Background and Context
Rwanda’s food system stands at a critical inflection point. While the country has made significant progress in agricultural productivity and food security, the sector continues to face persistent challenges including limited access to finance for agri-MSMEs and cooperatives, low investment readiness, fragmented value chains, climate vulnerability, and slow uptake of sustainable and climate-smart practices. Closing these gaps is central to delivering the Government of Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), the Fifth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA5), the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), and Rwanda’s commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
In response, the United Nations Country Team in Rwanda — through FAO (Lead PUNO), UNICEF, UNDP, WFP, and UNCDF — has launched the Joint Programme “Rwanda Green Food Future – Accelerating Investment in Food System Transformation”, with funding from the UN Joint SDG Fund and co-funding from participating UN agencies. The Joint Programme is endorsed and co-chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) alongside the UN Resident Coordinator. Phase I of the Joint Programme runs from September 2025 to February 2027 (18 months), with a Phase I budget of approximately USD 2.1 million and a targeted leverage of USD 5 million from additional public and private sources.
As part of UNDP’s component, one hundred (100) MSMEs and cooperatives operating across priority value chains have been pre-identified through foundational studies led by FAO, UNCDF, and WFP. UNDP now seeks to engage a qualified consulting firm to support these MSMEs and cooperatives to strengthen their business plans, develop fifteen (15) bankable project proposals, and present these to financial service providers and impact investors at an Investment Forum to be convened under the Joint Programme.
Objective of the Assignment
The overall objective of this assignment is to enhance the investment readiness of selected agri-MSMEs and cooperatives under the Rwanda Green Food Future Joint Programme and to translate their business ambitions into bankable project proposals that can attract financing from commercial banks, microfinance institutions, SACCOs, the Business Development Fund (BDF), impact investors, and blended finance facilities.
Specifically, the firm shall:
• Train, assess and strengthen the business plans of the 100 pre-selected MSMEs and cooperatives;
• Design and deliver structured training and coaching to build their capacity on business planning, financial literacy, and sustainable/green finance;
• Develop fifteen (15) high-quality, investor-ready bankable project proposals; and
• Support the preparation and execution of an Investment Forum where these bankable projects are presented to investors and financial service providers.
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