Call for Proposals: FIT-Hub Incubation Program in Malawi

Deadline: 30 May 2025

The Food Innovation and Technology Hub within the Center for Resilient Agri-Food Systems at the University of Malawi, is currently seeking innovators to join their FIT-Hub Incubation Program.

FIT-Hub is dedicated to advancing resilient agri-food systems through research, innovation, and collaboration.

The Food Innovation and Technology Hub aims to promote and nurture a culture of entrepreneurship and inventions on Agri-food systems and product development and processing innovations in Malawi, while ensuring intellectual property protection.

CRAFS also aims to stimulate and support research and development for holistic solutions focusing on innovations in agri-food systems and nutrition, agricultural risk management, climate change proofing, statistical analysis, digital agriculture, and market information management systems including AI and data analytics.

Aim

Accelerating innovations and knowledge for multiple wins; reduced post-harvest loss, enhance productivity, nutrition, climate adaptation and mitigation, and inclusion.

Goal

To transform food tech start-ups into sustainable and investment-worthy business entities.

Purpose

To encourage teams or individuals with products or services in line with the thematic areas. Incubatees will compete for seed grants to help them implement their prior set project activities and milestones.

Objectives

Providing services towards product development and food analysis (nutritional analysis, food safety and hygiene audits, shelf-life analysis, shelf-life improvement, informative packaging and marketing) and product profitability assessment.
Facilitating the prototyping of novel food products to test feasibility, functionality, and consumer response before moving on to final production.
Supporting the development of digital platforms for knowledge management and sharing, as well as linking incubatees to markets.
Facilitating formal partnerships between incubatees, the university, and public and private organizations.

Thematic Areas

Agri-value added products
Functional and therapeutic foods
Natural foods and beverages
Feed formulation and processing
Improved plant nutrition and production
Digital agri-solutions
Any other agri-related products or services.

Benefits

What You Gain as an Incubatee:
- Capacity Building:
  - Training in business plan development, financial management, grant writing, IP as business
  - strategy
  - Workshops on market strategies, branding, pitching, and investor readiness
- Regulatory & Legal Guidance:
  - Support in business incorporation
  - Support in intellectual property (IP) registration
  - Navigation of Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) and other regulatory approvals
  - Assistance with ethical/protocol approvals (e.g., IRB, NCST, or international equivalents)
- State-of-the-Art Facilities:
  - Access to CRAFS/UNIMA laboratories (Microbiology, Food Science, Analytical Chemistry,
  - Computing, and Physics) and libraries
  - Use of the FIT-Hub food processing lab and Technology and Innovation Support Centre (TISC)
- Funding & Exposure:
  - Opportunity to compete for seed grants to implement project milestones
  - Publicity through CRAFS/FIT-Hub platforms and peer-to-peer networking