March 2, 2020

Background

The Centre for Agricultural Transformation (CAT) is designed to be an inclusive science, technology, and business incubation center of excellence which will help smallholder Malawian farmers make economically viable, data-driven decisions for diversifying their livelihoods. To achieve this, CAT will facilitate the development and implementation of new/improved technologies, partnerships, and income opportunities to help farmers realize greater economic success in the coming years.

The CAT is made possible by a five-year grant from the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI), which aims to diversify tobacco-dependent economies.

The CAT is implemented by a consortium of four leading agricultural development and academic institutions; Land O’Lakes Venture37 (Minnesota, USA); the University of Minnesota (Minnesota, USA); Stellenbosch University (Stellenbosch, South Africa); and the Malawi University of Science and Technology (Thyolo, Malawi).

Invitation for Expressions of Interest (EOI)

To support the diversification of farmer incomes and ease reliance on the tobacco sector, the CAT is looking to partner with eligible and interested entrepreneurs and enterprises delivering new and improved technologies to the (Malawi) agricultural sector.

In this partnership, CAT will offer a range of commercialization support, including:

• Access to patient capital investment from CAT’s USD 1.8M grant pool. The investment value and grant-match option will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
• Business incubation, acceleration and commercialization services; coaching & mentorship, business development support and connections to public and private networks to help scale and commercialize products, services and models.
• Access to an upcoming state-of-the-art science and technology business hub where entrepreneurs can showcase, experiment, use data, exchange ideas and create partnerships to advance new livelihood opportunities for smallholder farmers and the agricultural sector.
• Access to seasonal demo plots and supportive agronomy services of these.
• Support on investment readiness and linkage to commercial finance sources through the ATI’s Investment Support Facility (ISF).

Eligibility

Applicants are expected to meet the following requirements:

• Registered in Malawi and operating as a formal business within Malawi.
• Demonstrate support for agricultural diversification with business models/products that improve the current agricultural practices and result in increased income and or yields at farmer level.
• Full time dedicated core team overseeing the day to day running of the business.
• Demonstrate an understanding of strategic partnerships needed to scale and sustain the business.

Application and Process Flow

Eligible applicants are requested to access and complete the EOI form available at https://forms.gle/yAKWXkdKLJJDPDz78

Process and Timelines;

1. Eligible applicants must complete the EOI questionnaire on link provided above, by March 31, 2020.
2. EOI applications will be screened on a rolling basis and selected applicants will receive proposal template on April 10, 2020.
3. Selected applicants attend proposal development sessions week of April 20, 2020. Applicants to cater for transport and logistics.
4. Proposal templates (narrative and budgets) submitted to CAT by May 29, 2020.
5. Follow-on processes and timelines will be communicated to shortlisted enterprises.

For further inquiries, please send an email to cat@landolakes.org or WhatsApp to +265 997 623 435.