Africa Agri-Food Development Program (AADP) Grant For SMEs (Up to €100,000 Grant) - NAIJA STICK

Africa Agri-Food Development Program (AADP) Grant For SMEs (Up to €100,000 Grant)

The Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP) is Ireland’s flagship initiative supporting the role of the private sector in sustainable food systems development.

• It acts as a catalyst to enable Irish and African businesses to explore and seize exciting opportunities to bring their expertise to Africa - to develop new markets and to contribute to strengthening mutual trade between Ireland and Africa.

Feasibility Study grants

The Feasibility Study grant is open to applications from Irish private sector organisations and from eligible African countries, for projects which seek to explore commercial concepts and market opportunities that can contribute to the sustainable transformation and development of Africa’s agri-food system.

• Applications for Feasibility Studies will be accepted for solo projects (i.e. to be delivered by a single organisation) or for projects to be delivered in partnership between two organisations.

Full Commercial Project grants

The Full Commercial Project grant is open to joint, partnership-based applications from Irish and African private sector organisations for innovative, scalable, and impactful revenue-generating projects. 

• The aim of the full project grant is to support the sustainable transformation and development of Africa’s agri-food system, and to contribute to a program of mutual trade and exchange of knowledge between Ireland and Africa.

Applications for Full Commercial Projects must be developed jointly by the African and Irish applicants in the partnership.

Type of business

All applicants must be agri-food businesses that have been registered/incorporated in Ireland or one of the 19 eligible African countries, for at least 24 months prior to submitting their AADP application.

Businesses can be of any size or structure, including:

• Micro enterprises growth resources
• Companies Sole traders
• Cooperatives Farming groups
• Partnerships Social enterprises
• Registered commercial farming networks

Eligible African countries

The eligible African countries are:

• Botswana Cóte d’Ivoire Ethiopia
• Ghana Kenya Lesotho
• Liberia Namibia Nigeria
• Malawi Mozambique Rwanda
• Senegal Sierra Leone South Africa
• Tanzania Uganda  Zambia

Proposal requirements

All proposals must:

Be commercial in nature

Be implemented in one or more of the 19 eligible African countries

Demonstrate how they will contribute strongly to the sustainable development of the food system, including alignment wherever possible with priority areas of Ireland’s international development policy, A Better World, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, within the African country or countries chosen

• Explain clearly why public funds are essential to finance the initiative, including to leverage or access other sources of finance in future

Show why the applicant or applicants are well suited to deliver on the proposed project, with reference to their experience, knowledge and skills, and how these relate to the project objectives, activities and deliverables

• Demonstrate that all applicants have appropriate governance, financial management and fraud prevention systems in place
• Demonstrate how the project intends to share, develop and/or leverage mutual expertise between Ireland and Africa in the specific project area
• Indicate how the project intends to generate or strengthen mutual trade between Ireland and Africa

Deadline: August 15, 2025

How to Apply 

Interested applicant can apply via this link:

Apply Now