Deadline Date: March 30, 2026
The Moonshots for Development Open Innovation Challenge invites innovators to pilot solutions that address the needs of smallholder farmers, rural communities, and indigenous populations through resilient food systems.
The focus areas include four challenge tracks: Insurance, Agroecology, Digital Extension, and Fragility, with special interest in solutions using AI and geospatial analysis, and a strong emphasis on accessibility for rural households and context-appropriate technology.
The Open Innovation Challenge is powered by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the IDB Lab, the CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP), the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Innovation Hub (IIH), and the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS). Through this initiative, innovators are invited to develop and pilot solutions that build resilient food systems across four thematic tracks: Insurance solutions for resilient food systems, reducing drivers of fragility, digital extension for accountable service delivery, and agroecology for productive and climate-resilient systems. The challenge also encourages cross-cutting approaches that strengthen the effectiveness and scalability of solutions, including geospatial analysis and AI for Good.
The Challenge is particularly excited about solutions that center rural communities, ensuring that impact is accessible to smallholder farmers and rural households. Where solutions engage end-users directly, technology must be context appropriate, taking into account issues such as internet connectivity and feature phone prevalence. There is special interest in innovations that leverage geospatial analysis to advance solutions related to insurance, agroecology, digital extension, and fragility. Applicants are also encouraged to embed AI to accelerate data interpretation, enhance prediction and modeling, personalize advisory services, or otherwise enable proposed solutions.
Innovators are invited to apply for this transformative program, which offers up to $360,000 in funding and support, and provides a structured innovation journey designed to elevate ideas into scalable solutions. Teams selected for the program begin with a Phase 0 virtual bootcamp focused on business model development and receive a month of personalized mentorship to lay the foundation for success in later stages. Selected teams then progress to Phase 1, where startups can secure up to $10,000 USD and benefit from bespoke coaching and access to M4D resources and networks. Top teams advance to Phase 2, receiving up to $100,000 USD along with pilot and implementation support. Finalists in Phase 3 have the potential to earn up to $250,000 USD and receive comprehensive support to scale their enterprises. The program is open to teams with a validated business model and a functional product or service already deployed in a live environment.
For more information, visit M4D.
