Click here to download the CANADA FUND FOR LOCAL INITIATIVES criteria and application

The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) is a small project fund managed from the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria, and financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The fund offers support to community organizations based on specific projects in Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The total allocation for the CFLI in each of these countries is made on an annual basis.

The General Objective of the Canada Fund is to fund projects undertaken by local institutions and NGO’s / CBO’s. Funding is provided as support money for expenditures of a non-recurring nature. Projects considered by the fund must be well defined using the format provided in the fund's guidelines. The amount allocated per project does not exceed CDN$50,000.00 or its value in local currency at time of contribution, however most projects are funded in the region of $20,000 to $30,000.

CFLI Priorities are consistent with CIDA’s Priority Areas:

Increasing Food Security

·      Sustainable Agricultural Development to build capacity of smallholder farmers, agriculture-related organizations, and governments.

·      Food Assistance and Nutrition to provide more flexible, predictable and needs-based funding for emergency and development food assistance, and the improvement in nutritional quality of commodities, while advocating for new and effective food assistance and nutrition mechanisms and programming.

·       Research and Innovation to generate public research goods that make significant improvements to food security issues, support regional research networks and partnerships, and encourage extension services, and farmer-led participatory and gender-sensitive adaptive research.

 Children and Youth

·        Child survival, including maternal health to ensure the survival of newborns and children to the age of five and a safe delivery for pregnant girls and women through strengthening national health systems to provide quality services

·        Access to quality education to improve the quality and relevance of education for girls, boys, and youth as a foundation for poverty reduction, social development, and economic growth.

·        Safe and secure futures for children and youth to support efforts to ensure the safety and security for children and youth, so that they can contribute to their societies.

In addition CFLI identifies the following as sectors of special interest:  

•	Governance: democratic governance; human rights; services delivery to the poorest population;
•	Skills Development

The funding year starts in April. Funds are limited and so proposals of interest are more likely to obtain funding early in the funding year. Proposals are reviewed periodically as sufficient numbers of proposals are received to convene the CFLI selection committee.