11th April 2023
New grants are now available from the Bonsucro Impact Fund (BIF), for projects that tackle the most pressing sustainability challenges.
We’ve published our latest calls for proposals on climate change adaptation and water stewardship, with a third call launching soon centred on human rights and decent work.
This year, Bonsucro is delighted to be able to grow our investment in projects proposed by members. After the success of the first year, we’re ready to offer bigger grants for innovative projects that address critical challenges facing the sugarcane sector.
If you have a project concept that will create meaningful impact, then make sure to apply for one of our grants.
Details of the grants
The Bonsucro Impact Fund is awarding three grants per theme. Two grants of up to £50,000 will be given for ‘innovation projects’ – projects that pilot innovative and scalable approaches, technologies or tools that will drive sustainability in the sugarcane sector.
Our ‘impact project’ grant of £150,000 will be available for each theme. This will be awarded to a project that will produce tangible results and impacts for communities in the sugarcane sector, as well as enhance knowledge and learning in the sector. It will be expected to demonstrate the potential for change and large scalability.
Projects must be located in one of the following countries:
- Americas: Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
- Africa: Cameroon, Eswatini, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa
- Asia-Pacific: Australia, China, India, Pakistan, Thailand
Projects that address smallholders and/or gender as cross-cutting themes will be prioritised for funding. Each project must have a Bonsucro member as the lead partner to be eligible for a grant.
The closing date for concept notes is 26 May 2023. Templates can be found in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Concept notes should be sent to fund@bonsucro.com before the closing date.
The BIF team will hold two webinars on the latest calls for proposals, providing you with guidance on how to present an application and answering your questions. The webinars will be held on Tuesday 25 April, 10am (in English), and Wednesday 26 April, 4pm (live translation will be available in Spanish and Portuguese).
What is the Bonsucro Impact Fund?
The Bonsucro Impact Fund was launched in early 2022 to co-invest in projects that catalyse and accelerate sustainable sugarcane
production. These projects involve multiple actors across the sugarcane supply chain, all working together to address critical challenges and develop solutions that can be replicated by others.
As a key part of Bonsucro’s 2021-2026 Strategic Plan, the BIF helps Bonsucro to meet the three core aims of the plan:
- To improve the environmental impact of sugarcane
- To strengthen human rights and decent work in sugarcane farming and milling.
- To increase value across the supply chain
A BIF-supported project: Promoting sustainable sugarcane production among smallholders of Pakistan
Why is the Bonsucro Impact Fund needed?
Sugarcane is grown in over 110 countries around the world. It’s a ‘high impact crop’ that generates significant positive, and negative, environmental and socio-economic impacts. The sector contributes to climate change, but it is also vulnerable to its effects.
For sugarcane value chains to continue to thrive, key challenges facing the sector need to be addressed. These include global heating impacting the reliability of water supply for a crop that has a high-water demand, and workers being left vulnerable to injury and chronic kidney disease due to higher temperatures and use of pesticides.
The BIF invests in projects that develop an innovative approach to finding a solution to these challenges, in either the sugarcane sector or in climate and water-stressed sugarcane growing areas.
A look back at year one of the BIF:
Last year we received 28 applications for projects across 15 countries. The quality of applications, particularly for the human rights category, was excellent, and the applications were extremely varied and reflected the diversity of challenges the BIF aspires to address.
We gave out £132,000 of BIF funding in 2022. Five projects were awarded grants, and we’re hearing exciting reports as the ‘climate change adaptation and water’ and ‘smallholder’ projects get underway. Our project selection committee was vital in making the tricky decision-making process smooth and rewarding – we’re grateful to each member of the committee for their time and dedication.
Where does the money come from?
The BIF is possible thanks to Bonsucro members buying and selling credits on the Bonsucro Credit Trading Platform. Around 50% of the fee for each sale goes directly into the BIF, and each sale helps us to drive impact across the sugarcane sector.
If you have a project concept, look at the BIF calls for proposals and submit your concept notes!
The closing date is 26 May 2023.
