ibironkeeniola 
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Nigeria has launched a youth-targeted COVID-19 Food Security Challenge to tackle the rising challenges bedeviling the country’s food value chain compounded by the pandemic.
According to USAID, in a press release on Monday, the project will provide $3 million in grant funding and technical assistance to youth-led and mid-stage companies working in food value chains in Nigeria.
It said that the COVID-19 pandemic has severed fragile agricultural value chains, especially smallholder farmers’ ability to produce, process, and distribute food.
This disruption, it added, has also affected agricultural production and markets, and negatively impacts livelihoods, especially among vulnerable households, women, and youth.
Against this backdrop, USAID seeks to empower commercially viable youth-led and mid-stage companies already working in food production, processing, and distribution, to stir resurgence in the food sector.
It has therefore called for an application from youths and. mid-stage companies that would innovatively help farmers and other stakeholders increase agricultural productivity and food security within the next six months.
The Challenge will award 15 to 25 youth-led companies up to $75,000 each and award 10 to15 mid-stage companies up to $150,000 each.
Winners will receive funding and technical assistance to rapidly expand their activities to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on Nigeria’s food value chain and improve the resilience of vulnerable households to the negative impacts of the pandemic.
Speaking on the programme, USAID Mission Director Anne Patterson said, “We are launching the COVID-19 Food Security Challenge to help innovative Nigerians alleviate food insecurity.
“This assistance encourages private sector-led solutions to boost food production, processing, and create market linkage along the agriculture value chain in a sustainable way across Nigeria.”