Government of Ireland 2024 Africa Agri-Food Development Progam

Published: 01 Jun 2024

The Ireland Africa Agri-food Development Programme is a joint initiative by the Ireland Ministry for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Ministry of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to support partnerships between Irish and African agri-food companies.

The Objective of the AADP is to develop partnerships between the Irish Agri-Food Sector and African countries to support sustainable growth of the local food industry, build markets for local produce and support mutual trade between Ireland and Africa.

It is intended that any investment by the AADP will be catalytic support with co-funding from the private sector. The fund is designed to leverage greater expertise, experience and investment from the Irish agri-food sector and projects should demonstrate results with a long-term developmental impact that will ultimately lead to sustainable benefits through investment by the private sector.

Irish agri-food expertise is extremely wide-ranging and examples of suitable AADP projects include:

• Business development
• Production system
• Technology Transfer
• R & D
• Project Management

Government of Ireland Africa Agri-Food Development Progam

Requirements for Government of Ireland Africa Agri-Food Development Progam

• All applicants must be agri-food companies that have been registered/incorporated in Ireland and/or one of the 18 eligible African countries of implementation for at least 12 months prior to the AADP application period commencing;
• All proposed projects must be commercial in nature and focus and must contribute strongly to the sustainable development of the food system, including alignment where possible with relevant Sustainable Development Goals, within the African country(ies) selected;
• The partners involved must have appropriate governance and financial management systems in place. Along with the relevant application form, all AADP applicants must provide:

1. At least one year of audited accounts
2. Company and tax information
3. An account of project-related “flow of funds”
4. Any background contracts and Memoranda of Understanding
5. Any further documentation found to be relevant and agreed with partners
6. The partners involved for 'full projects' must include at least 1 Irish registered agri-food company and 1 local commercial entity in Africa;
7. All applicants for 'full projects' must be able to demonstrate that they have at least 3 years of experience within their team in the relevant agri-food sector and development context;

• the application must clearly outline how these 2 distinct companies will enter an equitable and ethical partnership;
• if an applicant company proposes to undertake a feasibility study, it should include a list of any potential partners within the application;

All proposals must clearly explain:

• How the intended results of the project will provide additional contributions to the sustainable development of the local agri-food system in the African country(ies);
• Why public funds are essential to finance the initiative and will not replace existing funding sources;
• Successful AADP funding applicants will be encouraged to engage with Irish and other national and international NGOs where possible on various aspects of the projects(for example: project design, community engagement and mobilisation, training and extension).

Selection Process

Evaluation criteria – feasibility study

• Sustainable development impact
• likelihood of commercial viability
• likelihood of financial and development additionality
• quality of evidence justifying the study
• study methodology, including monitoring and evaluation activities
• company experience and expertise
• analysis of risk, context and possible externalities

Evaluation criteria – full project

• The partners involved must include one agri-food company registered in Ireland and one agri-food company registered in one of the 18 eligible African countries;
• sustainable development impact (economic, social and environmental);
• financial and development additionality;
• the scope and nature of the partnership proposed with a locally-owned and operated African company;
• intervention logic and commercial viability;
• company experience and expertise (including gender leadership);
• project monitoring,evaluation, results and learning;
• analysis of risk, context and possible externalities.

Additional evaluation criteria for previously successful applicants

• Business strength/standing (performance of the initial project and its impact on the company’s commercial status);
• matched finance (quality of proposed financing model for the new initiative (including the type and quantity of finance to be provided as matched finance);
• all applicants are expected to demonstrate how their proposal will support the following international agreements and Ireland’s international development priorities: the UN Sustainable Developments Goals; the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (climate change adaption and mitigation), A Better World (2019), particularly in reaching the furthest behind first and those at risk of being left behind; the National Plan on Business and Human Rights (2017) and the OECD’s Codes of Conduct on Responsible Business Conduct.

Application Deadline

How to Apply