The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is a partnership of business schools in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with mentoring, exposure, and funding to support their social ventures. Past winners include plans for water supply, energy, micro-credit, agricultural technology, ecological building materials, and other environmental themes. The GSVC will award cash prizes up to US$40 thousand. The deadline for the first entry round in all regions is 03 December 2018. Find the competition
agriculture
UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council — UK-India Agricultural Data
The BBSRC and partners announce a joint call for collaborative research proposals focussing on enhancement of agricultural data relevant to animal and plant health in India. The grants will be short-term projects of up to 18 months awarded to a maximum of £150 thousand in the UK, with matched contribution from the Indian Government’s Department for Biotechnology (DBT). The deadline for registration of interest and for a partnership building workshop is 18 September 2018. More
African Women in Agricultural Research and Development — Fellowships for Francophone Africa
AWARD is a program of two-year fellowships to strengthen the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural sciences. The program is intended for women in the agricultural disciplines and related life sciences broadly defined. In the current call, eligibility extends to women agricultural scientists who are citizens of Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and Togo. There is no age restriction. The application deadline is 08 October 2018. More about the fellowships
Australia Awards for Africa — Scholarships and Fellowships for Africans 2019
Australia Awards funds qualified African candidates for masters studies in Australia in priority subjects that include agriculture; extractives; climate change; environmental management; water management; and others. Additionally, the program offers short-term fellowships for professional training in Africa and/or Australia. The announcement identifies the eligible countries and eligible fields of study (varying by country). Most application deadlines are 03 December 2018 (masters) and 15 January 2019 (short courses). Click here
Africa Innovates for the SDGs — Award for African Social Innovators
Africa Innovates for the SDGs invites applications from early-stage social innovators in Africa who are solving pressing problems and key challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Selected innovators will receive funding to develop and scale their innovations to become financially sustainable. Applicants must be a citizen of any African country or a resident in any African countries. The deadline for applications is 07 September 2018. Find the guidelines
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation — Digital Registration of Women-owned Agribusinesses
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) calls for the digital registration of women-owned agribusinesses in Eastern and Southern Africa to create a agribusiness intelligence network targeting women agri-entrepreneurs. The programme initiative named VALUE4HER aims to increase incomes for women through access to markets, finance, improving knowledge and capacity. Registered agribusinesses will be eligible for management and leadership training and have a chance to apply for a competitive grant. Women-owned agribusinesses in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, and Swaziland are eligible. The deadline for registration is 15 September 2018. Register here
UN Women — Youth Led Social Entrepreneurship Solutions in Africa
UN Women partners with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to grant financing to African youth entrepreneurs to develop and implement their solutions to address gender specific development challenges in their communities. Winning entries will receive seed grants of US$ 5 thousand or scale grants of US$ 10 thousand to develop and test their innovations. Eligibility extends to Africans aged between 15 and 35 years with scalable ideas to transform their community or country. The applications deadline is 18 September 2018. About the open innovation challenge
Tata Group — Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, 7th Edition
The Tata Group, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC), seeks to identify promising social enterprises in India. Proposals are invited for social enterprises in agriculture, water and sanitation, energy, and other thematic areas. The proposed enterprises should create social impact in India, although applicants do not have to be Indian nationals. The top three winners of the competition will win cash grants up to 2 lakhs each, to be invested in their ventures. Selected social entrepreneurs will be offered mentorship and an opportunity to be incubated at IIMC. The deadline for submitting impact proposals (business plans) is 30 September 2018. Link
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation — Digital Technologies for Agricultural Transformation in Africa
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) launches a call to support the implementation of the effective use of digital technologies for agricultural transformation in Africa. Activities financed under this Call must facilitate the use of mechanized equipment by smallholder farmers and be implemented in at least two African countries. Funding of €50 thousand is available per project. Eligibility extends to private or civil society organisations. Individuals are not eligible to apply. Applications have to be sent by 11 October 2018. (Note: Applicants may send questions by email no later than 21 days before the deadline.) More
The Commonwealth — Commonwealth Young Person of the Year 2019
The Commonwealth awards exceptional young people, including entrepreneurs, inventors, environmentalists, women’s rights advocates, and others, who are making a difference in their communities. Entrants must be aged 15 to 29 years and can nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else. This year’s finalists will receive a trophy, a certificate and cash grants to help them continue their development work. All finalists will be awarded £1,000. Each selected regional winner will receive an additional £2,000, and the Commonwealth Young Person of the Year will also receive an additional cash grant of £2,000. Entries must be received by 31 October 2018. About the award