Deadline Date: November 28, 2025
The AYuTe Africa Challenge Kenya aims to promote agricultural innovation among Kenyan youth and contribute to the country’s food security through technology-driven entrepreneurship.
The programme focuses on three key pillars: IDENTIFY – identifying game-changing innovations that address challenges facing smallholder farmers; ELEVATE – elevating youth-led innovations through mentorship, training, and linkage to access to opportunities; and GROW TOGETHER – supporting agritech innovations that benefit smallholder farmers, alongside partners.
The challenge is an initiative of Heifer Kenya, in collaboration with the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC). KCIC leverages its business acceleration expertise to develop a strategic direction for youth engagement in agriculture and technology, aligning with Heifer Kenya’s mission to drive inclusive agricultural growth.
Kenya’s agriculture industry serves as the backbone of its economy, yet young people—who make up over half of the national labor force—remain largely excluded from this critical sector. Barriers such as negative perceptions of agriculture, limited awareness of agribusiness opportunities, and restricted access to modern technologies have hindered youth participation.
AYuTe Africa Challenge Kenya seeks to transform this narrative by channeling the creativity and ambition of young agri-tech innovators into solutions that create meaningful impact for smallholder farmers. The initiative supports winners to expand their enterprises and enhance their visibility within Kenya’s agricultural ecosystem. Now in its fourth edition, the challenge has already achieved measurable impact.
The support package for the winners includes seed capital of up to KES 9,400,000, which covers implementation costs and technical assistance for the top eight winners. In addition, the winners will receive up to six months of customized post-award business advisory support to help strengthen their ventures. The programme also offers tailored training boot camps at various levels of the competition, along with technical assistance designed to enhance the Minimum Viable Product as well as the business and financial models of the start-ups. Participants will benefit from personalized coaching and mentorship to translate training into effective business implementation. Furthermore, the programme provides links to financial and investment opportunities, connections with enterprise-related actors, and valuable networking opportunities to showcase solutions and engage with investors and other key stakeholders.
Eligibility for participation requires applicants to be established and registered in Kenya or in the process of registration with active operations in the country. Eligible enterprises must be in the early-stage start-up or scale-up phase and present innovative, climate-smart solutions in value chains such as red meat (beef, goats, and sheep), dairy, poultry, and horticulture. Solutions should target any of the following levels: production, aggregation, post-harvest loss management, value addition, access to markets, or financing, with a positive impact on smallholder farmers. Youth are strongly encouraged to apply.
For more information, visit Kenya Climate Innovation Center.
