Context and justification
Shelter For Life International (SFL) is implementing a six-year program (2017-2025) in Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau (sometimes referred to as (SeGaBi) in support of its theory of change. The original objective of the program was to develop and improve the value chain linkages needed to support an integrated regional trade network for the cashew value chain.
The revised objective of the program is to improve cashew production, processing and trade in local and international markets. The program is implemented through four components.
Cashew is an important agricultural product for the local economy. Cooperatives are key players in the production and marketing of this product. However, it is necessary to implement training in financial education to enable cooperatives to have good management skills with regard to the funds mobilized for the cashew nut campaign.
This ToR is to hire a consultant firm to draft loan manual and application, to develop training module and train the cooperative's members in Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea Bissau
Purpose and Objectives of the financing training
The LIFFT Cashew Project has significantly surpassed one of its original objectives, to support local cooperatives in Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau (SiGaBi) to boost cashew production and marketing. The establishment and support of 24 cooperatives, (8 in Senegal, 3 in The Gambia, and 13 in Guinea-Bissau) and three national federations (one per country), expanded and enabled isolated farmers to work together to significantly increase household income. The method and improvements will continue beyond the lifetime of the project, as responsibility remains within the cooperatives and federations themselves. The method was simple; generating revolving loans.
An initial grant of $120,000 was given to the three federations across the three countries in 2023. Over the three following annual loan cycles, the federations disbursed micro-credit, to support the members in small-scale cashew trading and marketing. This financial mechanism has proven highly effective in strengthening the cooperatives' capacity to participate in the cashew market.
This training aims to strengthen the financial education skills of cooperative/federation members in order to improve their access to financing.
The training of top managers of federations/cooperatives is responsible for supervising applications to be submitted, the organization's financial resources, and monitoring financial transactions.
In the long term, the objectives of financial management will be to ensure a good understanding of the processes of financial institutions so that they can apply without difficulty to banks and microfinance institutions./lenders
Submission deadline: Monday, August 25th, 2025 • Please note that all documents must be submitted in English to lifftcashewinfo@shelter.org