Agriculture

Opportunity Type: Expression of Interest / Market Access Programme

Application Deadline: 6 April 2026

Eligible Region: Africa

Number of SMEs Selected: 30 Agribusiness SMEs

Overview

The AfCFTA African Agribusiness SME Matchmaking Program 2026 is inviting export-ready agribusiness SMEs across Africa to apply for a market access and business growth support programme.

Applications are now open for the 2026 FINCA Ventures Prize Competition and the CLIC Agrifood Investment Connector Program, two complementary opportunities designed to support impact-driven enterprises operating in financial inclusion and sustainable agriculture and food systems across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Moonshots for Development (M4D) Open Innovation Challenge is now open for growth-stage enterprises developing innovative solutions to support smallholder farmers, rural communities, and indigenous populations.

This global initiative is powered by leading international organisations including:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a call for applications for AgriTech startups to join the timbuktoo Pan-African Incubation Network, anchored at the timbuktoo AgriTech Hub in Ghana.

The Raising Adaptation Impact and Ambition (RAIA) project is inviting proposals for country-level research on the economics of climate change adaptation in Africa.

RAIA is a UK Aid-funded initiative under the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)’s Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) Programme. The project is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in partnership with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Africa.

The National Cleantech Innovation Challenge (NCIC) Free State: Regenerative Agriculture in Large-Scale Commercial Farming Challenge is a strategic provincial initiative designed to accelerate the transition from conventional high-input agriculture to scalable, climate-resilient regenerative farming systems.

The Brücke Le Pont Pilot Project on Labour Rights and Decent Working Conditions in Ghana is a new funding opportunity for a Ghana‑based civil society organisation to design and implement a 12‑month pilot project improving labour rights and working conditions for agricultural workers, with a view to a long‑term (up to 10–12 year) partnership. The initiative focuses on systemic, market‑based change in agricultural value chains, using a Market Systems Development (MSD) approach rather than one‑off service delivery, and offers up to CHF 50,000 (approx.

The Climate Finance Accelerator South Africa (CFA‑SA) is accepting applications for its 2026 cohort, offering intensive, tailored support to help South African low‑carbon projects become more bankable and investor‑ready.

The National Cleantech Innovation Challenge (NCIC) 2026 is a national programme led by the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) in partnership with NGIN, regional hubs and Start‑Up Culture to accelerate South Africa’s transition to a low‑carbon, climate‑resilient and inclusive economy.

The INCiTiS‑FOOD project (Integrated and Circular Technologies for Sustainable City‑Region Food Systems in Africa) has launched Open Call 2 for Independent Innovators (IIs) to support start‑ups and SMEs working on sustainable urban and peri‑urban food production.