We want to encourage and inspire both our members and the wider sugarcane sector to deliver and invest in capacity building projects. The Fund enables us to provide resources for projects that align with our strategic objectives, to accelerate sustainability in sugarcane.

Over the past three years, we have been selling Bonsucro Credits on the Bonsucro Credit Trading Platform. Around 50% of the transaction fee on these trades has been invested into the Bonsucro Impact Fund to invest in projects.

The themes chosen for the proposals connect to key areas of Bonsucro’s strategic plan and contribute to the achievement of Bonsucro’s strategic aims. The different themes allow Bonsucro to focus resources in specific areas, in order to generate a greater impact.

No – unfortunately the Bonsucro Impact Fund will only invest in proposals for new pilot projects.

Applying for grants can be a time-consuming process, especially if you are still finalising your project idea and confirming the partners involved, activities and budget. To make it easier for members to put forward impact projects, we follow a two-stage application process.

1. The project concept note asks applicants to briefly describe the need for the project, its envisaged impact, the activities planned, as well as who will be involved in the implementation.
2. If successful, the applicant will be invited to submit a full project proposal. The full project proposal template asks for more detailed information.

Only applicants who have submitted a successful concept note will be invited to submit a full project proposal.

Bonsucro can assist with the concept note by sense-checking concepts and connecting you to potential partners.

For the full project proposal, Bonsucro can offer some technical support if needed, but this will be on a first come, first served basis, and will be limited to farmer organisations and NGOs.

Yes, unsuccessful applicants are welcome to resubmit their project proposal for a future funding cycle.

Eligibility to apply to the Bonsucro Impact Fund is an advantage of being a member. This eligibility only applies to full members, not candidate members, and applicants must have had their membership processed in full before submitting their application.

Although only Bonsucro members can submit an application, other organisations can form part of the project and receive funds depending on the project outline. This eligibility criteria will be reviewed after a year.

The full list of Bonsucro member organisations is here: https://bonsucro.com/bonsucro-members-2/

For the Fund’s pilot, we are focusing on countries which align with the aims of our strategic plan. The eligibility criteria for countries may change after the initial review.

Co-funding refers to the contribution that project partners need to make towards the cost of the project. This can be either financial or in-kind. This requirement is to make the Fund’s resources go further and to encourage a sense of ownership over the project.

The amount of co-funding required depends on the type of grant type. For further details, please check the call for proposals.

Before awarding a grant, applicants will go through a due diligence process. During this process, we will check that co-funding has been allocated correctly. We have also capped the day rates that applicants are allowed to charge as part of their in-kind contribution.

Yes – we welcome our members to put forward ideas for multiple proposals. If you are submitting multiple applications for the same funding opportunity, you should first contact the Secretariat. Applications for the same opportunity will be limited to a maximum of three proposals per applicant.

A special project selection committee has been established that consists of six members – two Bonsucro staff members, three representatives from the Members’ Council, and one independent advisor who is also the chair of the committee. The project selection committee members have to sign a conflict-of-interest declaration which ensures that all conflicts-of-interest, and perceived conflicts-of-interest, are managed.

Yes, Bonsucro will provide feedback on applications. The level of detail of the feedback will depend on which stage the project is at in our funding cycle (concept note or the full project proposal).

We will aim to send you this feedback within two weeks of the project selection committee making their decision on which projects will be taken forward.