Final Call-for-entry to the EMRC-Rabobank Project Incubator Award Less than One week to get your proposal in

10 September 2010 - Brussels, Belgium:
The cutoff date for proposals for the US$15,000 EMRC-Rabobank Project Incubator Award 2010 is fast approaching.

With less than a month to go before the few hundred delegates of the AgriBusiness Forum 2010 gather on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kampala, Uganda, to discuss the theme of Food Security: a Business Opportunity, interested parties are urged to get their proposals in.

This year, the judges are calling for proposals in the agro-food and rural development sectors that positively impact the local community. From the entries received, a selection of finalists will present their project proposals to the delegates at the forum and the winning project will be announced at the gala evening on Monday the 4th of October 2010.

Pierre van Hedel, Managing Director of the Rabobank Foundation, gave some clues as to what the judges will be looking for: “We're particularly hoping to discover cooperative projects that truly make an impact on economic development and food security at the local, national or regional levels, whereby value chain partners can be integrated.“

The award was conceived by the Brussels-based EMRC with the aim to encourage development, innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa. Last year's EMRC- Rabobank Project Incubator Award was awarded to COOGES (Coopérative Générale de Sepingo), a cashew nut cooperative in Cote d'Ivoire.

“When we found out we had won the award, the joy was immense and indescribable. We came to realise that we were not crazy for believing in our project- it had been validated by experts from the business community and therefore it should continue to exist and grow” says Mathias Adou Kouakou, COOGES.

The contest is open to all participants of the AgriBusiness Forum 2010 to be held from 3 – 6 October in Kampala, Uganda. Jointly organised by EMRC and the Government of Uganda, the forum is also organized in collaboration with Rabobank and FAO. Other partners include USAID, Novus International, Stanbic Bank, Syngenta Foundation, the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), KPMG, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), IFDC, ProInvest, the East African Community (EAC), the European Union and the World Food Program (WFP).

The cut-off date for entry is the 17th of September 2010 and entrants are urged to submit their ideas with haste.

For more information please visit www.emrc.be,email [email protected] or call: +32.2626.1515