Heifer International Uganda has launched the second edition of the AYuTe Africa Challenge, one of the most ambitious agriculture competitions on the continent.
The 2023 AYuTe Africa Challenge Uganda edition will reward up to shs70 million in funding to the successful young agri-tech innovators and provide technical support from a team of expert advisers; to help them scale their innovations.
According to William Matovu, the Heifer International Uganda country manager, the future of
Africa's agriculture hinges on creating opportunities for young African innovators to transform the agricultural landscape, catalysing ground-up innovation from young Africans and making agriculture a desired career.
He noted that the AYuTe Africa challenge is to help foster a culture of innovation by supporting and nurturing the next generation of agriculture technology leaders.
"We believe that young innovators hold tremendous potential to drive transformative change in the agriculture industry. Through the AYuTe Africa challenge 2023 edition, we aim to provide a platform for these young talents to showcase their ideas, gain recognition, and connect with industry experts who can help bring their innovations to market," Matovu said.
He said that with over 60% of the population being under the age of 25, the African continent possesses a significant demographic advantage; young people are dynamic, innovative, and full of energy that can be put to use.
" They have fresh perspectives, are more adaptable to new technologies, and can challenge the status quo to drive innovation and progress."
He said that the AYuTe Africa challenge will help address the low participation in the agriculture sector by the youth since it has been laced with incentives both financial and in kind that will spur on the youth to sign up to the agritech sector to transform their individual fortunes and collectively improve community livelihood.
"In the first edition of 2022, we registered low participation by women, therefore this year we want to ensure that young people, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background, have equal access to opportunities and resources, fostering a more equitable society."
According to the Heifer International Uganda country manager, on top of identifying youths with brilliant innovations, the AYuTe Africa challenge in 2023 will also create an environment where these innovators are equipped to succeed in the areas of; production management, people and skills, ecosystem management, stakeholder, finance, strategy, marketing and sales etc.
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Participation
This year's AYuTe Africa Competition Uganda edition that opened on July 26 will run up to August 25 and is open to Ugandans aged between 18 and 35 years but are innovators and owners of start-ups or have been operating a business for the past three years.
According to officials from Heifer International, applicants must have the potential to translate innovations into meaningful impact for small holder farmers across the country but must also show that there is demand among smallholder farmers for what is being provided and that it's affordable
"The innovation must be a truly innovative product or service with potential for growth, viable market and not merely duplicating something that exists in many other markets."
They are required to record a video, not longer than two minutes introducing themselves and demonstrating how the proposed innovation works, what problem it seeks to solve, how it can potentially translate into meaningful impact for smallholder farmers across the country and how much money they would need to bring it to life.
