RIFPSA is WNIH's early-stage program for regenerative and inclusive food production ventures in West Nile. Two parallel 6-month components take idea-stage founders from concept to a tested MVP — restoring natural resources while ensuring women, youth, refugees, and host communities participate and benefit.
West Nile's food systems are failing on multiple fronts — regenerative and inclusive production is the alternative
West Nile produces substantial quantities of cassava, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, rice, sesame, sunflower, and horticultural produce — and hosts over one million refugees alongside host communities. Yet the systems that produce this food are failing on multiple fronts: productivity is low and degrading the resource base, soil fertility is declining, biodiversity is being lost, post-harvest losses are high, and the most vulnerable face persistent food and nutrition insecurity.
Only 14.0% of children aged 6–59 months achieve minimum dietary diversity, and just 10.5% meet minimum acceptable diet standards. WFP has already phased out food assistance for 63% of the refugee population, and further reductions are inevitable.
The dominant response has been humanitarian aid. Life-saving — but it hasn't built local capacity to produce food sustainably. When aid ends, food insecurity returns. What the region needs is a regenerative and inclusive food production systems approach: one that restores the natural resource base, builds local ownership of food production, creates jobs and income, and ensures the most vulnerable participate and benefit.
Program goal: nurture early-stage regenerative and inclusive food production ventures from idea to tested MVP — ventures that restore natural resources, increase productivity, and ensure vulnerable populations participate and benefit.
Both run in parallel over 6 months — each takes founders from idea to MVP to early adopters
Agroecology, conservation agriculture, organic production, seed systems, IPM, agroforestry, water conservation, and post-harvest — built into commercially viable ventures.
Integrated crop-livestock systems, poultry, goats and sheep, dairy, pigs, animal feed, veterinary services, manure integration, and pasture improvement.
Three steps from idea to early adopters — applied inside both components
Idea-stage founders apply to the component aligned with their venture: Regenerative Crop Production or Regenerative Animal Production. Both run over 6 months and admit 15–20 ventures each.
2 × 15–20 venturesBuild business fundamentals, validate the concept against market demand and technical feasibility, then prototype an MVP and test it with real farmers, farmer groups, agro-input dealers, or institutions.
MVP + early adoptersGraduates leave with investor-ready documentation, a documented regeneration and inclusion impact baseline, and a pathway into acceleration programs like WNAAP or direct financing.
Pipeline to accelerationAn early-stage program — currently accepting applications to its first cohort
RIFPSA has not yet run its first cycle. Applications are open to individuals and teams with an idea-stage venture in regenerative crop or animal production. Once admitted, each venture joins the component aligned with its idea and begins the 6-month journey.
Research, regulatory, financial, and local government institutions behind the program
Three things that matter when you're starting with an idea
Regenerative Crop Production and Regenerative Animal Production each run their own 6-month track — so ventures get mentors and technical support aligned to their actual discipline, not a generic curriculum.
Every venture supported must demonstrate both regeneration (restoring natural resources) and inclusion (deliberately including women, youth, refugees, and host communities) — not as add-ons but as business model foundations.
Builds commercially sustainable businesses, reduces dependence on grants, and supports every venture to establish credible regeneration and inclusion baselines — positioning graduates for impact-focused finance.
If you have a regenerative crop or animal production venture idea in West Nile — a compost operation, a seed venture, a poultry or dairy cooperative, a feed business — we'd like to hear it. Research, financial, and development partners are also welcome to join.