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Support announced to grow international development agencies in Scotland.

International development agencies can apply for a share of the Scottish Government’s £500,000 small grants programme fund from today (Monday 13 July) to advance their work overseas and encourage their growth at home.

The small grants programme is open to small Scottish-based Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to plan, implement or expand programmes helping some of the world’s poorest communities.

The fund has been designed to nurture Scottish expertise in international development, encourage innovation and increase the scope and size of international NGOs in Scotland.

Humza Yousaf, Minister for Europe and International Development, said:

“The small grants programme continues to help smaller Scottish-based international development organisations increase their scope and ambitions whilst continuing to deliver assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

“The programme is helping to strengthen the third sector in Scotland and creating more opportunities for Scottish people to get involved in development work overseas.

“I encourage all Scottish-based small international development organisations to consider applying. I know from personal experience the valuable contribution they make to tackling poverty across the world.

“Since the programme opened in 2013, it has provided 26 Scottish organisations with grants totalling more than £880,000. This was the result of close working between the Scottish Government, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, the Scotland Malawi Partnership and the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland. I look forward to continuing this relationship for the third year of the programme.”

The programme, administered by Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, is designed to accommodate smaller requests. Project grants up to £60,000 are available for over a three year period. A maximum of £10,000 for feasibility and capacity building grants are available to cover a one year period.

The funding must go to projects in Scotland’s international development priority countries: Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Indian States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.

Fiona Duncan, Chief Executive, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, said:

“The last two years have seen some truly excellent initiatives funded under the small grants programme and it has been particularly interesting to see projects developing from an initial feasibility study grant. The Foundation is delighted that the programme is continuing for a further year and pleased to be managing the grant process on behalf of the Scottish Government.”

Gillian Wilson, Chief Executive of the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland (NIDOS), said:

“NIDOS is thrilled that the third round of the small grants programme is being announced. This programme, available to fund projects in seven different countries in Africa and Asia, is an innovative channel for partnership between communities overseas and in Scotland and has already shown great value over the last two years.

“By funding small and vibrant organisations the Scottish Government is helping to improve the lives of thousands of people. Small organisations often have strong partnerships with communities on the ground and are delivering exciting projects that support people to develop businesses, use sports to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, improve the quality of education, and much more.

“We will be encouraging and supporting small organisations to apply and look forward to continuing to work with the Scottish Government and Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland on this excellent programme.”

David Hope-Jones, Principal Officer of the Scotland Malawi Partnership, said:

“We are delighted with this latest announcement and give the small grants programme our full support. By working with and through smaller, often community-led organisations, the Scottish Government has been able to have a remarkable impact in countries such as Malawi.

“Today, an estimated 94,000 Scots have links to Malawi and around 46 per cent of all Scots personally know someone with a Malawi connection, making this one of the world’s strongest people-to-people links. By working in synergy with these community-level partnerships through its small grants programme, the Scottish Government unleashes an incredible multiplier effect. This in turn is helping transform the lives of some of the poorest people in the world.

“We encourage small organisations across Scotland to apply for this innovative and high-impact programme.”

Case Study – Malawi Fruits

 

“After a few trips to Malawi for building projects we realised our impact was very limited. A number of us were business owners and we became convinced that lasting change on a big scale would only come through business rather than aid or charity.

“We are working with smallholder farmers who have never grown a cash crop before. We lend them seeds, fertilisers and any other resources they need. When they sell the crop they repay the loans and have cash for their families.

“We want to help large numbers of people to set up sustainable businesses which will provide income for their families so they can afford school and health care fees.

“I met farmers last month whose children will now go to secondary school because of the help we have given.

“Small charities can find it difficult to grow to the next level. The small grants scheme is helping us to build our capacity and our credibility which will enable us to grow in future years.

“We have 202 farmers this year. We are aiming for 400 next year and 600 the year after. We also have a small grant to fund feasibility work which is looking at the next stage of our development when we will look to add value by processing the fruits farmers are growing.

“I want to see Malawi reaching its potential through agriculture and tourism; two industries which have great prospects. Malawi should not be as poor as it is and we want to play our part in showing that good business can help families to prosper and give them the chance to help themselves. Nobody wants to live on hand-outs and we want to see Malawians having the pride of caring for themselves.”

“I think Malawi Fruits will grow considerably in the next five years but this is not an end in itself. Our growth will mean that we are helping more of the poorest farmers in one of the poorest countries in the world.”

Kevin Simpson

Trustee, Malawi Fruits

Notes To Editors

Applications open on Monday 13th July. For more information visithttp://www.ltsbfoundationforscotland.org.uk/

The Scottish Government's International Development Policy articulates the vision of Scotland's place in the world as a good global citizen, committed to play its role in addressing the challenges faced by our world.http://www.gov.scot/Topics/International/int-dev

The successful projects for 2015/2016 can be found at http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Funding-to-Help-the-World-s-Poorest-166b.aspx

The successful projects for 2014/2015 can be found at http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/International-development-grants-a9a.aspx