Are you a woman or youth in a community-based organisation, self-help group or SME already in agribusiness or wish to start?
You are the target of a Sh5.2 billion AgriBiz - an agribusiness support programme for youths and women by Kenya Climate and Innovation Centre (KCIC) that has received funding from Denmark through the European Union for the benefit of women and youth led agribusinesses.
The project targets eight counties namely Kilifi, Kiambu, Kisii, Isiolo, Machakos, Meru, Uasin Gishu and Baringo.
The programme will benefit more than 20,000 Kenyans who intend to run or start their agribusiness projects. As part of the deal, last week Kilifi County Agriculture executive Luciana Sanzua signed a memorandum of understanding with KCIC Chief Executive Officer Dr Edward Mungai.
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Dr Mungai said the main purpose of the five-year programme is to help young people and women to invest in agriculture and be self-reliant.
‘’We are going to help our youths and women. We will help them build businesses, finance them and we’ll provide an enabling environment together with the county government of Kilifi. We will also provide them with equipment at the ATC,” he said.
Dr Mungai encouraged the youths and women to apply to scale up their businesses and for those who haven’t started to start.
For those interested, the applications can be done online at the KCIC website.
“We are using the model of incubation and acceleration, we are going to make an announcement and reach out to many youths and women so that they can apply online through the portal and we will also go to the grassroots to and avail physical forms,” Mungai said.
Dr Mungai said the programme will be implemented within a period of six to eight weeks where people will begin to receive support from that time frame. Financing will be both grants and cash money depending on the need.
As part of the deal, they will select between 60-100 entrepreneurs and individuals in Kilifi and train them.
“We will call them and source ideas and choose between 60-100 entrepreneurs and then build and package their business ideas to the next level. We will give them grants and money of up to Sh2.5 million depending on the business plan,” he said.
Full advantage
Dr Sanzua said the project will boost agriculture in the county. She challenged women and youth not be left behind in this transformative programme.
‘’There’s money in the soil, and I would love to thank the KCIC for considering us in this initiative. I urge women to take full advantage of this opportunity to transform their livelihoods,” she said.
Dr Sanzua also said the county will conduct a series of training for those selected for the programme.
“We shall conduct rigorous training and we will issue the participants certificates in order for them to be able to proceed with their projects,” Dr Sanzua said.
