Nigeria’s Agricultural sector is facing a myriad of challenges such as climate and weather changes, insecurity, rural-urban migration, and lack of expertise, financing and infrastructure.
These have affected food production and processing, leading to food inflation. According to International Trade Organization, food inflation rose to 22.95% in Q1, 2021!
In places like Benue State which caters to over 70% of the food consumed in Nigeria – rightfully called the nation’s food basket, these challenges are even more conspicuous; it has exacerbated the pre-existing socio-economic developmental challenges, disrupting livelihoods, education and economic development.
There’s an urgent need to creatively tackle these challenges and grow the country’s Agricultural sector. First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nigeria for this purpose.
Together, they have launched the AgroHack Challenge to crowdsource innovative solutions to the challenges faced across the Agricultural value chain, which includes:
- Production
- Processing
- Storage
- Agricultural Finance
- Agricultural Commerce
- Supply chain, etc.
“The significant contribution of Agriculture to Nigeria’s economy highlights the sector’s potential and the immense benefits it can provide for the nation,” said Kudzai Gumunyu, Divisional Head, Agric Business at First City Monument Bank (FCMB).
“The agricultural sector has the potential to be more than it currently is, with greater returns and yields for farmers, stakeholders, and the Nigerian economy. However, to do this, we must move beyond the traditional methods of agriculture and position ourselves for the future by consistently utilizing tech and innovation.”
The AgroHack Challenge is open to Agritech startups, Agri-business entrepreneurs, engineers, innovators and tech solution enthusiasts across Nigeria. 50 innovators will be selected for the pre-incubation phase and the top 25 will be selected to proceed to the incubation stage. These 25 startups will receive USD 30,000 of equity-free funding, incubation support for 3 months & other exciting benefits.
Application for the Challenge is currently open and will close on December 14th 2022. APPLY NOW by visiting www.agrohack2022.ng
This program will culminate in a Demo Day, an Agriculture-focused summit and the launch of the Benue Agribusiness Innovation Hub (BAI-hub). The Summit will bring together stakeholders in the Agriculture ecosystem to discuss development opportunities and the future of Agriculture in the country.
