The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), www.agra.org is a farmer-centred, African-led, partnerships-driven institution that is working to transforming smallholder farming from a solitary struggle to survive to a business that thrives. In collaboration with its partners—including African governments, researchers, development partners, the private sector and civil society— AGRA’s work primarily focuses on smallholder farmers – men and women who typically cultivate staple crops on two hectares or less.
AGRA’s goal is to catalyse an inclusive agricultural transformation in the African continent by increasing incomes and improving food security. With an initial focus on 11 countries, the goal is to improve the lives of over 30 million female and male farmers in Africa by 2021.
AGRA, through the VALUE4HER program, plans to implement activities geared towards catalysing women to women supplier and mentorship relationships, to create market and learning networks among women-led businesses. As a pilot intervention, this grant seeks to catalyse women-women supply chains, evaluate and learn how business relations along women supply chains work to incentivise women to learn and adapt their attitude/perception to business growth and facilitate the development of knowledge and insights for scale, voice and advocacy initiatives in Africa. The grant provides the crucial link between top tiers of women SMEs and the nano and micro women entrepreneurs and provides avenues for knowledge transfer and mentorship between women in agribusiness.
VALUE4HER is AGRAs continental program, aimed at increasing the performance of women agri-enterprises, through access to markets and trade, finance and investments, knowledge and skills, networking and building women’s collective voice. The program VALUE4HER is powered by VALUE4HERConnect, Africa’s first women in agribusiness integrated digital resource, designed to assist women agri-enterprises transcend gender and market entry barriers, built upon digital technologies capabilities to connect, amplify, and deliver customized service
Eligibility & Criteria
This Innovation Grant (IG) is open to women-led/owned agribusinesses (at least 70% of the shares held by a woman or group of women) that are incorporated in an African country and have been in existence for at least three (3) years. The detailed eligibility criteria are below. The woman-led/owned agribusiness (hereafter called ‘The Applicant) must meet the following criteria:
- The Applicant is a legal entity (sole proprietorship; partnerships, corporation or limited liability company), incorporated in an African country, fully or majority-owned by women citizens of Africa (minimum 70% shareholding).
- The Applicant is in agribusiness – either in bulking, processing or trading in agricultural commodities or products.
- The Applicant must have been in operation for a minimum of 3 years, with an annual turnover of USD 20,000 – USD 200,000.
- The Applicant must demonstrate the capacity to contribute at least 10% of the total project budget (in cash or in-kind).
- Qualifying members of the #VALUE4HERConnect Platform are particularly encouraged to apply
The maximum available grant per qualifying agribusiness is USD 9,000. This is to cover up to a maximum of 90% of the total budget for approved activities (inclusive of fees for training, logistics costs, equipment, etc.). The balance of 10% (USD 1,000 in-cash or in-kind contribution from participating business) is the Applicant’s contribution to the project.
Get more details and apply HERE
