MFF Bangladesh Small Grant Facility Projects (2014-15)

Localities around Sundarban is situated in the natural hazard prone area and vulnerable to climate variability and change. Salinity ingress, tidal surge, river erosion and tropical cyclones are the major threats that are affecting both ecosystems and people's livelihoods in this area.

Salinity ingress is endangering drinking water sources and freshwater based agriculture. Shrimp farming became popular to take advantage of increasing salinity, especially in the western part of Sundarban Impact Zone (SIZ) i.e. Shyamnagar, Koyra and Dacope upazillas. The practice however has mixed success and disproportionate impact on poverty situation. There is scope to bring these shrimp farms under better management practices for better environmental performance.

The eastern part of the SIZ (Sharankhola upazilla) is considerably more vulnerable to cyclones and river erosion. The Baleshwar River provides freshwater flow to sustain agriculture, erosion endangers settlements of marine fishers and forest dependent communities.

There is a considerable Sundarban dependent community living all around the forest. The community has limited livelihood opportunities, and as a result communities rely heavily on mangrove ecosystems for fish, shrimp post larvae and crabs. Climate change is also a concern. Projects are required to introduce local innovations enabling communities to adapt to change and manage natural resources better.

Thematic focus: 

The SGF will support activities that result in reduced vulnerability and increased resilience of the local communities by building their adaptation capacity and improved land use and natural resource management including mangrove ecosystems. SGF projects should particularly ensure the participation of women and other disadvantaged groups. The SGF prioritizes the following themes:

• Initiative for livelihoods diversification and security of forest dependent and fisher communities especially targeting women for eco-friendly enterprise development and market linkage
• Freshwater conservation and innovations in increasing efficiency in freshwater utilization
• Innovative community based activities to reduce vulnerabilities arising from climate change phenomenon
• Introduction of adaptive agriculture and aquaculture to cope with the changing climate and develop market linkage for agricultural produces
• Pilot improved gher (shrimp farms) management approaches to promote better environmental performance of shrimp farming system
• Support to community based eco-tourism initiative 

Eligibility

 Proposals can be submitted for one upazilla only at a time.

National/local NGOs, CBOs, research and scientific institutes, small scale businesses and enterprises must meet the following criteria:

• Have been formally registered through relevant laws, policies and procedures, preferably for 2 years
• Demonstrate a proven or otherwise strong potential capacity to implement community-based projects in the fields of coastal rehabilitation, conservation and/or sustainable use of natural resources
• Have a proven record of working with local communities in a participatory way
• Experience of collaborative works with national or international development agencies
• Have practical or professional credibility, as recognized by the peer review process
• Able to demonstrate ability of project management and financial administration
• Have technical capacity and expertise to implement the proposed project activities either through internal capacity or through partnership
• Have office and staff in the upazilla (Shyamnagar or Sharankhola) for which  project concept note  will be submitted (Tour operators, Entrepreneurs and Research institutes may partner with local organizations or institutes)
• Recommendation from the UNO will be requested with the full proposal

 Selection process

Applicants should submit a project concept note based on the standard MFF Grant Facility Template (download here) in Bangla or English.

Please contact MFF Secretariat (c/o IUCN Bangladesh, House 16, Road 2/3, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Tel: 02-9890395, 9890423) for printed copies of the concept note template. MFF staff can assist applicants in completing the concept note template, as needed.

Only short-listed applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. Please note that an invitation to submit a full proposal is no guarantee that it will be financially supported by MFF.

Applicants should send concept notes to info.bangladesh@iucn.org or by post or in person addressed to:

MFF National Coordinator

c/o IUCN Bangladesh, House 16, Road 2/3, Banani, Dhaka 1213

Tel: 02-9890395, 9890423

The deadline for submission of concept notes is 28 November 2013.