Deadline: 31-May-21
With funding support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Cambodia have launched the applications for Solar Water Pump Innovation Grant Program 2021 to increase the resilience of the agriculture sector and climate change by promoting, scaling, and adopting the use of solar technologies in irrigation and the agricultural value chain.
Farming in Cambodia remains mostly subsistence-based and rain-fed due to limited irrigation infrastructure, and low yields are compounded by outdated production tools and practices.
The country is transitioning from a traditional subsistence to a modern commercial agriculture and the government priorities are focused on the development of irrigation practices.
Cultivated lands are mainly irrigated with water from the main streams and rivers (especially the Mekong River) and the Tonle Sap tributaries.
They are looking for innovators and startups to join us to co-create and design solutions that are able to make SWP become more accessible and widely adopted with a viable and sustainable business model to increase resilience of the agriculture sector in Cambodia.
Benefits
- Win the challenge prize of US$15,000.00 (selected 1 winner for each category – total 3 prizes)
- The challenge prizes are strictly used for business operations scale up and go-to-market strategy to ensure targeted customers and end users benefits from the solutions
- Industry, technical and advisory support from UNDP Cambodia and core partners
- An opportunity to build a scale up strategy and business operations expansion with UNDP and core partners
- Join a 3-day design sprint and innovation bootcamp (virtually) to prepare scale up plan of your business
Challenges
Your solution should meet one of the following categories and demonstrate a tangible and actional business plan/go-to-market strategy.
- SWP ready to use and purchase for households and smallholder farmers
- To mainstream SWP adoption and usage, they are looking for business models that increase accessibility of existing and new SWP systems at marketplaces across the country for rural communities and households to purchase easily. #bringSWPtomarket
- Community shared SWP systems
- To increase reliable water sources for smallholder farmers to pump groundwater or nearest reliable water resources throughout the year such as from lakes, ponds, rivers, and dams, they are looking for business models that strategically choose a well-connected location to invest in building a community SWP systems for users in the area – either through subscription business models and/or other options.
- Mobile SWP rental units and/or systems
- To ensure no smallholder farmers are left behind regardless of their geography, they are looking for innovative business models (including pumping-as-a-service) that enable mobile SWP rental units or systems as needed, especially during dry and farming seasons.
Eligibility Criteria
- Early stage innovators and/or startups with existing solutions (SWP systems)
- At least have a minimum viable product (MVP) in place and should be no longer than 3 years in operations/testing/validating
- Solution must target rural communities and smallholder farmers
- At least two team members participated in the programme (1 SWP technical & 1 business acumen)
- A team can be mixed of local and foreigners who are living and working in Cambodia
- At least one team member is fluent in both Khmer and English
- Is committed to participate in all the sessions, events and field trips as the programme organized
Selection Criteria
- Proven SWP solution/system in place (MVP or demo is required)
- MVP meets at least one of the 3 challenge categories
- A clear business model and strategic roadmap to work with smallholder farmers
- Team capabilities and qualities (a combination of at least 1 technical and 1 business acumen)
For more information, visit https://undpcambodia.exposure.co/solar-water-pump-innovation-grant-2021
