Onyeje Abutu-Joel
Aiivon Innovation Hub in partnership with Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has called for application from women and youths the ages of 18 to 35 to participate in the Agribusiness Innovation Challenge in Benue.
Aiivon made the call on Friday during the media launch of the Agribusiness Innovation Challenge in Makurdi.
Speaking at the event, GAIN Program Manager, Mr Olayemi Akangbe said that the purpose of the challenge is to support the holistic development of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Akangbe said that the challenge would enable GAIN to discover youths and women who are into Agribusinesses using technology so as to provide technical assistance training for them.
He said GAIN would also strengthen successful participants capacity and improve their access to financial services to improve supply chain efficiency.
The program manager stated that Benue was chosen as one of the participating states because agriculture is the main stay of the state.
He however, decried the amount of agricultural produce being wasted in Benue every year due to lack of technology to process them, saying that the Agribusiness Innovation Challenge would reduce food wastage in the state.
He also said the challenge would reduce unemployment as successful participants will access the N5 million prize money.
Akangbe therefore, urged interested women and youths within the ages of 18-35 in Benue who are into Agribusinesses using technology to apply for the challenge on or before Oct 3, 2022.
“The business must be at its early stage and not at an idea stage and it should have two or more founders.
“We will select 15 businesses to participate in the challenge and at the end, four successful businesses would be selected for the prize money while other participants would be introduced to international investors”, Akangbe said.
Also speaking, the founder of Aiivon Innovation Hub, Mr Attah Igoche said Aiivon has supported over 3000 youths who were interested in ICT by providing them access to fund for their businesses.
Igoche said Aiivon’s partnership with GAIN in the Agribusiness Innovation Challenge was to solve the challenges in the different value chains, eliminate waste, support sustainable development, create decent jobs and reduce poverty in Benue.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that GAIN is a Swiss-based foundation focused on tackling the human suffering caused by malnutrition.