EU Announces AgriBiz Program Worth 5.1 Billion-How To Apply and Deadline
The European Union (EU) work hand in hand with other organisations has announced grants for women and youth worth Ksh5.1 billion through the AgriBiz Programme.
EU will work in partnership with the following ministries;
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (Danida);
Ministry of African Development Bank (AfDB),
The Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC).
The program will empower youth and women-led businesses across the 47 counties in the country.
Additionally, the EU intends to create over 17,000 jobs by supporting local agricultural businesses in the country.
The cost of the project is estimated to be Kshs 5.1 billion. A total of 2400 women and youth-led agribusinesses will be supported by the program where over17,000 job opportunities will be created along with agricultural value chains.
The program will run for five years. Within this period the program seeks to catalyze greater involvement of women and youth in agricultural and livestock value chains through provision of a range of services needed for early-stage agribusiness enterprises, EU statement read.
Successful applicants will receive funding which falls in two financing phases depending on the stages of various businesses.
Business concepts will be the first category to be funded. The qualified applicants will be funded through the Proof-of-Concept grant financing (POC) where applicants are eligible for grants ranging from Ksh257,397 (Euro 2,000) to ksh1,286,968 (Euro 10,000).
The applicants with already established businesses will be eligible for the Result-Based funding. They will receive funding ranging between Ksh643,493 (Euro 5000) to Ksh1,930,480 (Euro 15000).
Further applicants in the categories will also receive technical support to grow their businesses through various training programs in addition to financial support.
Youth from the age of 18 to 35 years and women of all age brackets are eligible for the grants and are urged to send their applications.
You are advised to make application online application by visiting the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) AgriBiz website.
Applicants can also submit physical applications through the nearest Business Incubation Hubs (BIH) which are located in Machakos, Kisii, Uasin Gishu, Isiolo, Kilifi, Kiambu, Bungoma, and Meru.
The application should be made no later than Thursday, October 28 this year.
