Supporting innovations successful the nutrient strategy successful Rwanda is the extremity of a UN-backed inaugural launched successful the capital, Kigali, connected Wednesday. 

The IGNITE Food Systems Challenge comes amid worsening nutrient insecurity successful East Africa owed to rising conflict, clime change, earthy disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Both method enactment and a full of $300,000 successful financing volition beryllium made disposable to assistance start-ups, cooperatives, and tiny and mean enterprises, to scale-up locally-driven solutions that lend to the system and code antithetic gaps successful supplying nutritious food. 

Reaching talented entrepreneurs 

The programme is an inaugural by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Impact Hub Kigali, which offers resources that foster innovation and entrepreneurship, specified arsenic incubation programmes and bootcamps. 

The partners are supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), specifically its Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The inaugural volition tally simultaneously successful Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda, and is being made imaginable with the enactment of $2 cardinal from USAID.  

“The biggest situation for galore entrepreneurs successful Eastern Africa is not lone entree to funding, but besides method enactment that furthers their concepts,” said Jeremie Pigé, caput of the WFP IGNITE Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa. 

“Through this generous enactment by USAID, we are assured that we volition beryllium capable to scope galore agleam and talented entrepreneurs successful the portion who mightiness person been near behind.”  

Providing tailored support 

The IGNITE Food Systems Challenge seeks innovative solutions that lend to nutrient information successful areas specified arsenic resilience to shocks and stress, entree to harmless and nutritious food, improved nutrient proviso chains, the empowerment of smallholder farmers, and the advancement of nutrient information for all.

The telephone for applications runs done 4 February. 

Those selected volition person grant backing of up to $50,000 and six months “acceleration support”, including connections to experts, mentors and partners, arsenic good arsenic different enactment to code concern gaps.  

“With the IGNITE Food Systems Challenge, we volition supply tailored enactment for section entrepreneurs to standard their interaction successful the Rwandan nutrient system,” said Mafer Betancourt, Managing Director of Impact Hub Kigali. 

“Ventures volition acquisition diagnostics astatine the commencement of the programme and volition beryllium capable to co-design their ain acceleration journey, indicating the enactment they require, from coaching to adjacent and adept enactment specified arsenic ineligible oregon accounting services, among others.”