Entrepreneurs with innovative
agribusiness ideas have an opportunity to be part of a 16-week
incubation programme that will see them develop sustainable ventures.
The initiative dubbed Agribusiness for Impact
Incubator Programme is initiated by the Growthhub platform that seeks to
promote start-ups across the East African region.
In an interview
Patricia Jumi, one of the co-founders of the Nairobi-based incubator,
said that the 16-week incubation would see 12 companies selected and
supported to establish and grow their businesses.
“Many youths still see agriculture as a last
option and think of engaging in it for the short-term gain like farming
just to make money from it even though there is a growing need for a
more progressive kind of agriculture,” she said.
Ms Jumi explained that a paradigm shift of
agriculture to a more capitalist one as in the manufacturing sector
would create more employment opportunities and have greater social
impact.
“People want to be entrepreneurs but they do not
know if their ideas are good enough. We need to help them think beyond
the norm across the whole agricultural chain to enable them create
sustainable industries out of their ideas,” she said.
Youths with creative ideas on agro-processing
businesses, adoption of modern farming practices, improving food
security as well as increasing income generation for farmers have until
January 9 to submit their ideas to the competition.
The selected teams will in February undergo a
four-week intensive training on good business models and addressing
customer needs and how to transform their agribusiness ideas into
start-ups.
After this five teams will be chosen and each will
receive a capital investment of sh430,000 ($5,000) to build a prototype
and test their product or service.
The teams will then have 10 weeks to implement and
execute their business ideas before making their final pitches to
potential investors in May.
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