The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), The Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands invite eligible organizations to respond to Water and Energy for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development (WE4F) Regional Call for Innovations 2020.

This Regional Call for Innovations is designed to address barriers to enable the production of more food with efficient and sustainable usage of water and energy, to impact food security, gender and poverty reduction in an environmentally sustainable way. 

Objectives

• WE4F hopes to expand the scale of innovations that impact the sectors food and water, food and energy or all three sectors of the nexus (food, water, energy) to increase the sustainability of agricultural food value chains, improving energy and water efficiency as well as to improve climate-resilient agriculture in developing countries and emerging markets, with a particular focus on the poor and women.
• To achieve this goal, the effort must include partners from the private sector, NGOs, other research institutions, and other donors who share the common goal of increasing food production through sustainable water and energy usage. A key consideration of this effort is to ensure that feedback loops are created that integrate local conditions and new knowledge into both national and international policy and decision-making as integrate capacity development, knowledge management and the use of investment capital in a synergistic way to create an enabling environment in countries throughout the region.

Focus Areas

WE4F aims to:

• Increase food production along the value chain through a more sustainable and efficient usage of water and/or energy.
• Increase income for ‘Base of the Pyramid’ (BOP) women and men in both rural and urban areas.
• Provide companies and organizations the technical assistance and capital they need to scale solutions to meet the challenges in the WE4F nexus.
• Promote climate and environmental resilience and biodiversity through the sustainable, holistic management of natural resources and ecosystems.

Themes

Innovations supported by Water and Energy for Food could include but are NOT limited to the themes mentioned below:

• THEME 1: Innovations in food production to reduce water usage
• THEME 2: Efficient use of water resources for food production
• THEME 3: Sustainable use of energy and water on farms
• THEME 4: Energy innovations for food processing, and/or logistics
• THEME 5: Food production with efficient energy use
• THEME 6: Leveraging food waste for energy

Funding Information

The estimated ceiling for this Call for Innovations is USD $4 million from Water and Energy for Food. Subject to the availability of funds, the individual Award(s) will range from USD $25,000 to USD $500,000. It is anticipated that 20 to 30 proposals will be funded.

Target Groups of the WE4F Grand Challenge

WE4F works with entrepreneurship and innovation through the following actors:

1. Innovators with demonstrated potential for financially sustainable scaling that have previously received support and proved successful in the go-to-market phase from either the Securing Water for Food or Powering Agriculture Grand Challenges
2. Private, for-profit companies or teams or groups within non-profits or universities which maintain their own budget and are responsible for generating revenue that have as the primary or a major part of their business model an innovative product or service that addresses the nexus of water-energy-food. These organizations can apply through the Calls for Innovation
3. Other actors that are identified on a case-by-case basis by the Regional Innovation Hub and which fit the criteria of WE4F and are crucial for the scaling of impacts.

Criteria

In this call, the applicants should adhere to the following criteria:

• Operate with a financially sustainable business model, either as a private company or a group or team within a non-profit firm or academic institution that is responsible for sustainably generating revenue and be able to demonstrate a revenue track record selling the WE4F-relevant product or service.
• Address the water-energy-food nexus challenges.
• Have a well-defined plan for expansion
• Build sustainability into the fabric of the intended expansion.
• Understand the local enabling environment for technology and business innovations.
• Promote user-centered design, not technology for the sake of technology.
• Demonstrate direct or strong indirect benefits for the poor.
• Show how their innovation benefits women.
• Have a basic understanding of ESG issues and showcase strong commitment to ESG integration into their business model.
• Have a gender balanced team which can scale up innovation in a sustainable manner.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following minimum requirements to participate in this call for Water and Energy for Food:

• Type – Water and Energy for Food is open to legally incorporated / registered for-profit businesses and not-for-profit organizations or academic institutions which are responsible for generating revenue and maintaining a self-sustaining operational budget (i.e. covering costs).
• Size – Water and Energy for Food is open to all relevant organizations / companies regardless of size. We encourage applications from small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
• Location – Geographic restrictions (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam). Applicants must be legally registered in at least one identified country. If expansion into a new country is a key part of an applicant’s business plan, they must already have partners (e.g. distributors, joint venture partners, potential merger or acquisition targets, NGOs) in place in that country to be considered. These partners must play a material role in the planned international expansion (e.g. should not be a generic, high-level relationship).
• Language – Applications responses must be written in English.
• Matching funds – Grant awardees must demonstrate matching funds;
• Impact – Applicants’ WE4F nexus-relevant products and / or services must have a direct, tangible linkage between water and / or energy and food value chains. In addition, innovations must directly or indirectly benefit the poor (e.g. offering opportunities for enhanced income or social mobility). In addition, applications must contribute to gender equality, strive for a positive impact on the environment and avoid negative environmental effects

For more information, visit Water and Energy for Food.