UP-RISE Open call for fermented food processors

1. Submission

The call documents can be found on the UP-RISE website in English and French (https://www.uprisefoodsafety.org/call-text-for-third-parties/), and consist of

• the terms of the call
• the questionnaire.

Applicants are invited to apply by sending the completed questionnaire by e-mail to

UP-RISE@ugent.be and to the contacts of the country of application (see e-mail contacts under 7.1 in terms of the call). Please mark “Application to UP-RISE call + country” in the subject of your e-mail.

Please note that only one application per processor is allowed and only complete applications will be considered admissible. Non-eligible and non-admissible applicants will not be considered.

Applications will be considered complete if the questionnaire is fully completed. Questionnaires completed by computer are preferable, but handwritten and scanned version are also possible, please make sure they are readable.

In the questionnaires, please ensure that you provide contact details that you monitor regularly. The contact details will allow the UP-RISE project team (1) to contact applicants for further questions or requests for additional information or documentation and (2) to organise in-depth interviews and/or on-site visits (see Section 8, the Preselection phase).

The deadline for submitting an application to this call is the 6 December 2024 at 23:59 CET.

2. Selection process

OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS

On 7 October 2024, the UP-RISE open call for fermented food processors will be launched in the five African Union member states target of the UP-RISE project, namely Benin, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The open call will be published in English and French through EU Funding & Tenders Portal, UP-RISE project website and consortium partners websites.

To ensure the dissemination of the call, the UP-RISE project team will be invited to actively identify informal market processors and invite them to apply, as well as notify of the launch of this call processors having taken part in previous survey rounds.

The application period will span over a period of two months. The call will close on 6 December 2024 23:59 CET

PRESELECTION

The preselection will consist of assessing eligible and admissible applications received via e-mail until the deadline. As a part of the preselection phase, the African universities partners of the UP-RISE project will conduct in-depth interviews and, when necessary, on-site visits to assess that eligibility criteria are met and complement assessment against award criteria. These assessments will be based on motivation, capacity and commitment to collaborate and will ensure the right fit with the UP-RISE project objectives.

In-depth interviews will happen on a rolling basis. Therefore, we invite applicants to submit their application as soon as it is ready.

For each processor, the preselection team will make available a preselection report and will have filled in an evaluation grid scoring each processor against award criteria. Several processors per country will be shortlisted.

FINAL SELECTION

After a number of applicants (around 6 per country) will have been preselected, the selection committee will review the preselection report and evaluation grid presented (oral presentation, made in front of selection committee, by each university responsible) for each shortlisted applicant. After evaluation, the selection committee will select two processors in each target country ensuring best fit with the project objectives.

The selection committee will comprise members of several UP-RISE consortium partners: CIRAD, UGent, UoN, UJ, UNA, FUTMIN, UAC, ADS Insights and WIA.

The final decision will be endorsed by the UP-RISE Scientific Board.

POST-SELECTION NOTIFICATIONS

Selected applicants will be notified of their selection by latest January 2025. Non-selected applicants will also receive a notification and if possible, might receive feedback regarding why their proposal was not selected.

Contracts will be established for a duration of three years between selected applicants and the respective responsible African university partner located in the same country as the operators. The contracts will include the list of activities foreseen to be undertaken by the selected applicants, the financial compensation to which the applicant will be eligible. The signature of the contract will engage the selected applicant to partake in the activities for the duration of the project.

Connected operators in the value chain will shortly be identified to set up the collaboration around 2 business case studies per country. Contracts will also be established with the connected operators.

Timeline

• UP-RISE open call for proposal for fermented food processors: From 7 October 2024 to 6 December 2024 23:59 CET
• In-depth interviews, on-site visits and preselection phase: From 7 October 2024 to 13 December 2024
• Final selection & evaluation by the selection committee: From 16 December 2024 to 20 December 2024
• Notification of the results to the applicants: 10 January 2025
• Identification, selection (and notification) of connected operators to constitute 2 case studies per country: 31 January 2025

More information on the project and the call documents in English and French can be found on the UP-RISE website (https://www.uprisefoodsafety.org/):

• Terms of the call (English): all the call details including the evaluation process

• Questionnaire (English): Word document to complete and submit

• Appel à candidatures (French): information complète sur l'appel, y compris la procédure de sélection

• Questionnaire (French): document Word à compléter et à renvoyer