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Apply and scale your digital innovation to boost climate smart agriculture in Africa

Digital innovation challenge

Digital technologies such as hyperlocal weather forecasting, mobile finance, supply chain management and traceability solutions are increasingly transforming agri-food value chains in Africa. They enable farmers and other actors to produce more, better and safer food while preserving natural resources and biodiversity.

2SCALE, one of Africa’s largest agribusiness incubators and accelerators, invites entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs with digital innovations to apply to our innovation challenge. Together we will scale your innovation in our agribusiness partnerships.

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Let’s get the most out of digital for climate smart agriculture

Join our innovation challenge and implement your innovation at scale

We´re looking for digital innovations for agribusinesses

It is important that your innovation promotes food and nutrition security, climate-smart (eco-efficient) agriculture, as well as the inclusion of women and youth as farmers, and entrepreneurs.

A unique opportunity to implement your digital innovation at scale

Being one of the largest agribusiness incubators in Africa, we can unlock significant scaling opportunities for you. In our 60 partnerships we engage with 750,000 farmers across eight countries.

Application process

We’ll guide you through the application in five simple stages

1. Apply

Download and fill out our application form and submit it by email before 15 November 2019, 13:00pm Ghana time. Application is easy and takes less than an hour.

2. Review

We’ll review your application and contact you in the weeks after the deadline to let you whether you met our eligibility and evaluation criteria. If yes, you continue to stage three.

3. Refine application

We’ll schedule a personal meeting to help you refine your application and provide individual feedback based on the evaluation criteria.

4. Selection

We will approach the 2SCALE partnerships and they will select innovations that benefit their activities and provide the best scaling opportunities for you.

5. Implementation

The innovations that are matched to a partnership, will get to develop an activity plan and budget requirements so that you can implement your innovation in 2020.

1. Apply
Starts on Oct 1, 2019

2. Review
From Nov 15, 2019

3. Refine application
Starts on Dec 1, 2019

4. Selection
From Dec 15, 2019

5. Implementation
Starts on Jan 1, 2020

What’s in it for you?

Scale your innnovation in one of Africa’s largest agri incubators

This is an innovation challenge like no other. We do not promise a large sum of money for a few lucky winners. Instead, we offer a unique chance to unlock significant scaling opportunities in our agribusiness partnerships.

“It’s great how 2SCALE connects digital entrepreneurs with networks incl. large value chain actors. It can help them to get the market they need. Something they cannot easily achieve on their own.”

Ken Lohento - Senior Programme Coordinator ICT4Ag at CTA

Scaling opportunities

We unlock scaling opportunities in one (or more) of the 60 2SCALE partnerships and their 750,000 farmers across eight countries. Your innovation will also be featured on our website.

Technical support

We provide access to a network of inclusive business and innovation experts for technical support and brokering efforts necessary for the scaling of your innovation.

Impact research

If needed, we bring in a research team to get insights into the impact of your innovation in our partnerships as to share learnings and provide recommendations for improvement.

Entrepreneurs and innovations we have supported before

Digital agri-wallet for inputs purchasing

This mobile application assists farmers to buy better seeds and fertilizers through savings and loans. 2SCALE helped Agriwallet to scale up in Kenya.

See blog post

Farm Force

This application allows food processors to manage large numbers of suppliers. It was introduced in a 2SCALE partnership on cassava in Nigeria with Psaltry an…

See blog post

Doni-Doni, a mobile savings platform in Mali

Dôni-Dôni means little by little and is a mobile platform for farmers in Mali to save small amounts of money frequently in order to buy input packages.

See blog post

See if you fit the bill

Apply to our challenge if you match these criteria

Low-income focus

Your innovation should primarily focus on smallholder farmers. Focus on other low-income actors such as producers or micro-entpreneurs is allowed too.

Value chain impact

Your innovation solves a pressing problem in of our four sectors: Animal Production Related, Staple crops, Soy and Oil Seeds, and Fresh Produce.

Digital technology

Your innovation is built around using digital technology to benefit the smallholder farmer value chain. See examples in the challenge brief.

Country fit

You plan to implement your innovation in one of the 2SCALE countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger.

Innovation maturity

Your innovation is not new to the market and you have already been generating revenue from it for at least one year.

Finance

You bring at least half of the budget required to finance the implementation of your innovation in 2SCALE. See what we might fund in the challenge brief.

Get in touch

Apply or ask a question

Apply to our challenge or email us if you have questions about applying.

Challenge manager