FAO Innovate Africa Challenge 2026: Apply for $50,000 Funding
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Smart Africa Secretariat, has opened applications for the 3rd Edition of the Innovate Africa Challenge 2026.
A an initiative supporting artificial intelligence (AI) solutions designed to tackle agricultural and climate challenges across Africa.
Themed “From Ideation to Deployment,” the 2026 challenge is focused on moving proven innovations beyond the pilot stage and into practical deployment, validation and scale.
About the Innovate Africa Challenge
The challenge seeks to identify and support a proven AI-driven solution for Climate-Smart Agriculture that can be deployed and tested in a real-world farming environment.
The initiative aims to help farmers and agricultural institutions improve productivity, strengthen climate resilience and make better decisions through technologies that use agricultural, climate and remote-sensing data.
The selected solution will be deployed in collaboration with relevant government ministries, FAO country offices, Smart Africa and other agricultural stakeholders.
Funding Available
The selected solution will receive US$50,000 to support its deployment, validation and scaling.
Beyond the financial support, the successful applicant will have the opportunity to work with FAO technical experts, Smart Africa, government ministries and other ecosystem partners. The programme will also generate evidence that can help the solution achieve wider adoption across African agricultural systems.
Areas of Focus
The challenge is particularly interested in AI solutions addressing:
- Precision agriculture and agricultural input optimisation
- Crop yield prediction and forecasting
- Pest and disease detection, surveillance and early warning
- Climate risk modelling and adaptive decision-making
- Water and natural-resource optimisation
- Climate-smart agriculture and food-system resilience
- Digital tools that provide actionable information to farmers and agricultural institutions
Solutions should be practical, explainable and capable of operating with relevant African agricultural and climate data.
Who Can Apply?
The opportunity is designed for startups, technology providers and innovation teams with AI-driven solutions for agriculture and climate resilience.
Applicants are expected to have:
- An AI-enabled solution addressing a climate-smart agriculture challenge
- At least two team members
- A working, deployed or deployment-ready solution
- Evidence of technical validation, pilots, deployment or operational experience
- The capacity to deploy the solution in a new country or operating environment
- A clear pathway to financial sustainability and scale
- Compliance with relevant data protection, privacy and responsible-AI requirements
Preference is given to solutions capable of benefiting smallholder farmers, women and young people.
Eligible Countries
The challenge’s deployment focus includes Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda, with implementation aligned with national agricultural priorities and FAO country-office presence.
What Applicants Should Demonstrate
Applicants should be prepared to provide information about their solution’s technology, target users, market potential, previous deployments or pilots, partnerships, competitors and unique advantage.
They should also explain how their solution can be integrated into existing agricultural systems, how it will benefit underserved groups, and their plans for commercialisation, financial sustainability and future scale.
Deadline
The application deadline is August 31, 2026.
Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their applications before the deadline.
Apply here: FAO Innovate Africa Challenge 2026 Application Portal
For questions about the challenge, applicants can contact e-agriculture@fao.org with “Innovate Africa Challenge 2026 – questions” in the email subject line.
