The Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP) is Ireland’s flagship initiative supporting the role of the private sector in sustainable food systems development.
About Africa Agri-food Development Programme 2025
Opportunity Details
- Date Published: June 27, 2025
- Application Deadline: August 15, 2025
- Category: Grants
- Eligible Locations: Africa
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, and Minister of State for International Development and the Diaspora, Neale Richmond, have announced the 2025 call for applications for funding under the Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP).
The Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP) is Ireland’s flagship initiative supporting the role of the private sector in sustainable food systems development.
It acts as a catalyst to enable Irish and African businesses to explore and seize exciting opportunities to bring their expertise to Africa – to develop new markets and to contribute to strengthening mutual trade between Ireland and Africa.
Through matched grant funding the programme offers Irish and African agri-businesses of all sizes an invaluable opportunity to develop and harness the potential from innovative partnerships with companies in sub-Saharan African countries.
It enables businesses to manage their financial risk and to use their expertise and resources to work on projects jointly, to deliver significant positive impacts for local communities in African countries.
The AADP, which opens once a year for funding applications to support projects and feasibility studies, enables Ireland’s agri-food sector to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals that aim to tackle poverty, eradicate hunger, fight inequality, and make real and sustainable changes that better the lives of the world's most vulnerable communities.
Overview of grant types
1) Feasibility Study grants
The Feasibility Study grant is open to applications from Irish private sector organisations and from eligible African countries, for projects which seek to explore commercial concepts and market opportunities that can contribute to the sustainable transformation and development of Africa’s agri-food system.
Applications for Feasibility Studies will be accepted for solo projects (i.e. to be delivered by a single organisation) or for projects to be delivered in partnership between two organisations.
2) Full Commercial Project grants
The Full Commercial Project grant is open to joint, partnership-based applications from Irish and African private sector organisations, for innovative, scalable and impactful revenue-generating projects. The aim of the full project grant is to support the sustainable transformation and development of Africa’s agri-food system, and to contribute to a programme of mutual trade and exchange of knowledge between Ireland and Africa.
Applications for Full Commercial Projects must be developed jointly by the African and Irish applicants in the partnership.
Type of business
All applicants must be agri-food businesses that have been registered/incorporated in Ireland or one of the 19 eligible African countries, for at least 24 months prior to submitting their AADP application.
Businesses can be of any size or structure, including:
- Micro enterprises
- Companies
- Cooperatives
- Partnerships
- Registered commercial farming networks
- SMEs
- Sole traders
- Farming groups
- Social enterprises
- Any other structure
What AADP grants cannot be used for
- AADP funds cannot be used to fund the manufacture, development or sale of weapons, tobacco, alcohol or gambling activities
- AADP funds cannot be used to support the production of fossil fuels
- AADP funds cannot be used to support activities that contribute to deforestation (i.e. the conversion of a forest to another land use through the long-term reduction of tree canopy cover to below the minimum 10% threshold), or forest degradation (i.e. the reduction of the capacity of a forest to provide goods and services)
- AADP funds will not be provided to companies or commercial activities that do not comply with international standards and conventions regarding: human rights, the environment, corruption, or labour laws; and where the company cannot demonstrate clear goals and ongoing measures to address these problems
- AADP funds will not support projects which do not conform to animal welfare standards as determined by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of Ireland
- AADP funds cannot be used for any capital expenditure in Ireland without additional prior written approval
Benefits of Africa Agri-food Development Programme 2025
- The Programme offers Irish and African Agri-food businesses the opportunity to receive matched grant funding of up to €100,000 for commercial feasibility studies, or €250,000 for joint commercial projects
Africa Agri-food Development Programme 2025 Requirements
All proposals must:
- Be commercial in nature
- Be implemented in one or more of the 19 eligible African countries
- Demonstrate how they will contribute strongly to the sustainable development of the food system, including alignment wherever possible with priority areas of Ireland’s international development policy, A Better World, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, within the African country or countries chosen
- Explain clearly why public funds are essential to finance the initiative, including to leverage or access other sources of finance in future
- Show why the applicant or applicants are well suited to deliver on the proposed project, with reference to their experience, knowledge and skills, and how these relate to the project objectives, activities and deliverables
- Demonstrate that all applicants have appropriate governance, financial management and fraud prevention systems in place
- Demonstrate how the project intends to share, develop and/or leverage mutual expertise between Ireland and Africa in the specific project area
- Indicate how the project intends to generate or strengthen mutual trade between Ireland and Africa
The eligible African countries are:
- Botswana
- Ghana
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Senegal
- Tanzania
- Zimbabwe
- Cóte d’Ivoire
- Kenya
- Namibia
- Mozambique
- Sierra Leone
- Uganda
- Ethiopia
- Lesotho
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- South Africa
- Zambia
Application Date and Process
All applications must be accompanied by supporting documentation, including:
- an Irish Tax Clearance Certificate – which all applicants, including African applicants, must apply for and receive from the Irish Revenue Commissioners for inclusion with their application
- a project budget with breakdown of spending, funding source, activities and equipment
- a project implementation with calendar of main steps and activities required to deliver the project objectives
- a plan for collaboration over the timeline of the project
Apply for Feasibility Study
Apply for Full Commercial Project
- Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
- Applications should be submitted with all required supporting documentation to [email protected]
Either of these forms to be completed by the lead applicant and submitted by 17:00 Irish time on the closing date, Friday 15 August 2025.
Application Deadline
15 August, 2025
Scholarship Application Portal
View details of
Africa Agri-food Development Programme 2025
Apply for Africa Agri-food Development Programme 2025
