| Overview : Charcoal is the preferred cooking energy in Uganda because of a variety of reasons. Notwithstanding its popularity, the charcoal sub-sector remains plagued by inefficient production practices, lack of sustainable supplies of woody biomass and inadequate, often conflicting, policy statements. To address the barriers that impede sustainable charcoal production, the Government of Uganda is, with support from UNDP Green Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) implementing a project: Addressing Barriers to Adoption of Improved Charcoal Production Technologies and Sustainable Land Practices through an Integrated Approach (Green Charcoal Project). The objective of the USD 3,480,000 project is to secure multiple environmental benefits by addressing the twin challenges of unsustainable utilization of fuel wood (including charcoal) and poor land management practices common in Uganda’s woodlands through technology transfer, enhancement of the national policy framework and promotion of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) practices. The project involves piloting low carbon emission sustainable charcoal technologies and broader sustainable land and forest management practices in four districts: Mubende, Kiboga, Nakaseke and Kiryandongo. In 2016 the project supported the formation and registration of 24 Charcoal Associations in the districts of Mubende, Nakaseke, Kiboga and Kiryandongo. However, most of the associations lack skills on how to manage their businesses in a productive/progressive and sustainable manner. Equally important is the need for ensuring quality assurance in the entire charcoal value chain to effectively compete in the market. To address these gaps, the project is seeking the services of a competent firm to provide capacity building and skills development for the charcoal associations to enhance their capacity in managing their processes in a sound business framework. The firm will also produce training manual, IEC awareness materials and link the producers to local financing institutions for their businesses and potential markets. UNDP Uganda kindly requests the submission of proposals for "RFP - Firm to provide training and capacity development for charcoal associations on entrepreneurship skills, effective charcoal business development and management as per the detailed requirements of this RFP (attached as PDF document). When preparing your proposal, please be guided by the form attached hereto as Annex 2 of which a Microsoft Word copy is attached for you convenience. Proposals may be submitted on or before 27th June 2017, 4:00pm by following the submission instructions detailed in the solicitation document (RFP) | 
