The purpose of this RFP is to engage services of a Service Provider and hire a full-time Consultant role for the Country Project Coordinator for end-to-end coordination and management of the ‘Youth Agrifood Innovation Challenge 2026, in Nigeria. For this purpose GAIN is issuing this opportunity whereby we will seek solutions that aim to improve accessibility and demand for fruits and vegetables and increase sustainable youth employment across fruit and vegetable value chains in Nigeria and also West Africa.
Building on the existing design of the Innovation Challenge, the programme will integrate a gender-responsive and inclusive approach across all stages of the competition to ensure meaningful participation, leadership, and equitable benefits for all, across the food value chain. This platform enables GAIN and partners to highlight the critical linkages between healthier diets and also sports performance, with a finale` culminating at the youth Olympics to be held in 2026 in Dakar (Senegal), while positioning nutritious fruits and vegetables as essential to building healthier, more resilient young people. It also offers an opportunity to elevate youth entrepreneurship in the agrifood sector and underscores the potential for meaningful job creation across fruit and vegetable value chains; from production and processing to distribution and retail, across Nigeria and West Africa. Through showcasing, storytelling, athlete and youth innovator engagement, investor meets and targeted communications, this platform can raise awareness on how youth-led solutions are advancing food systems transformation in west Africa.