Frequently ASKED QUESTIONS

The Modern Cooking for Healthy Forests (MCHF) Accelerator Program is a capacity building initiative implemented by mHub in coordination with the Government of Malawi with support from the USAID and UKaid co-funded MCHF Activity. This is a 6-month long program whose goal is to support early-stage enterprises to scale-up their businesses.   A call for applications to the MCHF Accelerator Program-Cohort 3 will be made in July 2022.

The MCHF Accelerator Program Cohort 3 will aim to advance the knowledge and skills of early-stage enterprises that promote and distribute commercially viable alternative energies and fuel-efficient cooking technology products in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu, and Zomba to scale-up their businesses to meet meet market demand.   Cohort 3 participants will receive business training including marketing and distribution of products and  the early-stage entrepreneurs who will participate in the program will be linked with the Malawi Clean Cooking Fund (MCCF) Grantees (i.e. Dziwani Investments, Kawandama Hills Plantation, Emerging Cooking Solutions, Phata Outgrower Cooperative, 265Energy, UpEnergy, and other MCHF partners) so that they can get business of marketing and distributing commercially viable cooking solutions that they produce and distribute s in major cities.

Any person, group or business in the category of early-stage that is willing to be a distributor of Alternative Energy and Fuel-Efficient Cooking Technologies (AEFECT).

Applicants will be encouraged to apply via a web portal. Selected finalists will undergo a 6 months’ acceleration program and receive training on how they can scale-up their businesses. Those who successfully complete the program will be eligible to apply a seed grant of up to $5,000.

This is open to all Malawian entrepreneurs, particularly youth and women, and/or any business registered in Malawi willing to distribute commercially viable Alternative Energy and Fuel-Efficient Cooking Technologies (AEFECT) products to provide an alternative to illegal charcoal.

Primarily, this is looking for entrepreneurs in working in MCHF targeted urban areas of Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu, and Zomba. 

These applications will be submitted online at www.mchfaccelerator.com.

05 August, 2022

No. Applications are free. 

During your application, please ensure that you respond to ALL mandatory questions.   

A team of independent judges have a criterion for selection. Some of the areas they will be focusing on are: ability to scale, market validation, sustainability of business and your business model. 

This is a 6-month long program

A panel of independent judges will review and select the successful applications. 

The selected Entrepreneurs will receive business development training, advisory support and may qualify for a grant of up to $5,000.

Applicants who will not be successful to make it into the finalist’s stage are encouraged to re-apply in the next round of application for the MCHF Accelerator program.