The Smallholder SustaiNability Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) is a 10-year programme funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade (MFA) as Lead Donor and supported by Lux-Development, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Liechtensteinischer Entwicklungsdienst (LED). 

The programme aims to address issues related to smallholders’ resilience and food insecurity by increasing the amount of private capital in local agrifood systems. It relies on the knowledge, experience, and network of impact investors (asset managers) in agriculture to identify technical assistance (TA) needs of the organisations in agri-food systems and implement TA projects to respond to those issues. 

The first phase was launched in October 2020. As of April 2025, nine impact investors were part of the programme, 119 TA projects had been approved benefiting to more than 220 organisations supported with a SSNUP contribution to TA projects of more than € 10 million in total. 

For the second phase, SSNUP is inviting additional partners to join the programme until April 2029. 

Impact investors (asset managers) are the only entities eligible to become permanent members of SSNUP. By impact investors is meant entities who allocate capital to investments with the dual aim of achieving financial returns and generating positive social and/or environmental impact. 

The following eligibility criteria will be considered: 

Geographical intervention: The impact investor manages one or more investment funds focused on strengthening/developing the agricultural sectors in the target regions of SSNUP; List of ODA countries. Priority will be given to impact investors with a focus on Africa. 

ESG compliance: The impact investor follows a ‘triple-bottom’ line approach, complying with the environmental, social, and governance lending principles set by the Council of Smallholder Agricultural Finance and promoting the adoption of sustainable farm practices and agro-ecological principles. 

Staff: The impact investor is already staffed with at least one specialist experienced in TA management or has identified at least one staff member who will be responsible for managing the TA project(s) co-financed by SSNUP. 

Expertise: The impact investor has access to expertise in agriculture to identify issues and relevant solutions that could be developed/improved/delivered through a TA project. 

Link investments/TA projects: The impact investor is committed to ensuring a clear link between the TA projects implemented and the current or potential investments. 

Procedures: The impact investor has defined or is ready to define operational procedures to manage TA projects that especially: 

• ensure best value for money through diligent procurement to select best qualified service providers engaged in the target markets; 
• enable to monitor TA projects effectively and cost-efficiently to allow for best results and achievement of expected deliverables. 

Accounting and decision-making separation investment/TA activities: The impact investor is able to separate the investment activities from the TA activities in terms of accounting and decision-making. 

Commitment to impact measurement and knowledge management: The impact investor is committed to cooperate with SSNUP knowledge management team to identify and share results and lessons learnt according to SSNUP procedures. 

Impact investors provide capital for investment, leverage their networks for additional funding, share their knowledge of markets and established partnerships and contribute expertise to optimise programme outcomes.  

More specifically, impact investors:  

• Identify needs and design TA projects that are submitted to SSNUP. 
• Implement approved TA projects with SSNUP co-funding. 
• Provide quantitative data and qualitative information on both their investment and TA activities. 
• Are voting members of the Steering Committee. 

An envelope will be allocated to each impact investor for the duration of the programme, which will be determined based on different factors such as the pipeline of TA projects provided during application, share of the portfolio in SSNUP targeted geographical areas.

A maximum of 4 new impact investors are expected to be selected through this call for applications.

The impact investor should demonstrate experience and/or willingness to offer technical assistance. It is expected that the impact investor:  

• is already staffed with at least one specialist experienced in TA or has identified at least one staff member who will be responsible for designing and managing TA projects. 
• has experience or access to expertise to identify issues and relevant solutions related to TA projects. 
• has defined or is ready to define operational procedures to manage TA projects. 
• is able to separate the investment activities from the TA activities in terms of accounting and decision-making (no need for the TA facility to be a legally separate entity). 

All countries included in the List of Official Development Aid (ODA) are eligible. However, the priority region of the programme remains sub-Saharan Africa with at least 60% of the programme’s TA budget to be allocated to the region, and not more than 10% to Upper-middle Income countries (based on World Bank classification). 

The impact investors can be located in any country.

Beneficiary organisations that can benefit from SSNUP co-funding for TA projects can be current or future investees of the impact investors that are SSNUP partners. The beneficiary organisations can be agri-SMEs (buyers, collectors, processors, transporters, distributors, and exporters), farmer organisations/cooperatives or financial intermediaries (bank and non-bank financial institutions).