AECF SAPI Poultry Feed Accelerator Grand Challenge (up to $20,000 )

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Applications are open for AECF SAPI Poultry Feed Accelerator Grand Challenge. The Southern Africa Poultry Initiative (SAPI) is a flagship programme under the Food Action Alliance (FAA), led by AGRA with support from a coalition of partners, including AECF. It is designed to unlock poultry’s potential as a driver of food security, inclusive economic growth, and job creation, particularly for women and young people.Through the Poultry Feed Accelerator Grand Challenge, they are seeking bold ideas that can cut feed costs, scale innovations, and make poultry more affordable across the region. If your idea innovates in feed production, distribution, or uses novel ingredients, this could be your opportunity.

Poultry remains the most affordable source of animal protein in Southern Africa; however, structural challenges hinder its growth. With the region’s population projected to double by 2050, there is an urgent need to ensure affordable protein, create employment opportunities, and build climate-resilient food systems.

Reducing feed costs is central to lowering overall poultry production costs, thereby making poultry more affordable and boosting consumption. Achieving this requires multiple strategies—improving on-farm productivity, increasing grain production volumes, cutting post-harvest losses, upgrading processing technologies, introducing novel feed ingredients and blends, and lowering transport costs. It also calls for innovative business models that share risk and reduce prices, such as long-term contracting with cereal out-growers, co-farming arrangements between value chain actors, crop and yield insurance schemes, strengthening cooperative operations, and adopting production systems that leverage existing subsidy programmes.

SAPI Poultry Feed Accelerator Grand Challenge Focus Areas

Applicants are invited to submit proposals aimed at significantly reducing the cost and improving the availability of poultry feeds. It targets farmers of all sizes but has a focus on improving the accessibility and affordability of feed for smallholder poultry farmers. Proposals should contribute to the sustainable development of the poultry value chain by enhancing feed manufacturing efficiency, increasing productivity, and fostering market growth with a strong emphasis on delivering high-quality, cost-effective poultry feeds.

Key factors for consideration:

Enhancing accessibility and affordability of poultry feeds
- Proposals should present clear strategies to expand the availability of affordable, high-quality poultry feeds to smallholder farmers. Effective distribution networks, competitive pricing models, and partnerships with local agro-dealers or cooperatives are essential to widen reach, especially in rural and underserved areas.
Demonstrating a viable and growing market for poultry feeds
- Applicants must provide at least preliminary evidence of market demand, including data on market size, growth trends, and confirmed interest or commitments from buyers where possible. This market validation ensures sustainability and facilitates scale-up, but can be further elaborated during the implementation of the grant.
Aligning production with market requirements
- An understanding of market needs—such as feed formulation standards, nutritional profiles, quantity demands, and price sensitivities—should guide production. Proposals could include plans for investments in supply chain infrastructure, including storage, quality assurance, and logistics, to maintain product consistency and timely delivery.
Improving feed manufacturing efficiency and innovation
- Proposals should incorporate proven methods and emerging technologies to reduce production costs and improve feed quality. These include, for example:
- Utilizing locally available and sustainable raw materials to reduce dependence on costly imports.
- Adopting energy-efficient and scalable processing equipment suited for local contexts.
- Implementing precision feed formulation technologies that optimize nutrient balance, reduce waste, and improve bird performance.
- Establishing quality control systems compliant with regional feed safety standards to enhance consumer confidence.
- Streamlining operational processes to minimize losses and maximize productivity.
Promoting inclusive participation of women and youth
- Proposals must detail how women and youth will be actively engaged and empowered to benefit from affordable poultry feeds. This may involve customized capacity-building programs, entrepreneurship support, and facilitation of their integration into feed production, distribution, and utilization value chains.

SAPI Poultry Feed Accelerator Grand Challenge Benefits

Up to USD $20,000 in funding and technical assistance to refine your poultry feed innovation.
Mentorship, advisory support, and capacity building in feed formulation, marketing, business management, climate-smart raw materials, and distribution.
Opportunity to submit a concept note, get shortlisted for further due diligence and to develop more detailed proposals.

Eligibility Criteria

The Poultry Feed Accelerator Grand Challenge is open to the private sector, industry associations, academia, NGOs, and government. To qualify for funding, applicants must satisfy the following requirements:

Operational History and Financial Standing:
- The applicant should have been in operation for the past two years.
- Applicants must have achieved an annual turnover or operating budget of at least US$50,000.
Poultry Sector Alignment and Location:
- The applicant must specialize in poultry feed processing.
- The applicant must be located in the SADC, with a focus on one or more of the specified focus countries.
Compliance with Regulations:
- The applicant should comply with investment regulations in target countries, such as local ownership, where applicable.
- The applicant must adhere to international human rights, labour standards, environmental management laws, and seed laws/policies.
Legal Registration and Establishment:
- The applicant must be legally registered. It does not have to be physically established in the target country(ies) to apply, but must be able to effectively deliver in the target country(ies) should their proposal be subsequently funded.
Non-Involvement in Terrorism:
- The applicant must not be involved in any acts of terrorism or provide support to terrorist activities.
- Regular due diligence regarding this matter must be allowed.
- The screening will be conducted for all applicants and associated parties against provisions such as: https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/, http://www.worldbank.org/debarr,
Demonstration of Additionality:
- The company should demonstrate how its activities contribute to additional positive impact beyond what would typically occur without the funding.