Mastercard Agribusiness Challenge Fund

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The Mastercard Agribusiness Challenge Fund is the first call for proposals under the Challenge Fund intervention, focusing on supporting SMEs in the Agribusiness sector to create work opportunities at scale for young women and men, young people with disabilities and refugee youth.

The Agribusiness Challenge Fund is an initiative from the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity which is a US$ 126 million Fund established in 2023 that aims to support Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) across three sectors in 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Agribusiness Challenge Fund will be a rolling call for proposals open from 18 March 2024 to 22 November 2024, with three harvest periods in between. The challenge will be open to SME applications from any country as long as the projects are being implemented in one or more of the 20 focus countries and meet the eligibility criteria.

The Agribusiness SMEs will be applying to receive grants of between US$ 500,000 and US$ 2,500,000 for their projects that can create work opportunities for young women and men, young people with disabilities or refugee youth.

Categories of Interest In The Mastercard Agribusiness Challenge Fund

Primary production
Processing and aggregation
Trading and market linkages

Categories of Interest in Agricultural Value Chain

While broadly interested in any agribusiness opportunity that is capable of work creation opportunities for young women and men, those working in these, or other parts of the agriculture value chain are encouraged to apply:

Forestry Fruits and vegetables, Fishing, Livestock- dairy, Horculture, Livestock – beef, Plant Breeding, Livestock – goats, Agro input supplies, Livestock – pig, Cash crop – cocoa, Poultry, Cash crop – coton, Solar powered agriculture tools, Cash crop – tea, Early warning systems, Fruits and vegetables Food storage and preservation, Farmer training on adaptation techniques, Crop insurance services, Smart irrigation systems, Drip irrigation, Soil moisture sensors, Bioenergy production and fossil fuels, Organic fertilizers, Solar powered agricultural tools.

Applicants will be requested to also demonstrate if they have integrated climate adaptation, climate mitigation or digital aspects to their projects

Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible to apply for Mastercard Agribusiness Challenge Fund, an SME must:

Be involved in the sector of focus i.e., agriculture.
Be an existing for-profit Small or Medium-sized Enterprise.
Be implementing your business in at least one of the 20 focus countries in Africa.
Be requesting for financial support within the funding limits of US$ 500,000 and US$ 2,500,000.
Be providing matching contribution of at least 30% of the total project cost.
Have innovative, practical, and scalable businesses that aim to create work opportunities for young women and men, young people with disabilities or refugee youth.

Mastercard Agribusiness Challenge Fund Benefits

Selected Agribusiness SMEs will receive a grant sizes that range from US$ 500,000 to US$ 2,500,000 depending on the size of SME and scaling potential.

Application Timeline and Process

Pre-registration is now open and interested SMEs can pre-register before the challenge launches.

The Mastercard Agribusiness Challenge Fund will be launched and open from 18 March 2024 to 22 November 2024.

The application process is in two stages. Firstly, registration on an online platform and secondly, submission of an application form. The application form will be a concise summary of the business and project. After each application harvest, submited applications will be reviewed and applicants who are shortlisted will be invited to submit a full business plan proposal in the second part of the application process.

How to Pre-register

Click Here to pre-register

For details Click here

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