The agricultural sector remains the largest employer in Nigeria, employing more than 36% of the labour force and accounting for 21.42% of the Gross Domestic Product in Q1 2021.
With 82 million hectares of arable land, only 34 million hectares cultivated ,and the country’s growing population, agriculture is increasingly becoming important as a solution to meet consumer and industrial demand. Agricultural Innovation provides an opportunity to solve the challenges in the different value chains (i.e., production, processing, distribution, and marketing), eliminate waste, support sustainable development, increase productivity, create decent jobs, and reduce poverty.
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Swiss-based foundation, launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition, works with governments, businesses and civil society, to transform food systems so that they deliver more nutritious foods for all people, especially the most vulnerable. GAIN has partnered with four innovation hubs in Nigeria to implement the Agribusiness Innovation Challenge to support the holistic development of Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector.
These Innovation Hubs: Aiivon Hub, Impact Hub Lagos, CoLab and Ventures Park, whose collective goal is the development of businesses leveraging technology, will provide technical assistance training to women and youth-led start-ups to strengthen their capacity, improve their access to financial services, and develop their business concepts, leveraging innovation to improve supply chain efficiency.
GAIN is calling on women and youth-led agri-tech start-ups with supply chain innovations to apply for the first edition of this Agribusiness Innovation Challenge, which will be implemented in Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa and Oyo States.
The Agribusiness Innovation Challenge culminates in an award day where finalists battle for N20,000,000 ($48,000+) in zero-equity prize money. While there will be only one 1st prize winner in each of the four states, other finalists also get to pitch to a room full of global investors.
Applications are now open in Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa and Oyo State until October 3, 2022. Selected participants will be notified by October 6, 2022 and must confirm their participation by October 8, 2022.
Apply Today.
To join the challenge in Nasarawa State, apply here:
To join the challenge in Kaduna State, apply here:
https://colab.com.ng/events/agribusiness-innovation-challenge/
To join the challenge in Benue State, apply here:
To join the challenge in Oyo State, apply here:
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