KijaniSpace Innovation Programme

The KijaniSpace Innovation Programme is a cascade funding call under the Horizon Europe Space‑IoT Solution Box to support SMEs and start‑ups in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to run innovation experiments that improve existing climate‑smart agriculture products or services using Copernicus, Earth observation and IoT resources. Up to five single‑organisation applicants will be selected for 8‑month experiments and may receive up to €5,000 each from a total cascade fund of €25,000, together with technical training, mentoring and market validation support. Applications must be submitted via the programme portal using the prescribed PDF template by 16 October 2026 (17:00 Brussels time) and will be evaluated on excellence, impact and implementation. Selected beneficiaries must sign a sub‑grant agreement, document eligible actual costs, participate in onboarding and mentoring activities, and submit final technical and financial reports for payment reconciliation.

What it funds

Scope

Grants and in-kind support for short innovation experiments that improve an existing agriculture-related product, service or application using Space-IoT Box resources (Copernicus, Earth observation, IoT). Experiments must address climate-smart agriculture challenges relevant to the Lake Victoria Basin and wider target countries.

Who can apply:Legally established SMEs and start-ups operating in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. Single-organisation applications only; one funded proposal per applicant.

1. 1Selected teams (up to five) receive access to Space-IoT Box tools, datasets and technical training.
2. 2Business development, product/market validation, mentoring, pitch and investment readiness support and a final in-person showcase in Kenya.
3. 3Financial support of up to €5,000 per selected SME/start-up for eligible costs.

Applications use the online form and PDF proposal template on the programme site; proposals are assessed on excellence, impact and implementation. Pre-financing of 20% is foreseen with a final payment after deliverable approval ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Apply and find guidance at kijanispace.eu and the official call page KijaniSpace call.

Basic facts

Call title:KijaniSpace Innovation Programme. Project acronym: KijaniSpace. Full project name: Space-IoT Solution Box for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Africa. Grant agreement number: 101180225. Call identifier: HORIZON-EUSPA (Designing space-based downstream applications with international partners). Opening date: 15 September 2026. Deadline for submission (single-stage): 16 October 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. Expected duration of participation: 8 months. Total cascade funding available: €25,000. Number of awards expected: up to five SMEs or start-ups. Maximum financial support per selected beneficiary: €5,000.

Primary objective:Support SMEs and start-ups to run innovation experiments that improve existing climate-smart agriculture products, services or applications by using Copernicus, Earth Observation, IoT and other Space-IoT Box resources.

Who can apply and eligibility

Targeted applicants:legally established SMEs and start-ups operating in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. Only one proposal per applicant or team member will be considered. Applicants must already have an existing agriculture-related product, service or application linked to crop farming, fish farming or another relevant climate-smart agriculture use case. Applicants may apply as a single organisation (no consortium required).

Eligible applicant types (detailed)

Eligible Applicant Types:SMEs and start-ups. The call explicitly targets small and medium-sized enterprises and start-up companies legally established and operating in the eligible countries. Universities, research institutes, NGOs, large enterprises or individuals are not described as eligible beneficiaries for the cascade funding awards; participation as subcontractors, partners or mentors may be possible but is not described in the sub-grant conditions.

Geographic eligibility

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The program supports applicants legally established and operating in those three countries, with experiments expected to demonstrate value in the Lake Victoria Basin region or the wider target countries.

Funding and financial modalities

Funding Type:Cascade grant (sub-grant) provided as financial support. Financial support is grant funding (sub-grants) to selected SMEs/start-ups to cover eligible actual costs tied to their approved innovation experiment. Nature of Support: monetary funding plus significant non-monetary support (technical training, access to Space-IoT Box resources, mentoring, business and market validation, pitch preparation, and final showcase participation).

Funding per beneficiary and payment schedule:Each selected SME or start-up may receive up to €5,000. Payment arrangement: one pre-financing payment of 20% of the approved project budget and one final payment covering the remaining approved eligible costs after approval of the final report and deliverables.

Eligible use of funds

Eligible Use of Funds:Costs must be actual and directly linked to the approved innovation experiment and may include testing and improving the product/service using Space-IoT Box resources; implementing new features or services based on Copernicus and IoT technologies; data collection, user feedback and stakeholder validation; preparing technical documentation and validation evidence; participation in KijaniSpace virtual events, hackathons and the final showcase; communication and dissemination activities linked to the funded experiment. All spending must align with the sub-grant agreement and documented in the final financial statement.

Application process and required documents

Application Type:open single-stage call. Submission method: online application form and proposal package submitted in PDF using the provided proposal template via the KijaniSpace website. Required documents: completed online application form, proposal in the prescribed PDF template, declaration of honour and ethics self-assessment where required. Official application portal and information pages are provided by KijaniSpace; applicants should consult the call page for templates and details KijaniSpace Space-IoT Innovation Programme. ¹

Application format and templates:Templates: Proposals must be submitted in PDF format using the provided proposal template available on the program website. The proposal package also includes a declaration of honour and an ethics self-assessment when required. The template will typically require sections covering project summary, challenge addressed, links to climate-smart agriculture use case, planned use of Space-IoT Box and Copernicus resources, implementation plan and milestones, expected outputs and deliverables, budget and eligible costs, team description and capacity, value for users/stakeholders and dissemination/uptake plans. Applicants should follow the official template and guidance precisely.

Evaluation criteria and selection

Selection will follow a two-step administrative and technical assessment:1) completeness and eligibility check; 2) technical evaluation by three evaluators using published criteria. Evaluation criteria and weighting: Excellence, Impact and Implementation. Excellence evaluates quality of the proposal, clarity of understanding of the call, appropriateness of selected Copernicus services and Space-IoT Box tools, and regional suitability. Impact assesses contribution to KijaniSpace objectives, relevance to climate-smart agriculture, value for users/stakeholders and potential for dissemination and exploitation. Implementation evaluates feasibility, quality of the implementation plan, team capacity, budget realism and ability to complete the experiment within the 8-month period. Applications will be ranked by score; tied scores resolved by consensus meeting. Applicants will be notified of outcomes.

Evaluation stages and number of stages:Application Stages: 2 stages operationally — (1) administrative/eligibility screening and (2) technical evaluation by three evaluators leading to ranking, consensus if needed, and final selection.

Success rates and competition

Success Rates:Not explicitly published. Indicative scale: up to five awards from an open call targeting SMEs/start-ups in three countries with €25,000 total available implies a competitive call with a low number of beneficiaries; expected success rate is likely low (single-digit to low double-digit percentage depending on number of applicants). No official percentage is provided in the call text.

Project and technical requirements

Project Stage:The call targets projects that already have an existing agriculture-related product, service or application (mature enough to be improved). Expected maturity: development to validation/demonstration of new features and product-market validation. Experiments must demonstrate improvement to an existing offering, show an implementation plan with milestones and deliverables, and be completable within the 8-month participation period.

Permitted technical focus areas and example use cases

1. 1Weather and climate monitoring using IoT sensors combined with remote sensing data
2. 2Water quality monitoring for fish farming
3. 3Fish farming decision-support services
4. 4Crop monitoring and crop phenology monitoring using satellite imagery and IoT data
5. 5Farm input planning, irrigation support and farm management tools
6. 6Crop disease risk monitoring and alert systems
7. 7Seasonal planning and agroclimatic zoning services
8. 8Precision agriculture combining satellite imagery and ground IoT sensors
9. 9Hydrological flow assessment using IoT observations and satellite image analysis
10. 10Other climate-smart agriculture solutions that can benefit from Space-IoT Box resources

Obligations, intellectual property and reporting

Obligations of Selected Beneficiaries:Sign a Sub-Grant Agreement with the KijaniSpace coordinator; use funds strictly for the approved innovation experiment; participate in onboarding, training, mentoring, review meetings and the in-person final showcase in Kenya; provide progress updates; keep records of actual costs; submit a final report, financial statement and supporting evidence; provide documentation of technical outputs, validation feedback, expected impacts and lessons learned; support project communication and dissemination using approved non-confidential materials. Misuse of funds or ineligible costs may lead to repayment.

Intellectual Property, Confidentiality and Data Protection:Applicants must declare pre-existing background (products, services, data, tools, software, know-how). Applicant guidelines and the sub-grant agreement will set rules for IP, data protection, confidentiality and liability. Public communication will use approved non-confidential materials.

Administrative and logistical details

How to prepare a competitive proposal

Key proposal elements to address:clear description of the existing product/service and the planned improvement; explicit identification of Space-IoT Box, Copernicus or other Earth observation and IoT resources to be used; measurable expected outputs and success indicators; realistic implementation plan with milestones and timeline aligned to the 8-month program period; detailed and realistic budget that only includes eligible costs tied to the experiment; demonstration of value for users and stakeholders in the Lake Victoria Basin or relevant target countries; team capacity and roles; dissemination and exploitation plan and anticipated sustainability or next steps after the funded experiment.

1. 1Provide a concise problem statement and user needs backed by local context or stakeholder validation
2. 2Explain which Copernicus services, satellite products, EO-derived indicators and IoT sensors/data you will use and how they integrate with your existing product
3. 3Define technical deliverables, validation methods (field tests, user feedback sessions), and KPIs
4. 4Prepare a simple budget with cost lines mapped to activities and milestones; justify why costs are necessary and eligible
5. 5Describe expected impact (benefits for farmers, fishers, extension services or other stakeholders) and potential for scaling
6. 6Plan for data protection, IP management and any required ethics approvals

Questions answered (structured)

Eligible Applicant Types:SMEs and start-ups legally established and operating in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. Funding Type: grant (cascade sub-grant). Consortium Requirement: single organisation application only; consortium not required. Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania. Target Sector: climate-smart agriculture, agricultural technology (AgTech), aquaculture/fish farming, precision agriculture, Earth observation and IoT-enabled downstream services. Mentioned Countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania. Project Stage: existing products or services seeking development, validation and demonstration (development to validation/demonstration stage). Funding Amount: up to €5,000 per beneficiary; total available €25,000. Application Type: open single-stage call; applicants submit proposals via online form and PDF template. Nature of Support: monetary grants plus non-monetary services (access to Space-IoT Box resources, technical training, mentoring, business development and pitch readiness). Application Stages: 2 main stages (eligibility check and technical evaluation by three evaluators leading to ranking and selection). Success Rates: not published; likely competitive with low success probability given limited number of awards (up to 5) across three countries. Co-funding Requirement: no explicit co-funding requirement stated; financial support covers eligible actual costs up to the award amount. Templates: proposals must use the provided PDF proposal template available on the program website; the application package also includes a declaration of honour and an ethics self-assessment where applicable.

Additional notes:Selected teams will benefit from onboarding, online training on Copernicus/EO/IoT resources, mentoring, product and market validation support, pitch training and an in-person final showcase in Kenya. Financial reporting is mandatory: beneficiaries submit a financial statement and supporting evidence at the end of the experiment for assessment by the KijaniSpace coordinator.

Summary

What is this opportunity about and how to explain it:The KijaniSpace Innovation Programme is a small-scale cascade funding call administered under the Space-IoT Solution Box for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Africa project. It offers grants and complementary technical and business support to up to five SMEs or start-ups from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to run short innovation experiments (8 months) that demonstrably improve an existing agriculture-related product, service or application using Copernicus, Earth Observation and IoT resources available through the Space-IoT Box. Each successful applicant can receive up to €5,000 to cover eligible costs tied to the approved experiment, with payments structured as a 20% pre-financing tranche and a final payment upon acceptance of deliverables and financial statements. The program emphasizes demonstrable impact for users and stakeholders in the Lake Victoria Basin or the broader eligible countries, realistic implementation plans, and clear use of Space-IoT Box and Copernicus resources. Applicants must be SMEs or start-ups legally operating in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania, submit a single-organisation PDF proposal using the official template, and complete administrative and technical evaluations. Selected teams will receive training, mentoring, product and market validation support, pitch readiness coaching and the opportunity to showcase results in person in Kenya.

Where to apply:Applicants must complete the online application form and submit the required PDF proposal using the template at the KijaniSpace program webpage KijaniSpace Space-IoT Innovation Programme ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Official call information and application templates are available on the KijaniSpace website and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Applicants should consult the program pages for the latest templates, full terms of the sub-grant agreement and practical guidance.

The KijaniSpace Innovation Programme is a cascade funding call under the Horizon Europe project Space-IoT Solution Box for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Africa, designed to help SMEs and start-ups improve existing agriculture-related products, services or applications with Copernicus, Earth Observation and IoT resources.[16][20] The call is open for submission, uses a single-stage process, supports up to five selected teams, and offers up to €5,000 per beneficiary from a total call budget of €25,000.[16][20]

Opportunity at a glance

What the programme is about

Applicants are expected to propose an innovation experiment that improves an existing product, service or application by using Space-IoT Box resources, especially Copernicus, Earth Observation and IoT data and tools, while addressing a climate-smart agriculture challenge.[16][20] The proposed work must show a clear improvement over the current solution, include a practical implementation plan, expected outputs and budget, and demonstrate value for users, customers or stakeholders in the Lake Victoria Basin region or the wider target countries.[16][20]

Example application areas include weather and climate monitoring, water quality monitoring for fish farming, fish farming decision support, crop monitoring and crop phenology, farm input planning, irrigation support, farm management, crop disease risk monitoring and alerts, seasonal planning and agroclimatic zoning, precision agriculture, and hydrological flow assessment using IoT and satellite analysis.[16][20] These are examples only, and the call also accepts other relevant climate-smart agriculture solutions that can benefit from Space-IoT Box resources.[16][20]

Who can apply

The call targets SMEs and start-ups that are legally established and operating in Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania, and applicants may apply as a single organisation.[16][20] Only one proposal will be accepted for funding per applicant or team member, and applicants must already have an agriculture-related product, service or application linked to crop farming, fish farming or another relevant climate-smart agriculture use case.[16][20]

The portal and project materials indicate Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania as eligible countries, even though one extracted text version of the call omits Kenya.[16][20]

What selected applicants receive

• Access to Space-IoT Box resources, tools, datasets and documentation.[16][20]
• Technical training on Copernicus, Earth Observation and IoT resources relevant to the proposed experiment.[16][20]
• Business development, entrepreneurial and market validation support.[16][20]
• Pitch and investment readiness support.[16][20]
• Mentoring during the innovation experiment implementation period.[16][20]
• An opportunity to present the innovation experiment during the final showcase in Kenya.[16][20]
• Financial support of up to €5,000 for eligible costs linked to the approved innovation experiment.[16][20]

Funding conditions and payment model

Funding covers eligible actual costs incurred during implementation and must be directly linked to the approved activities, milestones and deliverables.[16][20] The payment structure includes one pre-financing payment of 20 percent of the approved project budget and one final payment of the remaining approved eligible costs after the final report and deliverables are approved.[16][20]

The available material does not specify a separate grant intensity or overhead rate, and support is framed as reimbursement of eligible actual costs within the approved budget ceiling.[16][20]

Eligible uses of funds

• Testing and improving the selected product, service or application using Space-IoT Box resources.[16][20]
• Implementing new features or services based on Copernicus and IoT technologies.[16][20]
• Collecting data, user feedback or stakeholder validation linked to the experiment.[16][20]
• Preparing technical documentation, validation evidence and impact summaries.[16][20]
• Participating in KijaniSpace virtual meetings, hackathons, showcase activities or related dissemination events.[16][20]
• Communication and dissemination activities linked to the funded experiment.[16][20]

Application and selection process

Applicants must complete the online application form and submit the proposal in PDF format using the provided template, with a declaration of honour and ethics self-assessment where required.[16][20] Applications are first checked for completeness and eligibility, then evaluated by three evaluators against the published criteria of excellence, impact and implementation.[16][20]

The evaluation focuses on proposal quality, understanding of the call, relevance of the selected Copernicus services and Space-IoT Box tools, contribution to the project objectives, relevance to climate-smart agriculture, value for users and stakeholders, dissemination potential, feasibility, team capacity, budget realism, expected deliverables and the ability to complete the experiment within the programme period.[16][20] Proposals are ranked by score, and tied scores are resolved through a consensus meeting before funding decisions are made.[16][20]

Obligations and compliance

Selected SMEs and start-ups must sign a dedicated sub-grant agreement, use the financial support only for the approved experiment, participate in onboarding, training, mentoring, review meetings and the final showcase, submit progress updates, keep records of actual costs, and provide a final report, financial statement and supporting evidence.[16][20] Beneficiaries must also document technical outputs, validation feedback, expected impacts and lessons learned, support communication with approved non-confidential materials, and repay any affected amount if funds are misused or costs are found to be ineligible.[16][20]

Applicants should identify any pre-existing products, services, data, tools, software, know-how or materials they bring into the programme, because intellectual property, confidentiality, data protection and liability will be governed by the applicant guidelines and sub-grant agreement.[16][20]

Practical assessment for applicants

1. 1Show a real existing product, service or application that can be improved within 8 months.[16][20]
2. 2Choose a climate-smart agriculture use case that clearly benefits users in the Lake Victoria Basin or the wider target countries.[16][20]
3. 3Explain exactly how Copernicus, Earth Observation or IoT data will improve the solution.[16][20]
4. 4Provide a realistic budget, workplan, outputs and validation approach that match the small grant size.[16][20]
5. 5Demonstrate that the team can deliver the experiment, engage in mentoring and present the result at the final showcase in Kenya.[16][20]

Project background

The call sits within the KijaniSpace project, a Horizon Europe initiative that integrates a Space-IoT solution box, platform tools, Copernicus data and local datasets to support climate-smart agriculture innovation in Africa.[2][20] The broader project also includes training and innovation programmes and is positioned as a collaborative EU and African effort to strengthen downstream space-based applications for agriculture.[2][20]