Heifer International’s AYuTe Africa Challenge yesterdaylaunched a $20,000 new national competition cash grant which offers young entrepreneurs in Nigeria the opportunity to pitch for investment in agritech solutions to boost the income and productivity of Africa’s smallholder farmers.
“This competition provides an opportunity for young innovators in Nigeria to secure the funding and visibility they need to scale up their agritech solutions to reach millions of farmers across Africa,” said Adesuwa Ifedi, Senior Vice President of Africa Programs at Heifer International.
“There is huge potential for economic growth and employment in agriculture across Africa, but new ideas and technologies are urgently needed. It’s time for Africa’s tech-savvy youth to use their innovative skills to transform the sector.”
The national competition represents a new phase of Heifer International’s AYuTe Africa Challenge, established in 2021 to award cash grants annually to the most promising young agritech innovators from across Africa.
Like the Regional Champions competition, the AYuTe National Champions competition offers prize money and mentorship, helping translate the energy and ideas of young Nigerian agritech innovators into meaningful impact for smallholder farmers across the country, and supporting winners to grow their businesses and profile.
The new AYuTe National Champions competition focuses on youth-operated local startups that have launched an agritech business in the last three years.
To qualify, companies must be based in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda or Zambia. The National competition in Nigeria has been initiated as an enterprise development program to further identify, nurture and support innovative, relevant and technology-driven agriccentric enterprises to grow, scale and thrive”, Heifer’s Country Director, Rufus Idris, said.
“We are excited to announce and kick-start the AYuTe Africa Challenge Nigeria with a starting cash grant of $20,000 to the most promising young agritech innovator in Nigeria. This is in line with Heifer’s strategic goal of unleashing the hidden agricultural treasures among African youths.
“Through this challenge, we hope to further inspire the Nigerian youth population to continue to embrace agriculture as a career option of choice while promoting creative professionals that are using technology to re-imagine farming and food production across the country.