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Agribusiness Innovation Challenge in Nigeria
Deadline: 16-Jun-23
GAIN is seeking proposals from an Innovation Hub or Enterprise Support Organisation to co-implement an innovation challenge focused on identifying climate and food safety tech-driven solutions to supply chain efficiency in Nigeria.
The agricultural sector remains the largest employer in Nigeria, employing more than 36% of the labour force and accounting for 22.35% of the Gross Domestic Product in Q1 20211 . With 82 million hectares of arable land, only 34 million hectares cultivated, and the country’s large and growing population, agriculture is increasingly becoming important as a source of consumer and industrial demand.
Nigeria, one of the most populous countries in Africa with a rapidly growing population and a high demand for food, faces a major challenge in food safety due to a lack of effective regulatory mechanisms, inadequate infrastructure, and poor hygiene practices at various stages of the food supply chain. These issues have resulted in high rates of foodborne illnesses, economic losses, and reduced consumer confidence in the safety and quality of locally produced food. To address this problem, innovative solutions are needed that are cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable, leveraging modern technologies and best practices to improve food safety and quality across the entire food supply chain.
Objectives
- The main objective is to co-design and implement an Agribusiness Innovation Challenge; provide business-centric technical assistance support to youth-led start-ups to strengthen their capacity, improve their access to financial services, and develop their business concepts leveraging technology to improve supply chain efficiency.
- The specific objectives are to:
- Co-design and implement a nationwide Agribusiness Innovation Challenge for early-stage startups with minimum viable product and measurable traction.
- Implement a 3-day Pitch Readiness Bootcamp for selected start-ups.
- Provide 2-week technical assistance support on Value Proposition, Business Model Innovation, Customer Development, Go-to-Market & Scale to Agribusinesses.
- Support customer validation and market research in real-time.
- Implement a Deal-Day session for selected start-ups to pitch to a closed group of angel investors, Angel Networks and Venture Capital firms in Africa.
- The specific objectives are to:
Scope of Work
- The successful applicant shall provide the following services:
- Design a detailed Agribusiness Innovation Challenge work plan.
- Identify subject matter experts, mentors and/or judges for the agribusiness Innovation Challenge.
- Develop an online application platform.
- Conduct a lean selection process with a two-step screening process, document review and online interview.
- Implement a Pitch Readiness Bootcamp.
- Provide specialized business-focused technical assistance to agribusinesses.
- Support customer validation and market research in real-time
- Implement a Deal-Day with 5-10 venture capitalists/investors.
- Select three winning innovations.
Eligibility Criteria
- Qualifications
- The Service Provider shall be an Innovation Hub, Acceleration Hub, or Enterprise Support Organization with a minimum of three (5) years of experience in start-up management, hackathons, and the incubation of Agritech Start-ups. The organization must be legally registered in Nigeria and have a complete audited financial statement/annual report for the last three years.
- The organization should also have demonstrated experience in start-up acceleration and deal-making activities with Venture Capital firms within and outside the African continent and success working with international development organizations. The Service Provider should have an excellent knowledge of green businesses, start-up life cycle, Series A, B, and C Funding, an in-depth understanding of the act.
Evaluation Criteria
- Proposals will be reviewed by the Selection Team. The following indicates a list of the significant criteria against which proposals will be assessed. This list is not exhaustive or 100% inclusive and is provided to enhance the applicants’ ability to respond with substance.
- Applicants are required to submit the following information, conforming to the guidelines given in this section:
- Understanding of the scope of work:
- The proposal shall demonstrate a clear understanding of the project objective and deliverables.
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the technical requirements of this RFP:
- Providing detailed technical documentation of the proposed strategy.
- Evidence of experience delivering similar projects.
- The creative and methodological approaches are required to implement each of the parts of the scope of work.
- The comprehensiveness of work plan and reasonableness of proposed time frame:
- The proposal shall include a feasible work plan to ensure the successful completion of deliverables.
- The work plan details how activities will be coordinated.
- Detailed budget and cost-effectiveness of the proposed approach:
- Evidence of cost-effective approaches to undertaking the scope of work within the proposed budget.
- The proposal shall identify possible challenges and include creative approaches to addressing them.
- Management and personnel plan:
- The team members working on this project shall have the relevant qualifications and overall experience required to successfully implement the project.
- The roles and responsibilities of each team member shall be clearly defined. GAIN shall each have one main contact person clearly identified in the proposal.
- A duly completed offer of services:
- GAIN reserves the right to contact the individuals and contractor(s) in order to verify the information provided as part of the proposal.
- Understanding of the scope of work:
For more information, visit GAIN.