The Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) is focused on improving the livelihood and empowering small-scale rice farmers in Sub-Sahara Africa. The selected region includes four African Countries, namely Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania while the targeted states of Nigeria include Niger State, Kogi State (First-tier) Benue State, Taraba State, Nasarawa State (Second Tier).
It was reported that a grant of $3.3 million was provided by Bill and Melinda Gates (BMGF) and the German Development Cooperation (BMZ), under their Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) project.
PURPOSE OF THE GRANT
Projects approved under the fund shall result in sustainably increasing income for rice farmers through:
Increased productivity and quality of paddy rice and complementary crops
- Increased efficiency of local rice sourcing, processing, and marketing
- Improved access to financial services for all value chain actors (https://cari-project.org/wiki/Main_Page#tab=Call_for_concept_notes)
The fund will co-fund activities and investment undertaken by:
- Private Sector Organizations (PSOs) – organized agribusinesses i.e. processors, millers, off-takers, seed and input companies, technology service providers, etc. that are legally recognized and empowered to enter into binding agreements
- Public Sector Institutions (PSIs) – research institutes, ministries, departments, and agencies of governments that are legally recognized and empowered to enter into binding agreements
- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) / Non-State Actors (NSAs) that are legally recognized and empowered to enter into binding agreements
The maximum grant amount per project shall be fixed at Euro 200,000. The minimum amount of the grant shall be Euro 36,364.
Culled from https://cari-project.org