AGRF, Heifer International and Generation Africa today announced the launch of Pitch AgriHack 2022, marking the second year the organizations have worked together to award financial incentives to drive entrepreneurial growth and job creation in Africa’s agriculture sector.
Pitch AgriHack highlights creative youth-led enterprises with technological solutions to food security concerns and awards cash incentives, media exposure, and investor exposure to the most effective businesses.
“Pitch AgriHack is all about promoting youth-friendly digital careers and smart technologies.” “By leveraging and developing ground-breaking technology in the agrifood sector, this competition calls on Africa’s imaginative minds to empower themselves and their communities,” stated Dickson Naftali, Head of Generation Africa. “We see a bright future for Africa’s young in the horizon.”
Generation Africa is working diligently, with the aid of partners such as Heifer International, to remove the barriers that have traditionally hindered young people from pursuing possibilities in the agriculture and food value chain.”
Six winners in three open competition categories will receive US$45,000 in prizes during Pitch AgriHack 2022. Women-led companies, as well as early-stage, mature, or growth-stage businesses, can compete.
Previous Pitch AgriHack contests have featured farm equipment manufacturers, agricultural drone services for precision farming, data and analytics providers, mobile apps, online crowdfunding and finance platforms, e-commerce and logistics services, and more.
“We believe agriculture can be a major generator of economic growth and employment across Africa,” said Adesuwa Ifedi, Heifer International’s Senior Vice President for Africa Programs.
“The key to unleashing this potential is in the hands of African youth.” Their innovations will revolutionize the food and agriculture industries, creating new jobs and boosting food security.
We were pleased by the young agritech entrepreneurs who pitched their businesses in last year’s competition, and we’re looking forward to seeing what 2022 has in store.”
“There is a very real hope that Africa’s youth will throw out the legacy problems created in the food system over the last 100 years and come up with tech-enabled, nature-positive solutions that will fast-track Africa’s food production capacity to create jobs and make the continent self-sufficient,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA and Former Special Envoy to the UN Food Systems Summit.
“Agriculture is benefiting greatly from high-profile competitions that reach millions of young people, such as Pitch AgriHack.”
The Top 12 applications will compete in a business pitching competition at the African Green Revolution Forum Summit (AGRF) in September as part of the Pitch AgriHack 2022 finals.
Finalists will attend the AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room, which will bring together over 800 companies, 15 government delegations, and 150 public and private investors to create new opportunities.
The AYuTe Africa Challenge sponsored by Heifer International, is a fourth invite-only category that will award up to US$1.5 million in funding to scalable initiatives that are already delivering measurable benefit for Africa’s smallholder farmers. The AGRF Summit will also showcase the winners of the AYuTe Africa Challenge in 2022.
Pitch AgriHack applications are open from June 20th to July 29th, 2022 at https://bit.ly/3OdukUY. The competition is open to African founders or co-founders of technology-based and digital services enterprises in the agriculture sector who are between the ages of 18 and 40.
An experienced jury will choose the top 12 candidates, who will then be honored at an award event where three category winners and three runners-up will receive cash grants to help them expand their enterprises.
Heifer International has been working with more than 39 million people throughout the world to address hunger and poverty in a sustainable way since 1944.
Heifer International has been working with rural communities in Africa for 48 years, assisting farmers and local food producers in strengthening local economies and creating sustainable livelihoods that give a decent wage. Visit https://www.Heifer.org for more information.
Generation Africa is a group of young people from Africa.
Generation Africa is an AGRF thematic platform whose mission is to develop the ecosystem for young agri-food entrepreneurs across Africa.
Generation Africa has brought together industry leaders, government institutions, NGOs, NPOs, and community platforms to collaborate on ecosystem development, agribusiness curation and support, research and advocacy, and young people’s inspiration to embrace opportunities in the agrifood sector since its inception in 2019.
The AGRF’s mission statement is as follows:
The AGRF is the world’s largest event for African agriculture, bringing together players from across the agricultural landscape to take practical steps and exchange insights that will help drive the continent forward.
The AGRF’s current strategy focuses on advancing the Malabo Declaration by 2025 as a priority set of promises made by African Heads of State and Government to boost agricultural development at the heart of the continent’s overall growth and progress.
The AGRF is organized by the AGRF Partners Group, a group of institutions concerned with the reform of Africa’s agriculture.