Government of Ireland 2021 Africa Agri-food Development Program (AADP)

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.

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. This will be achieved through supporting eligible Irish companies to build meaningful partnerships with African companies and use their expertise and resources to jointly work on projects which will have a strong development impact. In assessing applications, the potential for a project to contribute to reaching the Furthest Behind will be a key consideration, in line with the priorities set out in Ireland’s policy for international development, A Better World.

It is a requirement of the AADP that any investment of public funds will be at least matched by co-funding from the private sector. It is intended that AADP investments serve as a catalyst for far greater private sector investment, which will deliver significant development impact and develop meaningful partnerships between Irish agri-food companies and locally owned and operated African companies. Funding will only be approved for applicants who can clearly demonstrate financial and development additionality. 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 in African countries through investment by the private sector.

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

• Business and capacity development
• Sustainable production and processing systems
• Knowledge and Technology Transfer
• R&D
• Project Management

• Table of Content
• About Government of Ireland
• Africa Agri-food Development Program (AADP)
• Aim and Benefits of Africa Agri-food Development Program (AADP)
• Requirements for Africa Agri-food Development Program (AADP) Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About Government of Ireland

The Programme enables students to benefit from a prestigious, world-class, quality education contributing to capacity building whilst also profiling the best that Ireland has to offer in education. For information on studying in Ireland. The Government of Ireland (Irish: Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the Taoiseach, the head of government. ... The Government is also known as the cabinet.... continue reading

Africa Agri-food Development Program (AADP)

Aim and Benefits of Africa Agri-food Development Program (AADP)

Possible funding of up to €250,000 in total per company

Requirements for Africa Agri-food Development Program (AADP) Qualification

• 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.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

The AADP is now open for submissions. Application forms 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, 30th July 2021. 

Please monitor this website and the Departments’ Social Media accounts for updates:

Dept of Agriculture, Food & the Marine Twitter | Dept of Foreign Affairs Twitter

Application Forms

Applications will only be accepted through the official AADP Application Forms.

To request an Application Form for a Full Project or Feasibility Study please email [email protected] with the subject line “Application Form Request”

For more details, visit the website.