NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) today rolled out their first AgriTech challenge cohort for its ambitious innovative Agri-tech programme that aims to help smallholder farmers across Asia and Africa to address their challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.
NITI Aayog, AIM in partnership with UNCDF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Rabo Foundation launched a South-South innovation platform to enable the cross-border exchange of innovations, insights, and investments in July this year 2021.
Through this platform, cross-border collaborations among emerging markets across India, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia would be enabled.
For its first platform AgriTech Challenge Cohort and Agri-Fintech innovators, applications were invited to facilitate their expansion to the international markets through two tracks- Main track and AIM track.
A total of 10 high-growth innovators have been selected in the Main track, out of a total of 100 applications.
The key objective of the main track applications was ‘Expansion – Support solution pilot in the chosen international market.’
Speaking during the virtual announcement of the cohort, NITI Aayog VC Rajiv Kumar, said “In India, more than 50% of the population is dependent on agriculture and it contributes to about 15-18% of the GDP. As agriculture is a sector that emotionally appeals to the masses, Indian agencies are prompted to undertake policy measures to stimulate the industry landscape. We at NITI Aayog are leaving no stone unturned to improve the agriculture sectoral landscape and we will continue till the milestones are achieved and beyond.”
The Cohort represents a diverse range of solutions across the value chain of the smallholder farmer, including soil analysis, farm management & intelligence, dairy ecosystem, carbon credits, solar-based cold storage, digital marketplace, fintech, livestock insurance, among others.