Due Diligence Fund

Competitive Fund for the Promotion of Due Diligence

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains Initiative (SASI) are promoting promising approaches to fulfilling corporate due diligence with a new competition fund. The third call for proposals for the Due Diligence Fund (DDF) did start in October 2024. The deadline for application is December 20, 2024. Read more about the fund and how to apply here.

Third Round of the Due Diligence Fund – Apply Now!

Read more about the fund and how to apply here:

The focus here is on the core topics of the German Supply Chain Act and the EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence as well as the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products. 
Together with the agri-food sector and its suppliers, we want to achieve greater sustainability in global agricultural supply chains and improve the living conditions of smallholders and plantation workers. The focus is therefore on practical implementation on the ground in OECD’s DAC-countries.
Projects are funded with a sum of 50,000 to EUR 123,000 over a period of up to 18 months.

If you have questions, please feel free to write to us: mailto:ddf@giz.de

Here you can find the Terms & Conditions, Application Documents, and Further Information:

Many of the products and raw materials that are integral to our daily lives are produced or extracted under significant risks to human rights and the environment. In response, Germany implemented the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) in 2023. The law aims to improve the international human rights situation by establishing requirements for responsible supply chain management for companies. Its primary objective is to enhance the protection of fundamental human rights in global supply chains. Additionally, in the summer of 2024, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was adopted at the EU level. The CSDDD mandates that companies adhere to both environmental and human rights standards within their supply chains. It extends existing regulations, particularly in the area of environmental protection, and requires companies to develop plans to reduce their impact on climate change. Moreover, as of January 1, 2025, the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) obliges companies to prevent deforestation and forest degradation within their supply chains. The introduction of new governmental regulations imposes additional requirements on companies, while also providing an opportunity to make supply chains more transparent and resilient.

BMZ and the SASI support projects aimed at fulfilling corporate due diligence obligations in global supply chains. Through the DDF, partnerships between companies in the agricultural and food industries and non-profit organizations can apply for funding, with a particular focus on impacts in partner countries.

We want to identify and financially support promising, practical and innovative approaches to corporate due diligence. Our previous projects demonstrate that compliance with the LkSG, EUDR, and CSDDD is achievable—even beyond the minimum standards required.

The focus is on both human rights and environmental due diligence on the ground in the partner countries. Potentially affected groups, such as smallholder farmers and plantation workers, will be actively involved in the project's design and implementation and will benefit from the measures taken.

Companies should be supported by the DDF to establish and continuously implement sustainable processes in accordance with the regulations. Through monitoring and evaluation of the pilot projects and a public presentation of the results, added value is generated for companies. In this way, good practices or piloted approaches are created, which they can adapt for other or their own supply chains. 

The DDFs competition is conducted in a multi-stage process.

First, the partnership submits a short proposal, which includes a concept note and information on the applicant partnership. Interested parties are encouraged to submit an initial project idea at an earlier stage. Short proposals need to submitted by December 20, 2024.
The eligible applications that best meet the overall objectives of the DDF will be shortlisted and invited to submit a long proposal, in which the project proposal should be further developed.
From the long proposals submitted, GIZ and BMZ select the most promising project proposals on the basis of predefined evaluation criteria. These are then financially supported by GIZ within the framework of financing agreements and supported in terms of content.

Which projects are to be funded?

Projects

that meet the guiding principles of corporate due diligence to a considerable degree;
whose methodological approach is suitable for scalability adaptation by other companies in the agricultural and food sector;
which have a particularly high potential to mitigate human rights and environmental risks effectively and sustainably;
which embed the planned measures in a process-oriented implementation logic and do not only achieve selective effects;
which promote gender equality through targeted measures.