The County Government of Uasin Gishu has partnered with the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (Danida), to launch the AgriBiz Programme.
The programme is aimed at accelerating the engagement of women and youth in the agribusiness sector.
The project is funded by the European Union and Danida at a cost of Ksh5.1 billion with the aim of supporting 2,400 women and youth-led agribusiness enterprises across Kenya.
According to the county, the programme is looking to create 17,000 job opportunities and address challenges that prevent youth and women from joining the agriculture sector.
The program will be implemented jointly with eight selected county governments but will be open to citizens from all counties.
Bungoma, Meru, Kiambu, Machakos, Kisii, Uasin Gishu, Kilifi and Isiolo County Governments signed Memorandums of Understanding with KCIC for the rollout of the Agribiz program and establishment of the Business Incubation Hubs at the county level.
Prior to opening the call, county sensitization and awareness forums will be conducted in the eight counties.
The calls for applications will run from October 7, 2021, to November 2021. The applications can be submitted either online through the KCIC AgriBiz website.
Alternatively, applicants can submit physical forms that can be collected and dropped at the Uasin Gishu Business Incubation Hub (BIH) at the Agricultural Mechanization Services (AMS) office in Eldoret.
After an evaluation of the applications will be done and responses to the applicants will be communicated by KCIC one month after the close of the Call for Applications. KCIC will offer successful applicants a letter of agreement for review and thereafter signing.
All applications must be submitted online through the Kenya Climate Innovation Center website application portal. The applicants must complete an application form by answering a series of mandatory questions.
Personal information supplied in the application form such as names, addresses and date of birth should be verifiable.
Those eligible are women entrepreneurs of any age in Agribusiness and women-led Agribusinesses with a minimum shareholding of 51 per cent. and youth entrepreneurs aged between 18-35 years in Agribusiness and youth-led Agribusinesses with a minimum shareholding of 51 per cent.
