The AGCO Agriculture Foundation (“The Foundation”) through its grant application platform, Benevity, is seeking proposals from nonprofit organizations to support the next generation of leaders in agriculture, helping them to develop innovative solutions for agri-food systems. This call for grant proposals seeks to work with nonprofits to support youth-led and high-impact innovations for sustainable food systems. Working with nonprofits, the Foundation will offer grants of USD 400,000 – USD 450,000 each for one or more projects, disbursed over a three-year project duration to support youth-led innovative solutions and educate young people in the agri-food sector.

The AGCO Agriculture Foundation (the “Foundation”) was established by AGCO Corporation in 2018 as a private, not-for-profit Foundation with the mission to initiate impactful programs to support food security and sustainable agricultural development in communities.

Working with nonprofit organizations around the world, the Foundation is dedicated to transforming lives in farming communities through funding support to implement holistic, action-oriented, and youth-focused programs that aim to ensure food and nutrition security, empower the next-generation of agricultural leaders, and contribute to sustainable food systems transformation and community development.

The Foundation relies on the annual endowment from AGCO Corporation to implement its strategic programs. The Foundation is headquartered in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and its operational activities are carried out in Stoneleigh, United Kingdom. 

Purpose and Objective of the Call for Applications for Grant (CAG)

The Foundation requests grant applications from nonprofit organizations to support the next generation of leaders in agriculture, helping them to develop innovative solutions for agri- food systems. The program should aim to support young people to innovate and accelerate their high-impact ideas, solutions, technology innovations and agribusiness startups to deliver sustainable agri-food systems.

Global agri-food systems face complex challenges and therefore, urgently need transformation. This requires ambitious action, innovative solutions, tech-driven ideas and capacity development to achieve sustainable agri-food systems and a world without hunger.

Across agri-food systems, young people are pivotal to driving change—transformative and sustainable agriculture, bringing ideas, talents, technology innovations and tech-driven solutions. On the other hand, the agri-food sector provides broad spectrum of opportunities for improving youth employment and livelihoods.

This year’s CAG is specifically designed to receive proposals from nonprofits to support youth-led and high-impact innovations for sustainable agri-food systems. Grant proposals from eligible nonprofits must target youthful innovators (including startups), young farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises owned by younger persons who are working to develop agri-food systems.

The objectives to be achieved by nonprofits through this grant seek to:

1. Support youth-led and high-impact innovations for sustainable food systems, helping to create new viable opportunities for young farmers and youth startups and support ideas, innovations and solutions that fulfil sustainable agri-food systems ambitions.

2. Address the main challenges faced by youth in agri-food sector and contributes to healthy and sustainable agri-food systems.

3. Facilitate a support system for the community of next-generation agricultural leaders to learn, upskill, invent and scale their agricultural innovations and business enterprises.

4. Create dignified green job opportunities for young people across the agricultural value chains.

5. Revolutionize perception and limited attractiveness of the agri-food systems for young people.

The selected nonprofit organizations shall propose activities and mechanisms to achieve the objectives of this grant.

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