Deadline: 5-May-21
The Latin American and Caribbean Rural Youth Innovation Award, an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) project financed by the China-IFAD Triangular and South-South Cooperation Mechanism, promotes the launch event of its second call in partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
The second edition of the Rural Youth Innovation Award will promote the initiatives of young people in Latin America and the Caribbean who are taking action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in rural areas.
The initiatives competing for the Award must present solutions that constitute examples of good practices and technologies applied and implemented to overcome the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. They should contribute to solving problems related to rural areas, especially with small local producers.
Award Categories
At the time of registration, the applicant initiative must indicate that it belongs to one of the following categories:
- Marketing solutions and market access:
- Initiatives that promote or support market access for small and/or medium rural producers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. It may include support in the construction and consolidation of strategies for producers, connection or promotion of new distribution channels (online and/or offline), development of software, hardware and/or platforms.
- Connectivity solutions:
- Initiatives that facilitate the capacity and/or possibility for the inhabitants of rural areas to work using communication networks. It includes development services for devices, operational systems, platforms and/or programs that promote free access to networks, on mobile or fixed devices.
- Financial inclusion:
- It includes initiatives that promote greater and better access for individuals and companies to financial institutions, to the use of financial services and products, to better quality and a greater variety of financial offer for the populations of rural areas in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes the creation and supply of financial products and services suited to rural needs and reality.
- Recycling and alternative energy:
- Initiatives that promote the recovery and/or reuse of waste from the production system, including plant remains from crops and materials associated with agricultural production (such as agrochemicals, agricultural pesticides and their packaging, animal waste, veterinary products, brake pads, etc. ) or the consumption and use of renewable energies.
- Female empowerment and gender inclusion:
- Initiatives that generate impact in terms of empowerment and/or gender inclusion, for groups in vulnerable situations such as women and LGTBI + people. They must mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and/or promote the inclusion and participation of these groups in economic, social and/or political terms. Initiatives created and led by people who belong to these groups will have an advantage over others.
Types of Innovation
Initiatives must already be implemented or in the process of being implemented with results already achieved and propose one of the following types of innovation:
- Introduction of new products;
- Introduction of new production methods;
- New forms of socio-economic organization;
- Development of new sources of raw materials and supplies;
- Creation of new market structures.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must:
- Be between 18 to 35 years of age.
- Nationals and residents of one of the Latin American and Caribbean countries (IFAD members).
- For groups, a minimum of 80% of the members must be between 18 and 35 years old. All must be residents and nationals of the LAC region (Latin America and the Caribbean).
For more information, visit https://premiojovenrural.org/