EMRC-RaboBank Project Incubator Award entry call

Encouraging development

The EMRC-Rabobank Project Incubator Award aims to encourage development, innovation and entrepreneurship in the agro-food sector in Africa. From the entries received, a selection of candidates will be invited to present their projects during a targeted plenary session to an audience of potential partners and investors from Africa, Europe, USA, India and beyond.

The US$15,000 award will be presented at the gala dinner of the AgriBusiness Forum 2010 to the entry that promises the highest level of economic and social impact for their immediate communities.

Food security

The AgriBusiness Forum 2010 is expecting over 400 participants to gather in Kampala and will focus on the hotly debated global concern of food security, examining the business opportunities the challenge presents for the African continent. The forum will address topics such as the role of the private sector in improving access to food and increasing sustainable agricultural productivity, pre- and post-harvest intervention, commodities, inputs and private sector growth in Africa.

EMRC initiated the Project Incubator Award at the AgriBusiness Forum held in Rome in 2008. At the Africa Finance & Investment Forum held in Paris at the end of 2008, a US$10,000 prize was awarded to MUPECI, a Cameroonian microfinance institution for its soya project. At the AgriBusiness Forum 2009 held in Cape Town the prize was increased to US$15,000 and the winner was the Coopérative Générale de Sepingo of Côte d'Ivoire for their cashew nuts project. The winner of the Project Incubator Award at the Africa Finance & Investment Forum 2009 was Derekop Ltd. of Uganda.

Interested candidates may register for the AgriBusiness Forum and submit their sustainable business ideas.

The closing date for entries is 1 September 2010. Non-delegates interested in submitting a proposal must register for the Africa Finance & Investment Forum.

For more imformation, go to www.emrc.be.