Collaborative Impact

Corporate partners, within and beyond their supply chains, jointly design and implement projects together with members from other categories, in alignment with producer countries' policies and priorities. Grants of up to CHF 1,500,000, from a window of CHF 7 million per platform.

What this window funds

Systemic change towards sustainability can only be achieved through collaborative efforts. This window strengthens collective action in key cocoa and coffee growing areas, through cross-company collaboration within the same member sub-category, for example trader to trader, and across the value chain more broadly. Projects are co-designed and implemented with local stakeholders.

Projects may span several regions, or take the form of a sustainable landscape project focused on one region or jurisdiction. Landscape approaches rest on multi-stakeholder collaboration between private, public and civil society actors, and set, monitor and evaluate sustainability, climate and forest conservation targets at jurisdictional or regional level.

The two routes

	A new collaborative project	Deepening or scaling an ongoing or recently completed project
Your contribution	70 %	80 %
Maximum SECO contribution	30 %	20 %
Criteria that apply	1 to 6	1 to 6, plus 7 to 9
When you may submit	At any time	No earlier than one year before the ongoing project ends, and no later than one year after it has been finalised

Of the 70 % counterpart contribution for a new project, 20 percentage points should be attributable to collaborative investments beyond individual supply chains, for example local governance, coordination and monitoring, or joint training centres and social infrastructure.

Who may apply

The formal submission of project ideas and proposals must come from SWISSCO or SSCP members.
The lead applicant is the company or organisation responsible for developing and administering the agreements with its project partners and co-applicants, and the contact point for any queries.
A co-applicant is an additional company or organisation that will actively participate in implementation, and that signs the application alongside the lead applicant.
A project partner takes part in implementation without signing the application, for example a producer organisation, a local authority or a research institute.
Swiss Embassies and Swiss Cooperation Offices may suggest projects, but do not submit them.

What is assessed

Projects are assessed against these key criteria. At idea stage they are a thinking aid rather than a mark sheet: the question is whether the idea could plausibly meet them. The weighting applied at proposal stage is set out in the proposal template.

Scope: alignment with the Roadmap 2030 ambitions.
Cross-company collaboration within and beyond the supply chains, and with partners from different member categories. This is a must criterion.
Alignment with local priorities and policies, including sound institutional embedding in the local context, preferably with a clear exit strategy.
Alignment and coordination with other international and sector initiatives.
Implementation capacity and project management.
Additionality of funds, in finance, convening and demonstration effect.

On the deepening or scaling route, three further criteria apply:

Successful progress in the ongoing or previous project phase.
Enhanced cross-company and cross-stakeholder collaboration along the value chain.
Further transfer of implementation responsibility to local stakeholders, with a clear exit strategy.

Additionality, explained. A SECO-supported project would not have happened, or would not have happened in the same way, without that support. SECO financing is additional to, not a substitute for, available private financing: the aim is to step in where the market falls short rather than to compete with private capital. Financial additionality: grants the private sector generally does not offer, for example because budgets are limited or risks too high. Convening: technical assistance, standard-setting, structuring expertise or convening power beyond what a single company or group of companies could achieve. Demonstration effect: proving that a market or business model is viable, so that private capital follows without further SECO support.

Formal requirements

Multiple sources of financing. The SECO contribution may not exceed 30 %, or 20 % for a project extension.
Alignment with the SWISSCO and SSCP MEL Framework.
Alignment with the SWISSCO and SSCP Issue Brief on Gender.
Risk assessment and mitigation measures in place.

Templates and forms

Project idea form Full project proposal form

Draft of 29 September 2026. The forms are under review with SECO and may change.

The proposal requires five annexes: a logframe with KPIs, gender-disaggregated where relevant; the overall budget, with management and project costs shown separately and financial and in-kind contributions listed; a work plan for year 1; CVs of key personnel; and a risk assessment and mitigation matrix.

How to apply

Project ideas may be submitted at any time from January 2027, using the project idea form. Submit early: it allows an iterative process with the Coordination Office and with interested members, so that solid agreements among partners are reached before the full proposal is developed.

The Project Committee decides which ideas to pursue, on their potential to meet the key criteria. Swiss Cooperation Offices or Embassies are consulted once ideas have been presented, to recommend a stop or go decision and to advise on embedding the project locally. Members whose ideas are taken forward are invited to submit a full proposal.

Once a proposal is submitted, the Project Committee takes the final decision to approve or reject it. The Committee meets in February and August, and projects may also be approved through written consultation so that decisions are not delayed. Final approval of both ideas and proposals rests with SECO.

The Coordination Office may facilitate project development, and in some cases takes up ideas from members and supports their design. Implementation of approved projects always remains with member and partner organisations.

Reference documents

The MEL Framework, the Issue Brief on Gender and the Roadmap 2030 are collected on the documents and guidance page.

Submit

Send the completed form and annexes to [submission address to be confirmed].