KIC committed to supporting scalable business ideas in agric sector – Executive Director

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YARP Foods team receiving their cheque

The Kosmos Innovation Centre (KIC) has expressed commitment to continue to support scalable business ideas within the agricultural sector.

That, it said, would be done by encouraging young people to see the opportunities within the sector.

The Executive Director of KIC, Mr Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, made the pledge during the

launch of the call for application for the 2025 AgriTech Challenge Pro Programme.

Nominations for the programme are open till November 1, 2024.

The AgriTech Challenge Pro Programme is supported by the Mastercard Foundation, through the Initiative for Youth in Agricultural Transformation partnership launched between KIC and the Foundation to train the next generation of young leaders and entrepreneurs in Ghana’s agricultural sector.

The KIC Agritech Challenge Pro is a 5-month accelerator programme aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs to launch and grow commercially viable, scalable solutions to key problems in the agricultural sector.

It is also to drive technology and innovation as a catalyst to enhancing productivity, improving yields, and creating more jobs within Ghana’s agricultural sector.

Mr Gyan-Kesse noted that through the AgriTech Challenge Programme a lot of agribusinesses had been created by the youth, saying since 2016, KIC had supported more than 60 businesses from ideation to set-up.

“KIC’s commitment to transforming the agricultural sector through youth employment has led to the creation of 64 businesses through KIC’s programmes,” he stated.

Mr Gyan-Kesse said KIC start-ups that had been through the KIC programme include Agro Innova, Complete Farmer, Agro Empire, Jaasgrow, and Agrimercarb.

He further indicated that the participants were drawn from the AgriTech Challenge Classic programme and from a pool of existing start-ups who were ready to nurture their business for investor-readiness.

Moreover, Mr Gyan-Kesse stated that at the end of the training, KIC and its partners awarded some selected businesses with up to $50,000 seed funding.

Participants from the competition share their valuable experience gained through the capacity building and coaching received from the training.

Agnes Kuole, from the Upper West Region of Ghana, a beneficiary who shared the experience she had gained through the capacity building and coaching exercise of the programme, said her dream came through when she joined the KIC AgriTech Challenge Classic and progressed unto the Pro.

She said she had always dreamt of becoming an agripreneur.

“Together with her team, they formed a start-up called King Tractor and have locally manufactured a tractor. Through this initiative they are also creating local employment for local welders. When I heard about the KIC Programme, I decided to apply. Through the seed funding we won, we have been able to build a tractor and now I’m happy that we are able to support farmers in our community to plough and also be gainfully employed through our start-up,” Ms Kuole stressed.”

Nana Opoku Agyeman-Prempeh, a beneficiary and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer for Grow For, added that the seed the funding support he received through KIC’s partners had enabled the start-up to scale up its commodity trading business and input financing for its rice farmers in Asutuare.

FROM TIMES REPORTER