The AYuTe Africa Challenge Nigeria is an enterprise development program initiated by Heifer International and implemented by Enactus Nigeria to identify, nurture, and support innovative, relevant and technology-driven agric-centric enterprises to grow, scale and thrive.
Candidates should be early-stage or growth-stage youth-led agritech businesses/companies with innovative solutions impacting smallholder farmers at scale.
Benefits
In September 2022, the first stage of the challenge will identify the top 10 agritech innovators and the second stage will identify the top 5 agritech innovators. The top three enterprises will be awarded cash prizes at a pitch and awards ceremony in October 2022.
These winners stand a chance to have a share of $20,000.
Eligibility
To participate in the AYuTe Africa Challenge, applicants must:
- Be aged 18-35 by the closing day of submission to the AYuTe Nigeria challenge
- Be a youth with innovative ideas focusing on the agriculture sector
- Have ideas that are proven to solve social problems and are implementable, technically feasible, economically sound (affordable), and environmentally smart (eco-friendly)
- Hold Nigerian nationality with official ID (national identity card, international passport, or permanent voters’ card)
- Produce financial statements for the venture
- Be the founder or co-founder of the enterprise represented in the competition and play an active role in its operations and leadership
- Have no criminal record related to corruption, tax evasion, financial impropriety, felony or other offences
- Have the potential for partnership and collaboration with other actors/stakeholders
The company must have:
- Been registered/incorporated with the relevant government agencies in Nigeria
- The ability to scale and impact a large number of smallholder farmers, including recorded evidence of demonstrated impact on smallholder farmers’ revenue and/or operations
- The potential for job creation and poverty reduction
- Alignment with relevant national policies and international treaties (e.g., SDGs)
- An identifiable technological innovation that addresses the following problems for smallholder farmers:
- Smallholder farmer productivity
- Smallholder farmer income
- Labour intensiveness of operations
- Resilience
- Access to information
- Strong competitive advantage
How to apply
Do you meet the above criteria, then apply via the link on web or app. Interested applicants are required to follow AYuTe Africa on social media @heifernigeria and @AyuteAfrica.
The application period will be open from 17 August to 16 September 2022, by 5 pm WAT. Visit the official website for more information.
Source: techeconomy