Frequently Asked Questions
The Farmers for the Future & Graduate Agripreneur Program are initiatives developed and sponsored by The British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATN Foundation or BATNF).
BATNF is an independent aid organization established in November 2002. Since its incorporation, the Foundation has established over 300 community development projects in all the 36 States of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory. Its projects have been geared towards the alleviation of poverty and the facilitation of an improved livelihood for the indigenes of various rural communities across Nigeria, projects spanning access to clean potable water supply, capacity building, humanitarian aid, enterprise development, environmental protection, skills acquisition, and agricultural development.
The BATN Foundation has empowered over 100 youths. With the current vision of changing the face of Agriculture in Nigeria as we know it, it aims to achieve this through encouraging and supporting the youth in sustainable agriculture as BATN Foundation (BATNF) believes that the Future of Agriculture and indeed Nigeria rests on the shoulders of the Younger Generation.
The Farmers for the Future program is done in partnership with NYSC and implemented by New Nigeria Foundation to craft and deploy innovative solutions to youth empowerment initiatives.
Currently, the Graduate Agripreneur program is implemented in partnership with the following institutions. the Foundation is open to expanding the GAP to more institutions and welcomes proposals from universities seeking to participate in the program:
- Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB)
- University of Ilorin
- University of Ibadan
- Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike
Farmers for the Future: No, you won’t, as all the activities of the challenge/competition will be virtual. Although you will not need to travel across states for the challenge, a good and stable internet connectivity is strongly advised to maximally participate and benefit from the challenge once your application is accepted.
Graduate Agripreneur Program: The Graduate Agripreneur Programme (GAP) is designed to be implemented within the premises of the partner universities. This model ensures that selected participants can conveniently access training, land, tools, and support resources directly on campus.
Businesses of all stages are welcome to apply. Whether they are at the idea stage prototype/testing stage or even Post-revenue stage.
Application deadlines vary depending on the specific program cycle. Each application process typically runs for two/ three weeks from the date it opens. We encourage you to regularly check the dedicated program pages on the website for the most up-to-date information on application timelines, eligibility, and other important details to stay informed and ensure you don’t miss out on any upcoming opportunities.
Farmers for the Future: We will assess and score your application based on the severity of problem your business is solving, proof of customer demand, practicality and uniqueness of your solution, viability of your target market and potential for scalability, Impact of the solution, impact potential of the solution, execution capacity of the entrepreneur and team composition. The top 20 applicants who will proceed to the boot camp.
Graduate Agripreneur Program: Applicants are required to submit detailed agribusiness proposals during the application phase. These proposals are reviewed and screened by a Technical Committee within the partner universities, using predefined criteria aligned with the program's goals. Top-performing applicants are then shortlisted to proceed to the final stage, which includes a live pitch session. During this stage, finalists present their agribusiness ideas before a panel of senior representatives from the BATN Foundation and the host university. Winners are selected based on the strength of their proposals, viability of the business model, and their performance during the pitch. This multi-stage process ensures transparency, merit-based selection, and alignment with the program’s objective of empowering promising agripreneurs.
Farmers for the Future: The first grant prize gets N3m, the 2nd grant prize gets N2m and the 3rd grant prize gets N1m.
Graduate Agripreneur Program: Each winner is awarded with grant prize of N1.5m each.
The expert team will utilize her networks and resources to validate the claims of applicants. In some cases, potential applicants might be required to provide proof of the existence of their business – if they are being considered.
Yes you can. However, we appreciate balanced teams who have a full range of skills. We strongly advise you to have a team who balance your skillset.
Farmers for the Future: The Farmers for the Future youth challenge is open to all active serving Corp Members, with at most 3 months remaining to the completion of their service year.
Graduate Agripreneur Program: The competition is open to all graduates of agriculture from partner universities. The BATN Foundation is open to expanding the GAP to more institutions and welcomes proposals from universities seeking to participate in the program.
The programs are open to all Aggregators within the Agricultural sector. Specifically, businesses that fall into the following categories: Crop Farming, Livestock/ Animal Husbandry, Agricultural Product Logistics and Distribution, Agro Commodity Trading, Aquaculture, Horticulture, Agricultural Mechanization, Agricultural Produce Processing, AgTech, Agric Financing, Agric Education and Stakeholder Support.
Only businesses that are Agriculture related or that have Agriculture as their cornerstone and foundation pillar can apply. Basically, it is an Agri-business competition, meaning that businesses that have nothing to do with or contribute to Agriculture cannot apply.
Yes, you can. As long as you meet the primary requirement of being an Active Serving Corp Member, with not more than 3 months left in His/Her Service year, then of course, you can apply, even with your business being located anywhere across the country. However you must have very good internet connectivity and stability as all of the activities of the challenge will be held online, beginning from the application, to the boot camp, to the various mentoring sections, to the business pitch and even the award ceremony.
At most 4 weeks after the application closes all successful candidates will be reached via email, to inform them on how they can proceed to the next stage of the competition.
We treat each application data as confidential information.
The Farmers for the Future and Graduate Agripreneur Program youth challenge will span a time frame of 7 months – 1year.
The mentoring phase commences immediately after the final winners have been decided. These winners will be attached to different mentors, each peculiar to the type of business the participant is pioneering. This Phase goes on for a period of 6 months, where the mentee is guided and supported by their mentors as they execute their business plans towards achieving clearly defined milestones.