Heifer International Kenya has officially launched the 2024 AYuTe Africa Challenge, which aims to create opportunities for young entrepreneurs in agriculture.
AYuTe, which stands for Agriculture, Youth, Technology, aims to create opportunities for young entrepreneurs to propel agriculture transformation, catalyze ground-up innovation from the youth, and make agriculture a desired career for the future.
Through the initiative, youth-led agritech innovations in Kenya get the opportunity to pitch for investment in their businesses to boost the income and productivity of smallholder farmers.
This year’s edition, which will run under the theme “Reimagining the Future of African Agriculture,” is the third edition of the AYuTe Africa Challenge Kenya.
It will focus on enterprises with innovative agri-tech solutions responding to the needs of the agri-value chain at various levels, such as production, aggregation, post-harvest loss management, value addition, access to markets, and financing.
Top winners will receive up to Sh3.5 million in cash prize. In addition, the top 20 innovators will undergo a one-month incubation program, among other benefits such as linkage to investment, networking, training, coaching, and mentorship opportunities.
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“This competition provides an opportunity for young innovators in Kenya to secure the funding and visibility they need to scale up their agritech solutions to reach millions of farmers across Kenya,” says William Matovu, Country Director of Heifer International Kenya.
“AYUTE is a very innovative vehicle that can identify innovative agritech with transformative solutions that can change the face of the agricultural sector, we look forward to receiving applications, and even more so, to seeing many more young women participating in the competition,” he adds.
How to participate
- Applications will be done online via https://ayute.africa/kenya
- Applications will be received in two categories.
- Track 1, for enterprises at the idea, proof of concept, and prototyping stages.
- Track 2, for enterprises at the product stage, and aiming to scale up their businesses.
The deadline for applications is 7th, July 2024.
