Scaling Investable Solutions for Resilient Agriculture, Forests and Land Use

The Investment Window offers support to impact fund managers seeking to scale their innovative impact ideas and build on proven investment fund concepts. Through this window, SIFI provides funding in the form of first-loss equity to impact investment funds in order to (a) contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing markets, (b) address social themes, and (c) mobilise capital from the private sector at scale.

SIFI invites all interested candidates to submit proposals to its fifth Call for Proposals under the Investment Window, centred on the theme “Scaling Investable Solutions for Resilient Agriculture, Forests and Land Use”. This Call for Proposals seeks commercially viable, market-driven solutions that strengthen the resilience of agricultural, forest and land-use systems, addressing one or more of the following outcomes: restoring degraded land and ecosystems, protecting biodiversity, improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and rural communities, or reducing vulnerability to climate risks. Eligible thematic areas: agroforestry and sustainable forest management, land restoration, conservation and biodiversity-positive land use, climate-smart and regenerative agriculture, climate resilient agricultural value chains, including financing for smallholders and agri-SMEs. Solutions should complement public-sector efforts without duplication, while mobilising private capital to deliver measurable impact.

Solutions shall target any country eligible to receive official development assistance (ODA) according to the most recent OECD-DAC List of ODA Recipients. They shall address at least one of the following SDGs:

• SDG 13 (Climate Action): Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
• SDG 15 (Life on Land): Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Preference will be given to solutions that integrate gender equality (SDG 5) as a cross-cutting objective across the SDGs listed above, particularly through interventions that improve women’s access to finance, inputs, land, technology and markets across agricultural and forest value chains. SIFI will select investments with at least 70% geographic allocation to ODA-eligible countries.