International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

ICRISAT, an International Organization, is a non-profit, non-political institution that undertakes agricultural research for development in the semi-arid tropics of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of global partners ICRISAT and its partners help empower smallholder farmers and their household in these regions to overcome poverty, hunger, and a degraded environment through better agriculture.

ICRISAT is a CGIAR Research Centre, with its headquarters in Patancheru, in the state of Telangana, India and research stations in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia).

Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (AIP) of ICRISAT

AIP is a unique, public-private partnership initiative of ICRISAT that work towards furthering ICRISAT’s mission by upscaling its technology and research outcomes through agribusiness ventures and advocating sustainable interventions with partners so as to benefit smallholder farmers, youth, and women in the rural community. The Platform aims to connect with other stakeholders in the agri-innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem to foster the growth of agribusiness ventures and sharing of knowledge and information, that will help in improving the livelihood of the rural community and enhancing the contribution of the non-farm sector to local economic development.

AIP-ICRISAT has four programs; Agri-Business Incubator of ICRISAT (ABI-ICRISAT), Innovation and Partnership (INP) Program, NutriPlus Knowledge (NPK) Program, and Intellectual Property Facilitation Cell (IPFC).

AIP-ICRISAT is part of the Global Research Program on Enabling Systems Transformation of ICRISAT.

Objectives of AIP-ICRISAT

• To identify and promote grassroots agri-innovations and support agri-entrepreneurs to establish sustainable agri-enterprises.
• To serve as a platform for agro-technology exchange from ICRISAT and its partners to the private/public sector.
• To facilitate socio-economic development, especially promoting new livelihood opportunities for women and youth.
• To act as a catalyst for Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD) by linking smallholder farmers to different stakeholders across the agricultural value chains and promoting value addition to farm produce.