The Innovate Africa Challenge (3rd Edition) is a continental initiative jointly organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Smart Africa Secretariat. The 2026 edition is themed “From Ideation to Deployment” and focuses on moving proven AI innovations beyond pilot stage into practical deployment within African agricultural systems.

The Challenge seeks to identify, support and deploy one proven AI-driven solution for Climate-Smart Agriculture within a Smart Africa Member State. The selected solution will be implemented in partnership with:

• National ministries responsible for Agriculture, ICT and Innovation
• The Smart Africa Secretariat
• FAO country offices and technical experts

The initiative is intended to demonstrate measurable benefits for farmers while generating evidence and a model that can be replicated and scaled across Africa.

Why This Challenge Matters

The opportunity responds to major challenges facing African agrifood systems, including:

• Climate variability and increasing climate shocks
• Food insecurity and declining natural resources
• Limited access to timely agricultural information
• Low adoption of digital technologies
• Fragmented agricultural data systems and skills gaps
• Persistent inequalities affecting smallholder farmers and rural communities. 

A key issue identified by the Challenge is that many promising AI and digital agriculture innovations remain at pilot stage and are not sufficiently integrated into national agricultural systems. The third edition therefore places particular emphasis on validation, deployment, integration and scale, rather than ideas alone.

Objective

The primary objective is to identify, support and deploy one proven AI-based solution that strengthens climate resilience and improves productivity within African agrifood systems.

The Challenge specifically seeks to:

• Validate mature AI solutions using African agricultural and climate data.
• Promote responsible AI, data governance and data sovereignty.
• Support deployment in a Smart Africa Member State with the host ministry and FAO.
• Demonstrate measurable improvements in farmer decision-making, productivity or climate resilience.
• Strengthen connections between innovators, governments, FAO country offices, private sector actors and other agricultural stakeholders.
• Generate evidence and a replicable model for future scale-up across Africa. 

Scope of the Challenge

The Challenge is aimed at startups and technology providers with proven AI solutions that can be deployed in real agricultural environments.

Solutions should be able to:

• Provide climate and agronomic decision support to farmers, agricultural institutions or extension services.
• Operate using African agricultural, climate and remote-sensing data.
• Generate actionable and explainable outputs for farmers, extension agents or ministries.
• Integrate with national agricultural data systems, digital platforms or extension channels to support sustainability and scalability. 

Primary Focus Areas

Particular emphasis will be placed on solutions addressing:

• Precision agriculture and input optimisation
• Crop yield prediction and forecasting
• Pest and disease surveillance, detection and early warning
• Climate risk modelling and adaptive decision support
• Water and natural resource optimisation. 

Deployment and Validation Countries

Deployment and validation activities will be prioritised in the following Smart Africa Member States:

• Rwanda
• Kenya
• Ghana
• Malawi
• Uganda

These countries have been identified in alignment with FAO country office presence and national agricultural priorities.

This is important for applicants: the Challenge has a continental African focus, but the source specifically identifies these five countries as the priority locations for deployment and validation.

Expected Solution Capabilities

The proposed solution should be suitable for environments characterised by:

• Smallholder and informal farming systems
• Partial, incomplete or low-frequency datasets
• Mobile-first and low-connectivity settings
• Multi-language and heterogeneous data environments
• Diverse agro-ecological zones and farming practices
• Integration with national extension and ministry systems. 

Who Can Apply?

The Challenge is open to:

• Startups
• Innovators
• Solution developers

Applicants must be actively developing or deploying AI-driven solutions for climate-smart agriculture.

Applicants must demonstrate:

• A proven track record of developing or deploying relevant AI solutions.
• A minimum team size of two people.
• At least 50% of team working hours dedicated to the solution.
• TRL 3–6 technology maturity.
• At least pre-seed funding and no later than Series A funding.
• A working, deployed or deployment-ready AI solution relevant to climate-smart agriculture.
• Operational experience through existing deployments, paying customers or validated pilots.
• Technical capacity to deploy and support the solution in a new country context.
• Compliance with data protection, privacy and responsible AI requirements. 

Additional Preference

Preference will be given to applicants that:

• Are registered and operating in one or more Smart Africa Member States, or have demonstrated experience in those countries.
• Reach or serve smallholder farmers, including women and youth farmers.
• Have data partnerships with ministries, research institutions or farmer organisations.
• Have experience integrating solutions into national agricultural or extension systems.
• Can demonstrate a pathway to financial sustainability, scale and measurable impact.
• Commit to ecosystem collaboration, knowledge exchange and strengthening the agricultural innovation ecosystem. 

Data, Responsible AI and Intellectual Property Requirements

Participating startups must:

• Comply with applicable data protection and privacy requirements.
• Apply responsible and explainable AI practices.
• Demonstrate bias identification and mitigation across gender, geography and farming systems.
• Respect farmer data rights and obtain appropriate consent for data use.
• Maintain confidentiality of information shared under the Challenge. 

Applicants retain ownership of pre-existing intellectual property. However, Smart Africa retains rights over challenge outputs, reports and frameworks developed under the initiative. Any later scale-up or deployment arrangements may be governed by separate contractual arrangements covering ownership, licensing and deployment rights.

Expected Outcomes

The Challenge is expected to deliver three major outcomes:

1. Deployment of a scalable, context-validated AI solution

One proven AI solution will be deployed and validated in an African agricultural setting, with measurable improvements in farmer decision-making, productivity and climate resilience.

2. Stronger ecosystem collaboration

The initiative aims to strengthen partnerships between innovators, government ministries, FAO country offices, private sector actors, research institutions and farmer organisations.

3. Evidence and a model for scale-up

The deployment will generate evidence and lessons that can support replication, investment, policy development and wider adoption of responsible AI for climate-smart agriculture across Africa.

Application Information

Applicants will need to provide information covering:

Startup

• Legally registered startup name
• Country of registration and operation
• Year launched
• Registration status
• Website and social media
• Annual turnover
• Customer commitments or pilot deployments where applicable
• Team members, roles and expertise
• Team diversity
• Previous accelerator or innovation programme participation. 

Solution

Applicants will provide information on:

• Solution/product/service name
• Solution category
• TRL 3–6 maturity
• Previous funding received
• Target groups
• Solution summary
• Business and revenue model
• Strategic fit with AI and climate-smart agriculture
• Evidence of impact or technical validation
• Ability to deploy in a new country
• Existing or potential data partnerships
• Ecosystem collaboration
• Inclusivity
• Competitors and unique advantage
• Market research and commercialisation activity
• Next steps and scaling plan
• Pathway to financial sustainability. 

Application Process

Applicants complete the Challenge application and provide the required startup, team and solution information.

The application specifically allows applicants to demonstrate their:

• Technology maturity
• Previous deployments and pilots
• Customer traction
• Data partnerships
• Ability to operate in new country contexts
• Ecosystem relationships
• Commercialisation and scale-up plans
• Financial sustainability. 

Applicants are also asked whether they are open to co-creation, partnerships or integration into national systems, reinforcing the Challenge's focus on deployment and ecosystem collaboration.

Application Deadline

31 August 2026

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