IDH is the lead on an 18-month horticulture value chain development program in Rwanda: Horti-Export. The objectives of Horti-Export are to create new employment opportunities (with a focus on youth and women empowerment), and support the inclusion of Rwandan SMEs, cooperatives, and smallholder farmers (SHFs) into premium horticulture export value chains.
Under Horti-Export, a grant co-financing facility has been established to catalyze investments into the businesses of Rwandan SMEs: the Horti-Export Grant Facility (HGF), managed by IDH. Through the HGF, grant co-financing can be provided on a 1:1 basis against private sector investments, and up to a maximum HGF contribution of EUR 50,000. The objectives of this co-financing are to support SMEs to improve their technical and management capacity to meet export market requirements, and through this, increase the revenue flows to the cooperatives and SHFs from which these SMEs source.
The HGF will operate through a Request for Proposals, with an application window of 15 June 2021 to 13 July 2021. Selected SMEs will enter into co-financing contracts with IDH for a maximum duration of 15 months. In addition to grant co-financing support provided through the HGF, selected SMEs will also receive close technical and agronomy support from the Horti-Export implementation team.
Details on the HGF Request for Proposals relating to the application process and selection criteria can be found in the Request for Proposals note, available as a publication for download below.
A full proposal submission to the HGF needs to be based on the following templates:
- Horti-Export Narrative Proposal Template
- Horti-Export Budget Proposal Template
- Horti-Export KPI Proposal Template
For any questions on the HGF Request for proposals process or templates, please contact IDH’s Rwanda Country Coordinator, Sylvie Nirere (nirere@idhtrade.org).