NourishNext West Africa Youth Agrifood Innovation Challenge 2026 – Apply Now

Applications are open for the NourishNext West Africa 2026 Youth Agrifood Innovation Challenge, a regional initiative designed to identify, support, and scale youth-led innovations across the fruit and vegetable agrifood value chain.

The challenge seeks solutions that improve access to healthy diets, strengthen food systems, and address challenges across the value chain, from post-harvest management to market access and digital innovation.

Focus Areas

• Post-harvest management and storage.
• Food processing and preservation.
• Packaging and logistics.
• Market access and distribution.
• Retail and consumer demand.
• Digital tools and platforms for agrifood systems.

Eligible innovations may include products, technologies, services, business models, supply chain solutions, and digital platforms.

Requirements

• Be aged 18-35 years. Women-led enterprises may be led by applicants up to 40 years old.
• Be an individual or team leading a solution within the fruit and vegetable value chain.
• Be based in West Africa or working on a solution relevant to the region.
• Have a youth-led and clearly innovative solution.
• Have reached at least the Proof of Concept (PoC) stage.
• Be at the MVP, pilot, early-market, or scaling stage.
• Demonstrate technical feasibility and a strong value proposition.
• Address a clearly defined challenge within the fruit and vegetable value chain.

Not Eligible

• Purely conceptual ideas without a prototype or PoC.
• Solutions without clear innovation or impact.
• Projects unrelated to the fruit and vegetable value chain.

Benefits

• Visibility for selected innovations.
• Support for scaling impactful solutions.
• Opportunities to contribute to improved nutrition and resilient food systems across West Africa.