Call for grants for Circular Food MSMEs
Open Call for Grant Financing for Circular Food MSMEs
To increase the impact of the AfriFOODlinks incubation project, one Open Call is launched as part of the Cascade Fund and FSTP mechanism.
Overview
This grant will benefit Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their circularity, internal processes and the capabilities required to meet market demands for healthy and nutritious diets. The budget dedicated to the grant is €250,000 in total. To support local MSMEs in reaching this goal, the Open Call will provide financial support to:
- – MSMEs operating in the 5 Hub Cities of AfriFOODlinks (Cape Town, Ouagadougo, Kisumu, Mbale and Tunis)
- – Up to 15 businesses from each of these 5 cities making a total of up to 75 businesses reached
- – Grants between €1,000 and €50,000 will be financed.
Applications submitted to AfriFOODlinks are always free. AfriFOODlinks does not have contracts with any third parties who charge editorial services for drafting applications. We advise applicants to review information and resources provided directly by AfriFOODlinks.
The AfriFOODlinks Open Call aims to attract micro, small and medium enterprises based in the five AfriFOODlinks Hub Cities that have an active annual revenue not higher than €50,000 and have between 1 and 50 full time employees. The application must be made from an active business that operates within the Food System of that city. The target of the call is to prioritise businesses led by or benefitting youth (35-year-old and younger) and/or women.
Submissions are open until 23:59 (CAT and CET) on 17th of September 2025.
Open call in numbers
€1,000 & €50,000
per successful application
Eligibility & requirements
Main Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet all nine eligibility criteria to apply and be considered for evaluation. You can find more details about the eligibility criteria in the Guide to Application found in the “Necessary Documents” for your City
1. Applicant must have attended the AfriFOODlinks incubation and training programmes.
2. Applicant businesses are to be micro, small, medium enterprises:
- (a) of between 1 and 50 staff members;
- (b) with an active annual revenue of not more than €50,000.
3. Applicant business must be locally-owned with active operations in the AfriFOODlinks Hub Cities (Cape Town, Ouagadougou, Kisumu, Mbale and Tunis)
4. No member of the business is allowed to be employed by any sphere of government or by any entity majority owned by any sphere of government.
5. All activities must comply with EU regulations.
6. Activities funded by the submitted application cannot be double funded by another funding.
7. Proposal must be submitted by the defined deadline.
8. Applications submitted for Cape Town, Kisumu and Mbale must be in English. Applications submitted for Ouagadougou and Tunis must be in French.
9. Applicants must fill in the Application Form of their own City only.
Main Technical Requirements
Applications will be evaluated based on the following requirements:
- 1. Alignment with the AfriFOODlinks goal to increase access to healthy, safe and nutritious food in the Hub City through circular business models.
2. Formalisation stage of the business.
3. Operational capacity of the business:
– Clarity on business model, including a well-defined problem, clear market opportunity, promising circular business model with an existing customer base and a viable product or service.
4. Clear plan for growth of the business, including a compelling business plan that shows high-potential for contributing to circular economy transitions in the food system and social benefit; the 5-year growth plan measured either through staff or profitability.
5. Clear fund allocation set against a clear list of activities with respective timelines, indicating how the funds are expected to be released.
6. Focus on Youth and Women leadership in the business or in the targeted beneficiaries of the business.
Apply by Hub City
CAPE TOWN
Application must be completed in English
Necessary Documents
Below are information documents relating to the Call. You will find the Application form (a Google Form) as the second item on the list. Please study item 2a. ahead of opening the Google form in 2b. This will help you have all information ready and at hand when filling in the 2b. form. These documents are in English.
- 1. Guide to Application
- 2. Application Form for CAPE TOWN to be submitted electronically
a. Overview of questions to read in preparation for the submission
b. Google Form to be filled in and submitted as your application (it includes a number of annexures that will need to be submitted to the form in PDF format and with a size smaller than 100MB each)
- 3. Declaration of Honour (DoH) legal document accepting conditions of the call
- 4. Bank Account information only required later after a successful grant award and when entering contract with Business
- 5. Indicative Sub-Grant Agreement to be used as a guide on how a subgrant agreement will be structured after a successful grant award and when contracting with Business
- 6. AfriFOODlinks Data Management Plan for information
Contact: Tasneem Jhetam at tasneem.jhetam@pulse-group.org
OUAGADOUGOU
Application must be completed in French
Necessary Documents:
Below are information documents relating to the Call. You will find the Application form (a Google Form) as the second item on the list. Please study item 2a. ahead of opening the Google form in 2b. This will help you have all information ready and at hand when filling in the 2b. form. These documents are in French.
- 1. Guide to Application
- 2. Application Form for OUAGADOUGOU to be submitted electronically
a. Overview of questions to read in preparation for the submission
b. Google Form to be filled in and submitted as your application (it includes a number of annexures that will need to be submitted to the form in PDF format and with a size smaller than 100MB each)
- 3. Declaration of Honour (DoH) legal document accepting conditions of the call
- 4. Bank Account information only required later after a successful grant award and when entering contract with Business
- 5. Indicative Sub-Grant Agreement to be used as a guide on how a subgrant agreement will be structured after a successful grant award and when contracting with Business
- 6. AfriFOODlinks Data Management Plan for information
Contact: Safoura Kassamba at safourakass@yahooo.fr
KISUMU
Application must be completed in English
Necessary Documents
Below are information documents relating to the Call. You will find the Application form (a Google Form) as the second item on the list. Please study item 2a. ahead of opening the Google form in 2b. This will help you have all information ready and at hand when filling in the 2b. form. These documents are in English.
- 1. Guide to Application
- 2. Application Form for KISUMU to be submitted electronically
a. Overview of questions to read in preparation for the submission
b. Google Form to be filled in and submitted as your application (it includes a number of annexures that will need to be submitted to the form in PDF format and with a size smaller than 100MB each)
- 3. Declaration of Honour (DoH) legal document accepting conditions of the call.
- 4. Bank Account information only required later after a successful grant award and when entering contract with Business
- 5. Indicative Sub-Grant Agreement to be used as a guide on how a subgrant agreement will be structured after a successful grant award and when contracting with Business
- 6. AfriFOODlinks Data Management Plan for information
Contact: Carolyne Odera at carol@wisehubfoundation.org
MBALE
Application must be completed in English
Necessary Documents
Below are information documents relating to the Call. You will find the Application form (a Google Form) as the second item on the list. Please study item 2a. ahead of opening the Google form in 2b. This will help you have all information ready and at hand when filling in the 2b. form. These documents are in English.
- 1. Guide to Application
- 2. Application Form for MBALE to be submitted electronically
a. Overview of questions to read in preparation for the submission
b. Google Form to be filled in and submitted as your application (it includes a number of annexures that will need to be submitted to the form in PDF format and with a size smaller than 100MB each)
- 3. Declaration of Honour (DoH) legal document accepting conditions of the call.
- 4. Bank Account information only required later after a successful grant award and when entering contract with Business
- 5. Indicative Sub-Grant Agreement to be used as a guide on how a subgrant agreement will be structured after a successful grant award and when contracting with Business
- 6. AfriFOODlinks Data Management Plan for information
Contact: Lucy Asiimwe at lasiimwe@shona.co.
TUNIS
Application must be completed in French
Necessary Documents
Below are information documents relating to the Call. You will find the Application form (a Google Form) as the second item on the list. Please study item 2a. ahead of opening the Google form in 2b. This will help you have all information ready and at hand when filling in the 2b. form. These documents are in French.
- 1. Guide to Application
- 2. Application Form for TUNIS to be submitted electronically
a. Overview of questions to read in preparation for the submission
b. Google Form to be filled in and submitted as your application (it includes a number of annexures that will need to be submitted to the form in PDF format and with a size smaller than 100MB each)
- 3. Declaration of Honour (DoH) legal document accepting conditions of the call
- 4. Bank Account information only required later after a successful grant award and when entering contract with Business
- 5. Indicative Sub-Grant Agreement to be used as a guide on how a subgrant agreement will be structured after a successful grant award and when contracting with Business
- 6. AfriFOODlinks Data Management Plan for information
Contact: Rabeb Ouni at rouni@hivos.org