Deadline: 14th June 2024
Applications are now open for the WFP Niger Innovation Challenge 2024: Energy for Food Security . Energy acts as a catalyst for socio-economic transformations, influencing all dimensions of sustainable development. Access to energy is a cornerstone for achieving food security and eliminating hunger. Energy is not only essential for food consumption - many of the foods distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP) require cooking - but also plays a vital role in all food systems in production, processing and preservation.
In Niger, communities face significant challenges of food insecurity and vulnerability due to climate risks such as droughts, floods and rising temperatures, along with environmental degradation and water scarcity. Increasing insecurity and the spillover of conflicts from neighbouring countries into Niger exacerbate these problems, leading to forced displacement. A total of 3.3 million people suffer from acute food insecurity.
To meet these challenges, WFP Niger, in collaboration with the WFP Innovation Accelerator, is launching a call for applications for innovative solutions to support the Energy for Food Security programme. This initiative aims to identify and scale sustainable and cost-effective energy solutions for culinary and agricultural practices in stable and crisis-affected regions of Niger.
They invite innovators, entrepreneurs and global and regional organisations to contribute impactful, fit-for-purpose solutions that can improve energy access in vulnerable areas, promoting better livelihoods and resilience. The WFP Innovation Accelerator and WFP Niger will provide comprehensive support to selected teams, facilitating the development and scaling of promising solutions. Their focus is on fostering innovations that are not only new, but also sustainable and scalable, capable of bringing about long-term change in challenging environments.
Themes
The three thematic areas of innovation are listed below:
- Energising Homes in Displaced Environments: They are looking for clean cooking solutions for families in rural areas, capable of providing electricity to cook three meals a day, and home lighting systems that provide light inside the house during the dark hours and in the surrounding areas.
- Energising School Meals: They are looking for modern, efficient institutional cookers and energy systems that significantly reduce cooking times and improve air pollution in schools.
- Energising Farmers' Organisations: They are looking for solar-powered grain processing and preservation solutions that increase the production of processed primary products, including millet flour, millet couscous, nhemba bean flour and groundnut oil.
Benefits
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Each team selected:
- will have the opportunity to take part in WFP's sprint programme, a six-month acceleration programme combined with piloting, business training and mentoring;
- will receive up to US$ 250,000 in conditional funding for the implementation of the project. The specific amount will be determined based on the maturity stage of the solution and the three thematic areas listed below.
- will receive continuous operational support from WFP Niger during the pilot phase;
- may qualify for more support and fundraising opportunities in the future.
Eligibility
- Your organisation must be an established legal entity (for-profit, non-profit, social enterprise, NGO, INGO).
- Your organisation must have an existing operational presence or a desire to establish a presence in Niger, through a subsidiary, an office in the country, distributors or partnerships in the country.
- Your innovation must address one or more of the priority innovation areas listed.
- Your innovation must be at least at the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage. Proof of concept and initial traction are preferred.
- Your innovation must have a plan to be implemented in Niger within six months, with funding available and a clear path for expansion.
Evaluation criteria
- Impact: The solution has the potential to impact the people that WFP Niger serves, thus contributing to WFP's mission of achieving zero hunger.
- Level of innovation: The idea is a new technology or approach to apply existing technology, process or business model to solve the problem statements.
- Viability/Traction: The application team has evidence of its ability to create and implement the proposed solution and has an indication of the demand from the target users/customers of its solution.
- Financial sustainability: The solution has a robust plan to ensure sustainable revenue generation beyond the WFP funding.
- Quality of the team: The team members have relevant experience and are committed to the project.
- Contextual relevance: The solution addresses at least one of the priority areas and is suitable for implementation in the Niger context.
Application
