff members, trainings, and workshops, shadowing the consultant on
specific assignments, etc. All this requires that the consultant is able to adapt to what suits
the investee best.
5.8. The cost of a consultant must always be justified and clearly explained in the proposal,
especially if the price is considered high.
5.9. The cost related to consultants can be estimated in the proposal if the consultant has not
yet been identified. It is advised to put a sufficiently high amount in the proposal to keep
flexibility when selecting. If the consultant has been selected already, it is important to
justify the reasoning for the selection.
6. Banking costs and transfer fees: SSNUP does not cover these types of costs as they are
considered to a part of the management fee.
Investee contribution to TA projects can be calculated as in-kind and/or cash contributions and
must follow the same guidelines as the above SSNUP contribution, apart from in the following
cases:
7. Fixed assets (non-digital): The purchasing of fixed assets including property, equipment, vehicles,
etc. can be included as part of the investee contribution as long as those assets are related to the
project in question.
8. Staff costs: Staff costs can only be included as part of the investee contribution when internal staff
provide additional added-value services in the context of the project, which are backed by
timesheets to document the allocated costs.
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3. EVALUATION CRITERIA
The evaluation will be undertaken in two steps.
Assessment
TOTAL /100
The aim of the TA projects is to not only strengthen the safety net of smallholder households, but also
increase the impact of investments of the beneficiaries and encourages investors to grow their debt and
equity investments by de-risking investments in their respective agricultural investees.
The TA project proposal should emphasise (1) the value-added for the SHs, (2) the sustainability and
strengthening of the value chain actors, and (3) the risk reduction component for investment.
• The strategy of the investee: the TA project should fit within the overall strategy of the investee to
ensure it is coherent and relevant to the objectives of the investee.
• The TA outputs, if successful and relevant, should be integrated into the business model/case of
the investee.
• Openness to share the outputs: while a lot of the outputs developed within the framework of a TA
project may be too specific to the investee’s context, some outputs (for example training curricula)
could be of great value when shared with other relevant stakeholders and the wider community.
This should be considered at the proposal stage.
• Project ownership: It should be clear in the proposal that it is the investee driving the project and
thereby taking ownership. For example, the investee could appoint a project manager whose role
is to coordinate and manage the implementation of the project.
• Environmental standards: Investees are not eligible for SSNUP support if they trade or apply
agrochemicals that are on the IFC exclusion list. Investees that trade or apply glyphosate and other
agrochemicals that are in the process of being banned in Europe for their negative environmental
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and health impacts are eligible only if SSNUP supports them towards their clearly intended
transition towards organic farm inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) and organic/agroecological/
climate smart agricultural practices in line with the 3 main objectives of Climate Smart Agriculture:
Sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; adapting and building resilience to
climate change; and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible.
• Smallholder household (SH) as key outreach target and clearer gender reference: SH is the key
target group of SSNUP as the smallest economic entity with on average 5 household members in
SSA. This avoids potential double-counting of smallholder farmers. SH outreach constitutes the
most important first-level outcome indicator for SSNUP. This also helps to avoid female farmers
outreach targets that may easily be mis-interpreted. The SH refers per se to a 50% - 50% female
– male targeting without any specific gender targeting. The gender targeting comes in, if investees
target, for example, agricultural value chains which are particular important for women and where
women control revenue or, for example, if they target women-led farm households, etc.
• Regarding the budget construction, size and investee contribution, the following elements will be
considered:
o Size of the investee, the number of SHs supported, its current financial, social, and
environmental returns/performance, and its market positioning (i.e. degree of how it can
shape/influence its value chain(s)).
o Growth potential and scalability of the investee’s business model(s) supported by the TA
and the potential outreach in reaching larger numbers of SHs.
o TA absorption capacity of the investee.
o The contribution share of the investee should be in line with its financial capabilities.
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• Once the project is completed, the SSNUP Project Completion Report, which includes narrative
information as well as data on the financials and KPIs, must be sent 2 months after the end of the
project at the latest (e.g. 15/08/2025 for a project launched on 15/12/2024). Given that the projects
have a maximum duration of 6 months, there is no reporting requirements during the
implementation stage.
• Based on the above report, the SSNUP Project Results document, which is a two-page
presentation of the project that consolidates the results and achievements of the project as well as
the lessons learnt, will be drafted by SSNUP with the support and approval of the impact investor
before publication on the SSNUP website.
4.3 BUDGET
• The TA project budget should only come from two sources:
o Contributions from SSNUP
o Contributions from the investee.
• SSNUP contribution is limited to € 50,000 per project.
• The investee contribution must be a minimum of 20% of the total budget.
• A maximum of 2 projects per eligible investor can be selected and co-funded by SSNUP.
• In addition to the abovementioned SSNUP contribution, SSNUP also offers a management fee to
the impact investor for managing the project. The management fee is calculated at 11% of the
actual expenses of the SSNUP contribution and is paid after the completion of the project.
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4.5 CONTRACTING AND FINANCING
• A partnership contract between ADA (SSNUP Programme Coordinator) and the selected applicant
will be signed once a TA project is approved.
• Disbursement of the SSNUP contribution to the TA budget in two tranches:
o 80% upon signature of the contract,
o remaining amount together with the management fees (11% of actual expenses covered
by SSNUP contribution) after approval of the final narrative and financial reports by SSNUP
Programme Coordinator.
• Contracts between the impact investor and the investee or the service provider must adhere to
requirements and procedures of the impact investor.
4.6 TIMELINE
The CFP will be open after publication on 15 March 2024. The indicative timeline provided below is subject
to change. Kindly monitor the SSNUP CFP website for up-to-date information.
For more information on SSNUP: http://www.ssnup.org and for any additional clarification, please contact:
ssnup@ada-microfinance.lu
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ANNEX 1
Annex 1 - List of 47 eligible countries
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