USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021

USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021

Are you looking for USAID Nigeria covid-19 food security challenge? Would you like to know how to apply for the USAID Nigeria Covid-19 challenge 2021? Are you searching for the application portal for the covid1-9 challenge? Are you interested in knowing the requirements for USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021?

In this post, you will find all the information you need regarding the USAID Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021 including the application portal, requirements, and application deadline.

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About the USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security  Challenge

Nigeria is facing a food security crisis worsened by the COVID-19 global pandemic and its effects on the food value chain in the country. The pandemic has significantly disrupted already fragile agricultural value chains across the country, including people’s ability to produce, process, and distribute food. The disruption to agricultural productivity and markets has a knock-on negative impact on livelihoods, especially among the most vulnerable households. Agriculture is the mainstay of the country’s economy, employing approximately two-thirds of the total labor force and contributing 24 percent of the national GDP.
Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, yam, and cowpea, yet due to low crop
productivity, the country is a food deficit nation and depends on grain, livestock products, and fish imports to meet local demand.  of an estimated 71 million hectares of cultivable land, only half is currently used for farming.

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As part of the Feed the Future initiative, the USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge seeks to spur, recognize, and reward outstanding business plans from both commercially viable youth-led enterprises and mid-stage enterprises in Nigeria that can rapidly expand their activities to improve food production and/or food security, thus improving the resilience of vulnerable households to the negative impacts of COVID-19.

Aim of the USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021

This program is aimed at;

• Increase food and agriculture system productivity and enhance efficient production along the value chains to unlock agricultural production that has been limited by COVID-19’s impact on food production, processing, and distribution in Nigeria.
  ● Increase income for Base of the Pyramid (BOP) women and men in both rural and urban areas.
  ● Provide youth-led and mid-stage companies the technical assistance and capital they need to sustainably scale solutions to meet the requirements of the Challenge.
  ● Promote climate and environmental resilience and biodiversity through the sustainable, holistic management of natural resources and ecosystems.
  ● Develop and promote innovative and local food-based models, including local production, processing, and marketing of highly nutritious foods to prevent and/or treat wasting/acute malnutrition.
  ● Promote socially responsible marketing/advertising to increase demand for safe, nutritious foods and other nutrition-related commodities and services.

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Requirements for USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021

Interested applicants must meet the following requirements to participate in the USAID/Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021. All applications will undergo an initial eligibility screening to ensure they comply with the eligibility criteria.

• OrganizationType: This Challenge is only open to registered for-profit companies who have a local presence in Nigeria. We encourage applications from micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs and SMEs) that have not previously worked with USAID.
• Size: The Challenge is open to all relevant companies regardless of size.
• Local Presence: All applicants must be registered and authorized by the national government in Nigeria or have at least one registered Nigerian local partner. This local partner could be a commercial partner, joint venture partner, or candidate for a merger or acquisition. If working with a registered Nigerian partner, the local partner should have a tangible stake in the innovation and its development rather than, for example, a local merchandiser who stocks the product.
• Company Maturity: All applicants must have a sustainable and financially viable business model for their innovation in the Nigerian food security value chain. The eligibility requirements for mid-stage and youth-led applicants are as follows:
• Mid-Stage Applicants must have existing services or products in the Nigerian food
  security value chain with a minimum of 1,000 existing customers.
• Youth-Led Applicants must have a founder under the age of 29; have a pre-revenue or
  post-revenue business model innovation in the Nigerian food security value chain; and have a working prototype or minimum viable product along with a demonstrated BoP market the segment being targeted.
• Leveraged funds: All mid-stage applicants are required to have 50 percent leveraged funds. The external funds may pay for activities that further the growth, development, or commercialization of the innovator’s technology. The final amount of leveraged funds will be determined on a case-by-case basis for each applicant. Mid-stage awardees will be required to provide evidence of the commitment of the leveraged funds. There are NO leverage funds requirements for youth-led applicants, but youth-led applicants are encouraged to demonstrate leveraged funds when possible.
• Eligible to receive USAID funds: All Apparently Successful Applicants will undergo a
  responsibility determination prior to award to ensure that they have the technical and
  organizational capacity to manage a USAID-funded award. Apparently, Successful Applicants must have a DUNS number and be registered in the System for Award
  Management (SAM). See Appendix 4 for additional information.
• Impact: Applications must demonstrate a direct, tangible linkage between their COVID-19 response and food value chains. Applications must also demonstrate a direct or indirect benefit to the BoP in Nigeria.
• Language: Applications must be written in English.
  Completeness and timeliness: Applicants will not be assessed if all required fields have not been completed. This applies to any stage of submission and relates to missing documentation that may have been requested. Late entries may not be accepted.
• Currency: All references to a currency in the Challenge should be in United States Dollars (USD). Please use the exchange rate of 1 USD = 409 naira.
• Agricultural Commodities: Applicants are NOT permitted to use Challenge funding to
  purchase agricultural commodities as defined here.

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How to Apply for USAID Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge 2021

Interested and eligible applicants are to complete their application online via the USAID Nigeria COVID-19 Food Security Challenge application portal here.

Application Submission Rules

• Applications must be submitted in English.
• Applications must be submitted via the online application platform.
• If the applicant experiences any difficulty with applying, please contact
  [email protected]

More details about the challenge can be found here. Click here to see more funding opportunities.

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