Consultancy Services for the Provision of Capacity Building and Technical Assistance to Women's Cooperatives and Associations in Benin and Burkina Faso
The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) is a leading non-profit development organisation that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors to reduce rural poverty, promote climate-resilient communities and create jobs. AECF seeks a highly experienced Technical Assistance Provider to deliver practical, demand-driven capacity building and technical assistance to women's cooperatives and associations under the Investing in Women in Benin and Burkina Faso (IIW-B&BF) programme, a six-year gender transformation and economic inclusion programme funded by Global Affairs Canada.
The provider will support a cohort of at least 10 women's cooperatives and associations (5 in Benin and 5 in Burkina Faso), strengthening their governance, financial and operational management, climate-smart agricultural production and processing practices, market readiness and commercial linkages, women's leadership, and prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Scope of work is a two-phase process. Phase 1: Cooperative diagnostics and capacity-building planning: review cooperative documents, run diagnostics covering governance, finance, procurement, technical capacity, climate risk, environmental and social (E&S) risk screening, market readiness and SGBV safeguards; develop cooperative-specific capacity-building plans; and provide a portfolio-level synthesis of recurring constraints. Phase 2: Implementation support, training and monitoring: hands-on advisory and coaching on governance, financial management and procurement systems, operational efficiency, market readiness and compliance; support each cooperative to develop an Environmental and Social (ESG) Plan aligned with the programme ESMP and Global Affairs Canada requirements; deliver training of trainers (ToT) in agricultural production, processing, climate-smart agriculture, marketing and financial management; train women leaders on SGBV prevention and response; facilitate linkages to buyers, suppliers and financial institutions; and monitor progress while flagging risks to AECF.
Deliverables include an inception report with portfolio scan and cooperative profiling note, diagnostic reports and summaries, costed cooperative-specific capacity-building plans, periodic implementation progress reports and completion notes, and a women's leadership and SGBV training package with training completion reports. Delivery must be gender-responsive, adapted to each cooperative's size and maturity, and grounded in strong local knowledge of Benin and Burkina Faso.
Closing date: 30/09/2026
Application link: https://www.aecfafrica.org/careers/terms-of-reference-for-consultancy-services-for-the-provision-of-capacity-building-and-technical-assistance-to-womens-cooperatives-and-associations-in-benin-and-burkina-faso/