The British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) Foundation has launched the Farmers for the Future (F4F) grant aimed at giving youths the opportunity to access funds to establish their viable agricultural enterprises.
The scheme, which is an annual competition organised by BATN for final year students of agriculture in various Nigerian tertiary institutions and recent graduates in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), seeks to promote the interest of youths in the sector.
According to the organisers, interested candidates that are eligible for the competition will develop creative agribusiness proposals and fill an online application form on wealthishere.net.
Ten finalists will be selected to present their ideas during an interview with the Project Management Committee (PMC) and the best three candidates will be selected and presented to the public at an award ceremony, a statement states.
Group entries may be considered. However, each group or team should not exceed three members, and each member is mandated to meet the eligibility criteria.
Individuals that are willing to partake in long-term agricultural career and who have measurable experience in agribusiness are also qualified for the competition.
The star prize is N5 million; the second prize is N1.5 million, while the third prize winner gets a N1 million.
In addition to the prize, the scheme will provide technical support to establish an agribusiness enterprise.
Support to participate in capacity building programmes such as: boot camp/internship programme; mentorship programme with an established agripreneur will also be given to the winners.
Similarly, winners will also enjoy automatic membership of the F4F alumni network; agriculture training programmes; and attendance of agricultural forums. Application deadline is September 13th, 2019.
Josephine Okojie
