The Horticulture Advancement Activity (THAzA)

Request for Applications (RFA) # AVOSF-BAL-019/2022 

In-Kind Grant Support for Air Ventilated Onion Storage Facilities in Balochistan

‘The Horticulture Advancement Activity’ (THAzA) is a 5-year project awarded by USAID and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. THAzA focuses on selected horticultural value chains in Balochistan and in the selected Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (previously called FATA). The objectives of THAzA are to create jobs and generate income, through increased productivity and quality, improved marketing and access to services and investments in horticultural value chains.

To achieve these objectives, FAO intends to extend in-kind grant support to progressive growers and agribusiness entrepreneurs in Balochistan, for the establishment of two air ventilated onion storage facilities, one each in district Naseerabad and Khuzdar. Through these awards, FAO will support economic activities in the region by introducing innovative technology and best practices for storing fresh onion in the region. FAO will directly procure and provide the grantees with the required machinery/equipment, whereas the grantees will be required to bear the remaining activity cost including allocation of land and meeting the construction and operational costs. Through this RFA, FAO invite applications from eligible progressive growers and agribusiness entrepreneurs, who:

• Are below the required age limit (65 years for male and 55 years for female applicants).
• Own minimum 53 acres of agricultural land in district Naseerabad or Khuzdar and produce at least 400 tons of fresh onion annually.
• Own 2 kanal of land for the proposed facility with easy access and close to main market.
• Have good level of entrepreneurial capacity to run the business successfully and willingness to invest in establishing the proposed facilities.
• Have sufficient financial resources to share investment with FAO in the proposed business.

Apart from in-kind grant, FAO will also provide training on onion storage and facilitate/support grantees with the marketing of their produce.

For further details regarding this RFA, including the grants application form, interested applicants may either download the complete RFA from https://new.brightspyre.com/jobs/jid/41020 or obtain RFA copies from FAO Provincial office in Quetta. For ease of access, RFA and grants application form will also be made available through the district Agricultural Extension Office.

Applications should be submitted on the prescribed forms through any trackable courier/postal service or hand delivered at the address below, on or before May 28, 2022.