The Heifer International ‘AYuTe Africa Challenge Nigeria’ has awarded three agritech innovators $20,000 cash grants to boost food security through technology.
The Regional Champions competition, the AYuTe National Champions competition offers prize money and mentorship, helping translate the energy and ideas of young Nigerian agritech innovators into meaningful impact for smallholder farmers across the country, and supporting winners to grow their businesses and profile.
Soupah Farm-en-Market Limited, Simkay Foods Limited emerged and Evet Technology participated in the show and emerged the winners taking first, second and third position respectively and receiving a sum of $10,000, $6000 and 4,000 cash reward according to their positions.
Farming chain
The Country Director, Heifer International Nigeria, Rufus Idris, said the country’s agriculture is one of the most, underperforming in yields and productivity, as well as under-mechanised where families have no choice but to engage in manual labour that sometimes could be more expensive. He further noted that there are smallholder farmers that are operating in regions vulnerable to farming chain impacts, such as flood, drought, pest and diseases.
“We are also operating a sector where small holder farmers are currently struggling and living in poverty because they cannot access essential services, care market, improved input and seeds, as well as finance and technology that can help them to increase and improve their productivity. Nigeria and Africa’s small rural farmers population are aging, we have an average of 60 years old and the younger ones are not interested in replacing those that have retired,” he said.
According to him, inflation is skyrocketing in the country, fueled mainly by food inflation, noting that the country needs youths with energy, tech-savvy and entrepreneurial skills that can be channeled to transform the agricultural sector.
He said to address these issues, Heifer International invests more than $1.5 million to accelerate digital agriculture entrepreneurship in Africa through the AYuTe Africa Challenge cash grants to support promising young agritech innovators across Africa who are using technology to reimagine farming and food production across the continent.
