Kenya’s agriculture industry is the backbone of its economy. However, young Kenyans, who represent more than half of the national labor force, remain almost entirely excluded from this significant industry.
This is due to challenges such as negative perceptions of agriculture, lack of awareness of agribusiness value chains, and limited opportunities offered by new technologies and innovative business models.
Young people have the potential to significantly reduce poverty and establish Kenya as one of the key players in agricultural markets.
AYuTe Africa Challenge Kenya will support the agricultural innovation needed to make this happen.
The challenge is an initiative of Heifer Kenya, which is working closely with the E4Impact Foundation (E4I) to run the competition from June to December 2022.
E4Impact Foundation will employ its expertise in business acceleration to develop a strategic direction for youth, agriculture, and technology in line with Heifer Kenya’s mission and approach.
Enterprises can expect to receive the following:
Priority will be given to start-ups with a minimum viable product and no prior experience in an enterprise support program (incubation or acceleration programs etc.).
The 1st stage of the challenge will run between July to mid-August 2022 to identify the top 80 Agri-tech innovators.
The 2nd stage will be in August 2022 to identify the top 30 Agri-tech innovators. The 3rd stage from August to September 2022 will help to identify the top 15 Agri-tech innovators. The top 3 enterprises will be awarded cash prizes at an awards ceremony.