Request for Proposal For Gendered Capacity Assessment And Inclusive Finance And Market Model Validation For Circular Economy Agri-Food Smes

Request for proposals for Gendered Capacity Assessment and Inclusive Finance and Market Model Validation for Circular Economy Agri-Food SMEs in Rwanda WRI Rwanda is implementing the Accelerating Circular Economy for Food (ACE4Food) Initiative in Rwanda (20252028). ACE4Food builds on WRIs circular food systems work in Rwanda since 2021, which reached more than 370 agri-food SMEs. The initiative aims to: build the capacity of at least 50 agri-food SMEs to integrate circular practices into their business models; strengthen system leadership and the enabling environment through the multistakeholder platform on circular food systems; and increase access to finance and markets for circular SMEs, with a focus on womenand youth-led businesses. This study covers two ACE4Food components: a gendered assessment of the capacity, skills and support needs of SMEs for circular economy adoption, and research to design and validate inclusive finance and market models. They address two linked evidence gaps: Gender, capacity and skills. Little is known about how CE adoption needs differ for women, men and youth in agri-food SMEs, including their skills gaps, access to training and decision-making roles. ACE4Food Initiative | Request for Proposals| Page 2 Finance and markets. Circular SMEs often struggle to reach suitable finance and stable markets. Models that work for them, especially women- and youth-led businesses, have not been tested and validated in the Rwandan context. The findings will guide ACE4Foods technical assistance to its SME cohort, its innovation grants and its finance and market linkages, with support tailored to SMEs at different stages of maturity and readiness. WRI Rwanda has combined the two components into one study, delivered by one firm through a single round of fieldwork, to produce integrated findings and avoid SME survey fatigue. 3. OBJECTIVES Overall objective: To generate gender-responsive evidence on the capacity needs and the finance and market conditions that enable circular economy adoption among agrifood SMEs in Rwanda, and to identify tailored support pathways and inclusive models that can be scaled. Component A: Gendered capacity and skills assessment Assess the technical, managerial, entrepreneurial and leadership capacities of agrifood SMEs to adopt circular economy practices, and categorise SMEs by their level of readiness for circular business transformation. Examine how capacity, skills needs, access to training and readiness differ by enterprise size, business maturity, value chain, gender, age and ownership, with particular attention to women- and youth-led enterprises. Identify the key barriers and enablers that women, youth and men face in accessing leadership opportunities, skills development, technology, finance, markets and business growth. Determine the types and intensity of support that different SME segments need, including technical assistance, business development services, mentorship, technology support, market linkages, finance readiness and grant support. Develop an SME segmentation framework, with gender- and youth-responsive recommendations for tailored support pathways that enable SMEs to progressively adopt and scale circular economy practices. Component B: Inclusive finance and market models Assess the finance and market ecosystem for circular agri-food SMEs, including available products, services, actors, opportunities and barriers to access for different SME segments. Evaluate the maturity, investment readiness and growth potential of circular business models in the value chains in scope, and identify those with the greatest potential for scale, impact and inclusion. Co-design and validate 23 inclusive finance and market models tailored to different SME segments, with SMEs, financial institutions, buyers and other market actors. Validation means testing the models feasibility through consultations and workshops with these actors; piloting is not part of this assignment. Assess the costs, benefits, risks and enabling conditions of each model, and identify pathways for adoption and scaling. Provide actionable recommendations for ACE4Foods innovation grants, technical assistance, finance facilitation and market linkages, including targeted support packages for SMEs at different stages of maturity and readiness. 4. SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES 4.1 Scope of work The firm will: Review ACE4Food documents, relevant policies and relevant literature, and agree with WRI the value chains in scope, the districts and the sample. The value chains will be those in which most circular economy agri-food SMEs operate, and the sample will be drawn from SMEs in these value chains, with the ACE4Food cohort at its core. Bidders should propose and justify a sample size large enough to allow analysis by gender, age, value chain and maturity, drawing on the cohort and the wider pool of SMEs from WRIs earlier circular food systems work. Agree at inception clear definitions of women-led and youth-led enterprises (ownership and/or management, using the 2X Criteria as a reference), youth (Rwandas national definition) and jobs created (full-time equivalent, direct and indirect, by sex and age). Conduct one integrated round of mixed-methods fieldwork (SME survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions) covering both components, with sex- and age-disaggregated data. The SME survey will also collect the ACE4Food results-framework indicators provided by WRI, so that it serves as the programme baseline. WRIs MEL team will review the tools at inception. Assess SMEs capacities, readiness, barriers and support needs for circular economy adoption, and develop a segmentation framework that identifies tailored support pathways (training, technical assistance, business development services, finance facilitation, market linkages and innovation grants) for enterprises at different stages of maturity and growth. The readiness and segmentation scoring must be delivered as a reusable tool that WRI can apply again at midline and endline. Assess the finance and market ecosystem for circular agri-food SMEs, including opportunities, constraints, investment readiness and growth potential, and use the findings to design and validate 23 inclusive finance and market models tailored to different SME segments, specifying financing instruments, market arrangements, partner roles and risk-sharing mechanisms. Carry out a cost-benefit analysis of each model from the perspective of (a) the SME, (b) the finance provider or buyer, and (c) ACE4Food as a funder of technical assistance and grants. As few SMEs will yet have revenue data from circular practices, the analysis will be ex-ante, using data collected from the selected SMEs, secondary sources and programme cost data provided by WRI, with all assumptions documented. It must quantify costs (investment, financing and operating costs, technical assistance) and benefits (additional revenue and cost savings from circular practices), and report the net present value (stating the discount rate used), benefit-cost ratio, internal rate of return and payback period, with a sensitivity analysis of key assumptions. Jobs created must be reported alongside these results. Present findings at a validation workshop and prepare practical recommendations for ACE4Food and partners. Tender Link : https://www.wri.org/about/procurement-opportunities