To foster innovation and accelerate the growth of Ethiopia’s digital agriculture ecosystem, the DAS Project is implementing a Digital Agriculture Innovation Challenge targeting agritech startups, innovators, and technology providers. The initiative offers a structured platform for identifying, nurturing, and scaling innovative digital solutions that address critical challenges across agricultural value chains.
The Innovation Challenge is implemented through four progressive phases: Challenge Setting, Innovation Sprint, Incubation, and Commercialization. These phases are designed to support innovators from early-stage idea development through to market-ready solutions that can be deployed within Ethiopia’s agricultural sector.
For the first cohort of the challenge in the 2018 Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY), a total of 372 applications were received from youth innovators and startups across the country. From these, 50 startups were initially selected to participate in intensive bootcamps and innovation sprint activities aimed at refining their ideas, prototypes, and business models. Following a competitive pitching and evaluation process, 20 startups advanced to the incubation phase.
During incubation, the selected startups receive mentorship, technical support, and business development assistance to strengthen and validate their solutions. Based on their performance and progress, 10 startups will advance to the next stage, while the final five startups will proceed to the commercialization phase. At this stage, their solutions will be supported for market deployment and scaling through linkages with ATI flagship programs such as ACC II and ADEY.
The Innovation Challenge is planned as an annual initiative, creating a continuous pipeline for youth innovators and agritech entrepreneurs to develop and scale digital solutions that address real agricultural challenges. Through this initiative, the DAS Project aims to strengthen entrepreneurship, promote private sector participation, and expand the development and adoption of scalable digital agriculture solutions that contribute to Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation.