Nigeria is facing a food security crisis that is compounded by the COVID-19 global pandemic and its effects on the food value chain in the country. The pandemic has significantly disrupted already fragile value chains across the country, including people’s ability to produce, process, and distribute food. The disruption to agricultural productivity and markets has a knock-on negative impact on livelihoods, especially among the most vulnerable households.
As part of the Feed the Future initiative, USAID/Nigeria is seeking to partner with youth-led companies (up to age 29) and mid-stage companies (with an existing customer base of more than 1,000 people) that are already working in food production, processing, and/or distribution. USAID is requesting that these partners help farmers and other stakeholders in the food value chain increase agricultural productivity and food security within the next year to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on Nigeria’s food value chain. These partners may be new to USAID or existing partners that have a novel approach to address this crisis.
WORTH
- The Challenge anticipates making $1.25 million available for 15-25 awards of $25,000 to $75,000 in funding and technical assistance for commercially viable, youth-led (up to age 29) companies to improve food production and/or food security.
- The Challenge also anticipates making $1.75 million available for 10-15 awards of $75,000 to $150,000 in funding and technical assistance for mid-stage enterprises (with an existing customer base of more than 1,000 people) that can rapidly expand their activities to improve food production and/or food security.
ELIGIBILITY
All applications will undergo an initial eligibility screening to ensure they comply with the eligibility criteria.
- Organization Type: This Challenge is only open to registered for-profit companies who have a local presence in Nigeria (see more details on local presence below). We encourage applications from micro, small, and medium enterprises that have not previously worked with USAID.
- Size: The Challenge is open to all relevant companies regardless of size.
- Local Presence: All applicants must be registered and authorized by the national government in Nigeria or have at least one registered Nigerian local partner. This local partner could be a commercial partner, joint venture partner, or candidate for a merger or acquisition. If working with a registered Nigerian partner, the local partner should have a tangible stake in the innovation and its development rather than, for example, a local merchandiser who stocks the product.
- Company Maturity: All applicants must have a sustainable and financially viable business model for their innovation in the Nigerian food security value chain. The eligibility requirements for mid-stage and youth-led applicants are as follows:
- Mid-stage applicants must have existing services or products in the Nigerian food security value chain with a minimum of 1,000 existing customers.
- Youth-led applicants must have a founder under the age of 29 at the time of submission, must have a pre-revenue or post-revenue business model innovation in the Nigerian food security value chain, and must have a working prototype or minimum viable product along with a demonstrated BoP market segment being targeted.
- Language: Applications must be written in English.
DEADLINE: May 9 2021
To apply and for more information visit here
