Food and the Marine and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Application Deadline: March 8th 2018

The Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP) is a joint initiative between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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.

Eligibility Criteria

• The partners involved must include one Irish registered agri food company and one local commercial entity in Africa;
• All proposed projects must be commercial in nature and focus. Funding will only be awarded to Irish registered agri food companies.
• AADP funding is up to a maximum of €250,000 per company for a full project or €100,000 for a feasibility study.
• AADP funding will not exceed 50% of the costs of the project;
• The funds contributed by the Irish registered agri food company must not comprise funding received from any other Irish Public funding source.
• If an applicant company was previously successful in applying for AADP funding, it must explain clearly (in the application form) the new project goals/outcomes and how they differ from those in the initial funding round.
• If an applicant company proposes to undertake a feasibility study, it should include a list of ‘potential’ partners with the application.
• Projects will be supported in the following countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia;
  • Funding from the AADF must bring about additionality and not replace existing funding;
  • Successful AADF funding applicants will be encouraged to engage with Irish NGOs where possible on various aspects of the projects i.e. Mechanical and Engineering, Project design, etc.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated against the following criteria:

• Development Impact
• Company expertise (Technical, financial etc)
• Commercial viability
• Risk Analysis
• Monitoring and Expenditure

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

Applications to the Fund (doc 90Kb)  are now being accepted through the application form only. The form must be completed by the Irish applicant company and submitted to [email protected]. The closing date for the receipt of applications is 5.00pm on Friday 8^th of March 2018.

Should you have queries please email [email protected].  Please note that only Irish-Agri-Food companies are eligible to apply. Unless you are an Irish-Agri-Food company we are not in a position to respond to you.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP) 2018