Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Challenge Guidelines for Applicants

The Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Challenge is an initiative by the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) and Munich Re Foundation to identify and scale innovative, nature-positive agricultural solutions in East Africa. The program provides not-for-profit organizations with mentoring, leadership training, and connections to investors to transform seed-level ideas into sustainable business models that enhance biodiversity and climate resilience.

• The RAIN Challenge targets not-for-profit organizations, including public entities, local civil society, international NGOs, and academia, specifically those operating in East Africa. The goal is to transition "seed-level innovative agricultural ideas" into "sustainable business ideas of interest to private investors and funders."
• Eligible solutions must be "nature positive," meaning they avoid degradation, restore nature, and provide active benefits such as "conservation, biodiversity gains, CO2 capture," rather than simply doing no harm. Examples of such solutions include regenerative agriculture, community conservation, and financial innovations for forest investment.
• Winners of the challenge receive a comprehensive support package consisting of tailored mentoring, communications support, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) support. Finalists are eligible for up to 24 hours of mentoring over three months (8 hours per month).
• The program includes a Leadership Academy designed to help implementers navigate professional and personal challenges using "executive management development practices from top business schools." Additionally, winners are provided with a pitching event to present their ideas to potential partners and funders.
• Next-stage funding for implementation and scaling over a 12-month period is available for winning projects that graduate from the challenge and meet pre-agreed criteria, following the completion of the initial mentoring and the Leadership Academy.
• Applications are evaluated on a 100-point scale across seven criteria: Innovativeness (15), Potential for impact (15), Equity (15), Scalability (15), Viability and Sustainability (15), Team Composition / Organisation (15), and Risk (10). Only applications scoring above 60 are shortlisted.

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (2023). Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Challenge Guidelines for Applicants. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rain-guidelines-for-applicants-non-profits-1.pdf

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Challenge Guidelines for Applicants. 2023. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rain-guidelines-for-applicants-non-profits-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Challenge Guidelines for Applicants |date=5 May 2023 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rain-guidelines-for-applicants-non-profits-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnership2023resilient, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{Resilient Agriculture Innovations for Nature (RAIN) Challenge Guidelines for Applicants}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rain-guidelines-for-applicants-non-profits-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }