Heifer International’s AYuTe Africa Challenge launched a new national competition today, offering young Uganda entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch for investment in their agritech solutions to boost the incomes and productivity of Africa’s smallholder farmers.

“This competition provides an opportunity for young innovators in Uganda to secure the funding and visibility they need to scale up their agritech solutions to reach millions of farmers across Africa,” said Adesuwa Ifedi, Senior Vice President of Africa Programs at Heifer International. “There is huge potential for economic growth and employment in agriculture across Africa, but new ideas and technologies are urgently needed. It’s time for Africa’s tech-savvy youth to use innovation skills to transform the sector.”

The national competition represents a new phase of Heifer International’s AYuTe Africa Challenge, was established in 2021 to award cash grants annually to the most promising young agritech innovators from across Africa. Like the Regional Champions competition, the AYuTe National Champions competition offers prize money and mentorship, helping translate the energy and ideas of young Ugandan agritech innovators into meaningful impact for smallholder farmers across the country, and supporting winners to grow their businesses and profile. “We appeal to all youth nationwide to get involved in the agribusiness competition that aims to find innovative solutions to critical challenges of the smallholder farmers in the agricultural sector. Uganda has a high literacy rate (76.53%) and one of the youngest populations globally, which augurs well for the success of this competition. We look forward to receiving brilliant
innovations that can improve agricultural productivity.” said William Matovu, Country Director, Heifer International Uganda.


Smallholder farmers in Uganda contribute the majority (65%) of the agricultural workforce. The AYuTe Africa Challenge therefore seeks to catalyse this demographic through innovation in agricultural technology that will narrow the productivity gap (Uganda’s solid yields operate at less than 40% of its attainable potential).

“The launch of the AYuTe Africa Challenge in Uganda is timely because it is in line with the National ICT Initiatives Support Programme (NIISP) to facilitate an ICT innovation ecosystem and marketplace for Ugandan innovative digital products. Specifically, the AYuTe Africa Challenge is in line with one of the program’s key objectives: to promote ICT products, services, and solutions for improved service delivery.” remarked Hon. Kabbyanga Godfrey Baluku, the Minister of State for National Guidance.


“More than ever, the government recognises the need to bring innovation by young Ugandans to the agriculture scene, and we are committed to any initiatives that will help boost Uganda’s agriculture sector (which is the backbone of Uganda’s economy) and lead to the creation of jobs across the agricultural value chain.” remarked Acayo Consolata, The Assistant Commissioner Information and Communication, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

How to Participate.


Step 1: Record a two-minute video introducing yourself and demonstrating how your innovation works, what problem it seeks to solve, how it can potentially translate into meaningful impact for smallholder farmers across the country and how much money you would need to bring it to life. Ensure that the video is not more than 2 minutes, has clear audio and is in MP4 Format.


Step 2: Upload your video here https://bit.ly/AYuTeAfricaChallengeUgandaEdition.
OR post it on your Twitter or Facebook pages and tag Heifer International Uganda using #AYuTeChallengeUg. OR send it to this WhatsApp number +256 781 608488


Step 3:

The most eligible submissions will be shortlisted to participate in a televised pitching show and will be selected to be aired on NTV. There is over UGX 100,000,000 up for grabs. The overall winner will be crowned The AYuTe Africa Challenge Uganda Champion and will walk away with UGX 50,000,000, the 1st
runner-up; UGX 30,000,000, the 2nd runner-up; UGX 15,000,000. In addition, we will hand out two consolation prizes for UGX 2,500,000. On top of the prize money, 20 Agritech innovators will have premium access to Famunera Digital Export Marketplace for 12 months.

Deadline for Participation.
The AYuTe Africa Competition Uganda Edition call for participation in 2022 will run from June 16, 2022, to July 14, 2022. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/AYuTeAfricaChallengeUgandaEdition or call 0781 608 488.


Winners will receive a shared cash prize of up to UGX 100,000,000 to invest in growing their agritech startup