Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) has launched a call for applications for the Vijana na AgriBiz Competition under the AgriBiz program. The competition aims to identify and support the youth’s viable and high-growth innovative agribusiness ideas. The program will help agripreneurs establish sustainable businesses through capacity building, mentorship, market linkages, and financing.
The call for applications targets young people in Kenya with innovative agriculture ideas who wish to take their ideas from the conceptual to the commercial stage. If you are up for the challenge, kindly find the eligibility criteria and submit your application by visiting https://agribiz.kenyacic.org/competition/.
Applications for the Vijana na AgriBiz Competition are being accepted from today till August 31, 2022. After that, the applications will be evaluated, and KCIC will transmit its findings to the applicants. Successful applicants will receive a confirmation email from KCIC.
Vijana na AgriBiz Competition intends to advance resilient and sustainable climate adaptation strategies on the African continent. This new challenge hopes to open up new economic prospects for creative, youth-owned businesses and get a new generation of Kenyan youth and women to shift to a sustainable, climate-resilient future.
The top 20 winners will be enrolled in the AgriBiz program and receive conditional grants to improve their business ideas. The winner will walk home with a cash prize of 1 million shillings. The second and third position winners will be awarded Ksh 750,000 and 500,000, respectively. Successful aspirants will also be eligible to benefit from boot camp sessions, investor readiness sessions, and a 1-year incubation program under the Agribiz program.
The AgriBiz Programme, designed to promote the expansion of women and youth-owned agribusinesses, was launched on March 6, 2020, by the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (Danida), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC). At the cost of Kshs 5.1 billion, the program is expected to help 2,400 women and youth-led agribusinesses and provide over 17,000 job opportunities along agricultural value chains.
Innovation has a significant part in economic growth in addition to helping businesses stay relevant in a cutthroat industry. New ideas are essential to solving complex challenges, and developing nations, especially in Africa, require them now more than ever. Growing inequities are acute, and finding solutions outside established organizations is essential. A society that favors innovation and offers women and young people more chances for a sustainable future is thus inevitable.
