In most African countries including Rwanda, food security and food safety are important to ensure food availability, accessibility, affordability and food safety for all while increasing demand for healthy and nutritious diets. As changes in weather and climate patterns are becoming more acute, there is a need to build resilience through on-farm measures and enable actions to increase productivity. Developing food systems that contribute to environmental sustainability Advances in use of emerging technologies such as imaging and associated data analytics; use of drone technology and robotics; artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT); Big data and others can galvanize climate-resilient agriculture for improved food security.

This can be achieved using existing natural resources through crop and livestock production systems to achieve long-term higher productivity and farm incomes under climate variabilities. Application of frontier or emerging technologies can lead to improved climate resilient agriculture that is robust and adaptable to the changes in environmental, economic, and social challenges in Africa. In addition, emerging technologies can be used to develop better capacity to stimulate and enable communities, businesses to respond, withstand or recover from climate change disruptions such as extreme weather, drought, and flooding. Both emerging technologies and renewable energy climate resilient developments (e.g.: wind energy, bioenergy, solar energy, geothermal energy, smart energy systems) can be adapted for better food security enabling improved availability, access, utilization and food surplus for export and/or processed for storage and future use.

In order to achieve agricultural development goals and targets aligned with Africa Agenda 2063, it is imperative to address the current and emerging social, economic, and environmental challenges affecting food safety and security in Africa. The need for research and innovation for improved climate resilient agriculture requires novel ideas, innovative approaches and greater levels of multilateral co-operation among key players in Africa within various sectors, especially academia and industry as well as farmers’ knowledge and skills to support specialization, intensification, diversification, and value addition. Innovation and digitalization are playing an increasingly important role in all sectors and in the daily lives of citizens in Rwanda and Africa in general, but also in most low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). As such, the role of Research and Development (R&D) to generate and deepen knowledge leading to innovation is imperative, and central to Rwanda’s Science Technology and Innovation (STI) policy, and most African policy agendas.

The purpose of this grant is to provide funding to researchers and innovators to carry out research in Rwanda and Africa; broadening opportunities for collaboration between academia and private sector focusing on use of frontier/emerging technologies for agriculture discovery and innovation towards food safety and security in Africa. The main Goal is to support the most creative scientists in Rwanda to implement research that fosters innovation and promotes collaboration in solving the most critical development challenges in Rwanda and Africa.

For more details on the call, read the Request for Proposal here

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