Winners: L-R: Pauline Otila Kamwara, Gladwell Karangi and Dr. Never Zekeya.
Three East African Community (EAC)-based agriculture business projects have won the first edition of the Agroecological Food Futures Prizes that are aimed at improving agricultural productivity, land management and environment protection in the region.
The three winners who won the funding provided by Biovision Foundation and its partners include- Plant Biodefenders (Tanzania)- who emerged the overall winner scooping a $20,000 financing award.
Two Kenyan agri-SME businesses- Agritech Analytics Limited (with $10,000 plus customised technical support worth $5,000) and Apiculture Ventures (with $10,000) garnered the second and third positions respectively.
The winners were selected among six finalists who made it to the grand finale pitching event held at Hotel des Milles Collines in Kigali this December 3, 2024.
Other finalist agri-SMEs included Kayyan & Kiobijja Farm (UG), Goshen Farm Exporters Limited (KE), and Trapro Coffee (RW).
They were assessed in areas of businesses impact potential, profitability with high growth, management, financials, but also scalability among many others including the presentation and response to the jury questions.
“These were selected out of over 200 competitors from across the region and the competition was very tight but with high quality pitches from the finalists, where we also saw a tight competition to win these prizes,” said Ruth Nabaggala, one of the adjudicators and a Project Officer, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA).
The jury panel was composed of experts from the African Development Bank, African
Food Sovereignty Alliance, British International Investment, Rabo Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Welthungerhilfe.
Edition organizers said that all finalists will also gain access to a regional network of donors, investors, technical experts, and like-minded entrepreneurs.
The Winning Agroecological Solutions:
Dr. Never Zekeya (left) and her daughters were dressed up for the win
Combining ecological, economic, and social principles, agroecology addresses the urgent need for sustainable food systems amidst global challenges like climate change and economic inequality. It aligns with the Paris Climate Agreement and international biodiversity targets,offering pathways to sustainable development and Zero Hunger (SDG 2).
The overall winner, Dr. Never Zekeya, the Founder and CEO of Plant Biodefenders Limited (TZ) revealed how she started the business that develops co-friendly pest control products like Vuruga Biocide, tackling
destructive pests while attracting pollinators and boosting yields.
Zekeya said she invested her own academic income and used family labor (her children) but even when her product can change the current chemical infection in food, she was stuck on expansion due to lack of funding, which has challenged her mission, as a start-up.
With this funding, Zekeya said her vision of expansion will now be achieved to reach more farmers and even expand the business throughout Tanzania and the EAC region and beyond especially that she produces eight different researched and approved bio-and eco-friendly products including -mosquito repellents.
“Our products and innovations are good, but how do we reach people, how do our innovations reach people? This was the challenge! As part of this funding, we are going to train farmers so that they become aware of what we are producing. Again, distributing these products was a challenge, so we are going to distribute them after distribution. We expect an impact on purchase.” Dr. Zekeya said.
Dr. Never Zekeya presents her scalable business project
The prizes aim to recognize Agroecological Enterprises (AEEs)—small and medium-sized businesses exemplifying the 13 principles of agroecology. These enterprises play a vital role in creating sustainable jobs, protecting nature, strengthening local value chains, and providing healthier, safer food options.
“We hope that by shining a light on them, we show that in the short term, their positive environmental and social impacts are extremely important and worth investing in. And in the longer term, these are also investable opportunities. These are profitable companies,” said Hans von Zinkernagel, Biovision Foundation, Program Manager, Policy & Advocacy.
Gladwell Karangi said she came prepared to win for the future of her unborn child
Gladwell Karangi, the Head Strategic Management AgriTech Analytics (KE) that combines data from Artificial Intelligence (AI) internet of Things (IoT), and satellite imagery with solar-powered devices to help smallholder farmers monitor weather, soil, and crop health also said that scalability will now be possible
With challenges of farmers losing 2.3billion tons of produce annually, Karangi’s solution provides timely advice, alerts, and reports to boost yields and reduce risks of soil degradation, pests, and crop disease to enhance food security and halt hunger in Africa.
“We are now going to go beyond sending an SMS alert to using a mobile application which is already developed but needed financing to launch,” Karangi said.
Pauline Otila Kamwara (left) pitches to Ugandan investor representative
Apiculture Ventures Limited (KE) Founder and Director, Pauline Otila Kamwara, who considers herself as the queen mother and a completion of the food circle by dealing with the life cycle of bees, offers modern beekeeping equipment, honey and beeswax processing, and training to beekeepers.
Focused on maximizing hive productivity and value-addition, the start-up supports sustainable beekeeping practices that improve incomes, strengthen food security, and promote ecological balance, positively impacting farmers and the environment.
“Without bees the world would run out of food in four years. And yes, as a queen bee, my project proves that we need to promote the life of bees and this is what the funding will do,” Kamwara said.
Biovision, which has most of its operations in the EAC, is dedicated to advancing agroecology to achieve global food security and environmental sustainability and by championing agroecological enterprises, Biovision intends to contribute to creating a healthier, more equitable world.
To further achieve this goal, Hans von Zinkernagel said that without any commitment, there is a possibility that more editions will be held in the future but also on-board more local and regional partners to support the initiative.
He however explained the reason for choosing Rwanda, as the place to hold the first edition of Agroecological Food Futures Prizes, was strategic and this was supposed to be held during the Africa Food System Summit in Kigali (in September 2024) and even when this didn’t work out as planned, they followed through on the plan.
At the award ceremony, the finalists were also able to display their finished market products which attracted new opportunities to get investment partners in Rwanda.
Trapro Coffee (RW) Chief Operations Officer (COO),Jean Pierre Niyigena (4th left front row) was also lucky
For instance, though Trapro Coffee (RW) Chief Operations Officer (COO),Jean Pierre Niyigena, failed to secure a top prize, their activities support to smallholders in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Mountains won him support to access and export beyond local markets from Feed the Future Hinga Weze project (Rw) that recognized the project potential as being in line with their activities.
Trapro Coffee supports rural farmers with input financing, training, and fair market prices for coffee, avocado, and macadamia and by investing 10% of revenue in health insurance, microloans, and training, they uplifts smallholder farmers while enhancing agricultural quality and sustainability.
The ceremony also held a high-level panel discussion with representatives from Agence Française de développement (AFD), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Commercial Agriculture and Smallholder Agribusiness (CASA) program, offering insights into agri-SME financing, food system transformation, and sustainable development.
Despite the current challenges of access to financing agri-business startups, the panelists urged innovation in ideas (avoid duplication), youth courage to start but also be able to start small to create impact to secure funding.
