The 2022 edition of the Pitch AgriHack has launched. This year’s edition is supported by AGRF, Heifer International, and Generation Africa, marking the second year the organizations have come together to provide cash grants that accelerate entrepreneurial growth and job creation in Africa’s agriculture sector.
The Pitch AgriHack targets innovative youth-led businesses with technological solutions to food security challenges, awarding the most impactful businesses with cash grants, media visibility, and investor exposure.
African founders or co-founders, aged 18-40, of technology-based and digital services businesses in the agriculture sector, are eligible to enter the 2022 competition.
The Pitch AgriHack 2022 will give out $45,000 in prizes to six winners in three open competition categories. Early-stage, Mature, or Growth -stage and Woman-led businesses or ventures are qualified to make entries.
Past editions have had entries from Farm equipment manufacturers, agricultural drone services for precision farming, data and analytics providers, mobile apps, online crowdfunding and finance platforms, e-commerce and logistics services, and many more.
Commenting on the programme, Dickson Naftali, Head of Generation Africa said, “Pitch AgriHack is about promoting digital jobs and smart technologies that appeal to the youth. This competition calls on the innovative minds of Africa to empower themselves and their communities by harnessing and developing ground-breaking technologies in the agrifood sector.
“We see a bright future on the horizon for the youth of Africa. Generation Africa, with the help of its partners like Heifer International, is working tirelessly to smooth out the obstacles that have traditionally prevented young people from embracing opportunities in the agriculture and food value chain.”
Adesuwa Ifedi, Senior Vice President for Africa Programs at Heifer International said, “At Heifer International, we believe agriculture can be a major driver of economic growth and employment across Africa,” said. “African youth hold the key to unlocking this potential. Their innovation will transform the food and farming sector, providing new jobs and increasing food security. We were impressed with the young agritech entrepreneurs who pitched their businesses as part of last year’s competition, and we are excited to see the new innovations 2022 will bring.”
“There is a hope – a very real hope – that the youth of Africa will throw out the legacy problems created in the food system over the last 100 years and come up with tech-enabled, nature-positive solutions that fast-track Africa’s food production capacity to create jobs and make the continent self-sufficient,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA and Former Special Envoy to the UN Food Systems Summit “High-profile competitions that reach millions of young people, like Pitch AgriHack, is playing a big role in agriculture.”
12 applicants will battle it out at the finals in a business pitching contest at the African Green Revolution Forum Summit (AGRF) in September. Finalists will participate in the AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room, where over 800 companies, 15 government delegations, and 150 public and private investors will convene to generate exciting new opportunities.
A fourth invite-only category known as the AYuTe Africa Challenge, sponsored by Heifer International, will award up to US$1.5 million in grants to scalable ventures that are already generating measurable impact for Africa’s smallholder farmers. Winners from the 2022 AYuTe Africa Challenge will also be featured at the AGRF Summit.
Applications for Pitch AgriHack are open from 20 June 2022 to 29 July 20222. Interested applicants can click here to make their entries.
