The project “Developing innovation in agribusiness in Algeria” (Innov-Agro) launches the AgriTech 2024 Challenge
Within the framework of the project “Developing innovation in agricultural business in Algeria (Innov-Agro)”, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and Start-ups and Small Enterprises is launching the AgriTech Challenge 2024 competition from June 3, 2024 to July 27, 2024.
This competition aims to promote technological entrepreneurship in the fields of agriculture, agro-food industries, and agricultural transformation in Algeria.
This initiative targets project holders related to developing innovative solutions (products, services, consulting, prototypes, etc.) related to one or more of the following main topics:
Introducing new technology in the traceability of agricultural and food products: internal product traceability, controlling risk levels of agricultural inputs, digitization of product instructions, digitization of agricultural production and transformation inputs including environmentally responsible packaging of products, application of blockchain technology to trace products to ensure transparency and security in the food supply chain, etc.
Introduction of new technology in plant disease control: detection of plant diseases, development of innovative solutions to rationalize the use of chemical treatment of crops, use of biotechnology techniques to develop crops resistant to diseases and pests or better able to adapt to environmental conditions, integrated and biological control of plant diseases, etc.
Introducing new technology into agriculture, including irrigation water management: using technology, sensors, and innovative equipment (robots, drones,…) to monitor agricultural conditions (such as: soil, weather, crops, livestock,…) and manage inputs in agricultural production and transformation. (such as: seeds, fertilizers, pesticides,…), using big data analysis for agricultural planning, linking different agricultural equipment via the Internet to collect and share data in real time, allowing for more effective management of resources, precision agriculture in irrigation water management, digital solutions for discovering Crop needs for irrigation water.
Introducing new technology in soilless agriculture (hydroponics): popularizing soilless agriculture to meet the challenges of drought, improving the use of irrigation water in periods of shortage thanks to controlling systems, recycling and reusing irrigation water to reduce water consumption, integrating advanced technologies (humidity sensors, monitoring systems in... real-time) for precise management of water resources, reducing waste through strict nutrient management, and promoting sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.
The project Innovation Development in Agribusiness in Algeria (Innov-Agro) is jointly financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Cooperation).
Selected project holders will participate from July 6 to July 8, 2024 in an intensive training camp to further develop their solutions, and then they will benefit from in-person and virtual support from July 13, 2024 to July 26, 2024 from male and female experts during the following two weeks to improve their solutions. At the end of the programme, participants will present their solutions in front of a panel of experts to select 4 winners who will benefit from a 5-day national or international training within the framework of the Innov-Agro implementation.
Entrepreneurs in any plant or animal field under the previously mentioned topics who possess the necessary competencies and experience and have innovative, reliable and relevant projects with an intermediate stage of technical maturity, an offering model and a sufficient degree of scalability can participate in the programme. They are invited to submit their applications until June 15, 2024 by following the instructions specified on the Call for Participation website.
Candidates will be assessed based on the following assessment system using the information you have provided:
Relevance: Exclusion criterion (only projects that match the challenge themes are eligible to participate)
Added value: 10%
Innovation: 20%
Executable: 25%
Expansion possibilities: 15%
Team (alignment between project focus and team specifications): 30%
Based on the mentioned evaluation system, 6 projects per topic (24 projects) will be invited to make a brief online presentation before the selection committee on 1 July 2024.
Of these 24 projects, 12 projects will be selected for the AgriTech Challenge 2024 programme.
All projects will be informed of the selection process on July 3, 2024.
good luck!
