Nourishing Africa has established the Youth in Agri-Food Export Development Initiative (YAEDP), a six-month program aiming to enhance the capacity of 15,000 Nigerian youth aged 25 to 40 to participate in the export industry, in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Riby. Entrepreneurs and co-operative leaders in the agri-food sector will benefit from training, market connections, and digital support in 10 Nigerian states: Abia, Adamawa, Cross River, Edo, FCT, Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Kogi, Ogun, and Oyo.
The YAEDP aims to ensure inclusiveness, hence, we strongly encourage applications from women and underrepresented youth such as those with disabilities.
Applicants should be aware that this program does not offer financial assistance to participants. The program is free to apply for and to participate in.
Value Chains:
Cocoa, Spices, Sesame, Shea butter, Cashew, Cassava, Soybean, Rubber, and Ginger are among the value chains in which the YAEDP is accepting applications from agrifood entrepreneurs and cooperative leaders.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Nigerian agripreneurs and agro-cooperative leaders between 25 – 40 years old who are looking to export their produce.
- Applicants’ businesses must be located in the priority states in the country.
- Applicants must produce and/or sell food products in the priority value chains.
- The business must have been operational for at least one year.
If selected, participants must be willing to dedicate at least 3 hours in a week for 6 – 8 weeks for the training component of the program. The training will be entirely online leveraging digital channel and media.
Application Process
The application will be open until April 30, 2022.
